Book should not have been banned

We applaud the Beulah High School Board for reversing itself and lifting a ban on the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” a move it shouldn’t have had to make because it shouldn’t have banned the book in the first place.

The board had banned the book from the school’s library earlier this month at the request of one set of parents. After a board meeting last week, the decision was changed. Board chairman Phil Eastgate said the board acted too quickly, and the ban left the board open to a lawsuit.

Certainly the book isn’t appropriate reading for all ages. It involves four murder trials, and includes the characters of a voodoo priestess and a transvestite.

But if there are parents who don’t want their children reading that book, or others like it, those parents should be able to keep their child from reading those books. Some students surely would be able to handle reading such a book, while others could not. But that’s a decision best made by the students and their parents.

Don’t pass the responsibility to the school board.

Tags: book, ban, beulah, school, library, opinion