Senator Michael Testa and Senator Ed Durr said that despite fearmongering from Governor Phil Murphy and Trenton Democrats, nobody is looking to ban books of any kind.

Sen. Michael Testa and Sen. Ed Durr said that despite fearmongering from Gov. Phil Murphy and Trenton Democrats, nobody is looking to ban books of any kind. (Wikimedia Commons)

“It’s a total misrepresentation for Democrats to say that parents are looking to ‘ban books’ simply for expressing their concerns about the unrestricted availability of content that’s not age-appropriate in their school libraries,'” said Durr (R-3). “Nobody is looking to stop adults from buying these books or suggesting that parents shouldn’t be able to provide them to their children at their discretion. Any suggestion by Governor Murphy or Trenton Democrats that children’s access to books in school libraries has to be all or nothing is just fearmongering of the worst kind. We believe there are workable solutions that could address the concerns of parents and ensure continued access to books with sexual content with reasonable restrictions.”

The senators noted that age-based rating systems have long been used to limit children’s access to movies and video games that are not age-appropriate.

They are drafting legislation that would require a similar rating system to be implemented for books in school libraries.

“Kids can’t go to an R-rated movie or buy an M-rated video game without parental consent,” said Testa (R-1). “There’s no reason we can’t apply similar age-based restrictions to books in school libraries that contain sexually explicit images or adult themes. We should let parents decide which ratings are appropriate for their children. It’s a reasonable solution that I suspect Democrats will reject.”