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Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides speaks during a press conference in the library at Holy Child Catholic Elementary School in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia
Albertas minister of Education and Childcare recently issued an order banning some books from all school libraries in the province. The basis of this book ban is to restrict explicit sexual content, which is subjectively defined.
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This means that, from September onwards, classics such as George Orwells 1984 and Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale will be banned from all school libraries for all students (ages six to 18). This also likely means that many valuable sexual health education books that do not meet the governments definition of non-sexual content will be banned.
There is more. For students below Grade 10, books that contain what the government calls non-explicit content will also be banned. This means that depictions, even written, of sexual acts that are not detailed or clear will be censored from students. Pupils enrolled in Grade 10 or above may be granted access to such content if their school authority deems it developmentally appropriate. Hence, J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye will only be accessible to students aged 15 or older, and only if deemed developmentally appropriate by the school authority.
The minister says these new criteria do not amount to banning books and that this order is not censorship. We disagree on both counts.
Albertas order is precisely about banning books, as its direct effect is to force school authorities across the province to remove from their libraries a host of books deemed inappropriate by the state. This approach is textbook censorship a concept which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as the action of examining books, plays, films, correspondence, et cetera, in order to identify and delete, suppress, or obscure material deemed to be obscene, blasphemous, politically unacceptable, classified information, damaging to morale, et cetera.
Reflecting on the effects of youths exposure to sexual content is an important endeavour, one that requires a nuanced and contextual approach, as well as diverse perspectives. This type of exercise should be left to librarians, educators, parents, and, to some extent, students themselves, while bearing in mind that schools and libraries exist to promote dialogue and critical thought for learners of all ages.
Standardized government prohibitions end this vital conversation before it even begins. As American writer Laurie Halse Anderson said, Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Banning a book based on a few excerpts ignores all the other valuable lessons that students could have learned from reading it.
Hence, in the name of protecting young people from sexually suggestive content, Alberta will deprive generations of students of easy and free access to books that might have, above all, answered some of their questions, challenged them and encouraged them to develop critical thought. These are no small issues, as a thriving democracy requires an informed and engaged population people who have been and continue to be exposed to diverse ideas that provoke debate and enhance understanding.
This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.On that note, it is already clear that Albertas order will ban numerous books that portray the lived experiences of vulnerable and often ostracized community members, such as/Stephen Chboskys coming-of-age story The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Banning access to books portraying diverse perspectives and lifestyles limits the horizons of all pupils, while especially depriving marginalized students, including queer and gender-diverse individuals, of literary representation when they need it most.
The Alberta government should not be eroding the fundamental rights and freedoms of some of its most vulnerable community members. We urge Albertans of all walks of life to see this government order as what it truly is: censorship through a harmful intrusion of the state in its constituents rights to learn, grow, and live their lives as their most authentic selves.
Howard Sapers is the executive director at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA).
Ana�s Bussi�res McNicoll is the CCLAs director, Fundamental Freedoms program.
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