LymeLine.com

Community News for Lyme and Old Lyme, CT

Letter to the Editor: Resident Has Right to Call for BOE Members, Who Signed Petition Against ‘Book-Banning’, to Resign; But Forgets They Were Elected, That Others Also Have ‘Parental Rights’

by

** COMMENTING IS NOW CLOSED ON THIS LETTER **

To the Editor:

At a Region 18 Board of Education meeting on October 4, an Old Lyme resident presented a public comment, asking all Democratic BOE members to step down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zSCLbbfvcM) – [it is about 10 mins in]. His reasoning is that those members support internet pornography for children. This is based on the fact that those members signed a petition against book banning in our community. The speaker made a puzzling, vague connection between the books in question and internet pornography for children. He accused them directly and bizarrely of supporting internet pornography for children.

This resident is free to exercise his First Amendment rights, but he should not be surprised when his remarks fall on deaf ears. These Democrat members of the BOE were elected. Voting, despite efforts to suppress it, still means something. They will not be removed or step down for presumably offending his sensibilities and sensitivities.

If there was any leadership in the room at the time, this might have been pointed out. But there was none.

Not unrelated, his “parental rights” do not supersede mine. And I want my children and grandchildren to have access to all books. I want them to have the freedom to read and learn.

Sincerely,

Betsy Groth,
Old Lyme.
Editor’s Notes: (i) The author is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Board Certified Pediatric Mental Health Specialist.

(ii) The full text of the comment made by Old Lyme resident Emerson Coldwell at the Oct. 4 BOE meeting is now published in this Letter to the Editor from Mr. Colwell.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Thanks for including the meeting video so it’s clear what the speaker stated. Unfortunately, misrepresenting other’s views is becoming the standard for LymeLine letters. At this point, most people’s position on this matter is known. Sad as it is. The community is fortunate to have exceptional schools with a dedicated Board of Education, teachers, and administrators with many challenges. Maybe we can all agree that there’s no book banning being suggested by anyone. Nor is there any movie banning when movies are intended for mature audiences. The BoE having no comment seems like a good decision as they shouldn’t need to continue to spend time on this matter.