To the Editor:

The recent Board of Ed meeting was fascinating to me in that certain Board of Ed members were concerned that a high school student may browse Flamer or Blankets and come across a cartoon image taken out of context and somehow be adversely impacted. I hate to break it to them, but that is a fanciful thought with no chance of happening.

During the meeting multiple high school students spoke during public participation and explained that students are not thumbing through books at all. I think a parent’s concern should be focused on what our children may be accessing while “thumbing through” the internet on their cell phones...

It is important to note not one single person advocating for the banning of books has offered any expert opinion that there could somehow be a detrimental impact to a high school age student reading a novel like Flamers or Blankets. The Board of Education is in receipt of a unanimous recommendation to keep the books in our high school from our own educational experts, which unfortunately is being dismissed by some of the BOE Members.

These books are not pornography and in no way approach the standards of the “Miller” obscenity test and are clearly protected under the 1st and 4th Amendments of the US Constitution. I believe Board of Education members take an oath to uphold the US and State Constitutions.

As Spock says in a pivotal scene in Star Trek, “Logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” In this case the value that these books provide to our students that may need them, clearly outweighs the needs of a few parents’ concern that their child might stumble upon a cartoon of something they have probably seen numerous times in person before.

Sincerely,

Gavin Arneth

Sandy Hook