Book Bans: “Think of the Children” or Control the Story?

When equality feels like an attack and representation like replacement.

We’re seeing a rise in book bans across Canada (Yes, in Canada!). Books being pulled from school libraries and classrooms under the excuse of “protecting kids.”

The justification?

“These books are too political.”

“They’re not age-appropriate.”

“Let kids be kids.”

But when we look closely, we see it’s not really about protecting children. It’s about controlling which children matter, and as a result, whose stories get told and whose stories get vilified.

What’s really being banned?

Books about:

• Black and Indigenous histories

• Queer and trans characters

• Racism, resistance, and real-world injustice

• Families that don’t look like the “default”

These are books that help kids see themselves and help others understand difference with compassion. (Oh no! Would you think of the children!)

When these books are removed, entire identities disappear from the classroom. The message is loud and clear: You don’t belong here.

“But I just don’t want my child exposed to that.”

Here’s where things get complicated and where we need to be honest. Many of the parents and leaders pushing for bans identify as white and Christian (Nationalists). Some are organized far-right actors using “parental rights” language as a political weapon. These are the parents with the very obvious agenda of maintaining division, hierarchy, and themselves at the top.

But others? The ones following the people with the agenda and who make up the numbers needed to make these bans happen? They’re everyday "Good People". They’re not setting out to cause harm but they’ve been taught to fear difference.

They may say:

“That’s not appropriate for my child.” But what they often mean, whether they are conscious of it or not, is: “That shouldn’t be available to any child.”

Why can’t they just… not read the books?

Because that would require accepting that other ways of living, believing, or being are valid. And for many raised in dominant culture, especially white Christians in the "West", their worldview, identity, and way of life has always been treated as the default.

They’ve grown up with:

• Curriculum centered around white, Western, Christian histories

• Media that affirms their values and family structures

• Holidays, laws, and institutions built around their way of life

• The belief that their way is “neutral,” “natural,” and “normal”

  
  

So when their kids are offered books that center other ways of being, Indigenous worldviews, queer love, Black joy, Muslim families, it doesn’t just feel unfamiliar. It feels threatening.

Because the existence of other truths makes theirs feel less absolute.

And that can be terrifying for people who have never had to question their place in society.

If your whole identity is built on believing you're at the moral, cultural, or spiritual center of the world (whether your conscious of it or not), then inclusion feels like erasure. Equality feels like attack. Representation feels like replacement.

So rather than say:

“That book isn’t for us.” They say: “No one should read that book.” “That book is dangerous.” “We must protect our children.”

But it’s not about protection. It’s about preserving control.

And when concern for children is used to erase the lives of other children? That’s not parenting. That’s oppression.

Who gets hurt?

Obviously, the most direct harm is to:

• Racialized and queer students who lose representation, support, and safety

• Educators and librarians who are threatened, silenced, or fired

• Kids from marginalized families who feel erased before they’ve even found language for who they are

But what often goes unacknowledged is that this also hurts the children of the families demanding these bans.

Why? Because they grow up:

• With a distorted, incomplete understanding of the world

• With shame around their curiosity and fear of nonconformity

• Unprepared for a future that is diverse, multicultural, and pluralistic

• Confused when they meet people their parents taught them to fear

• More vulnerable to hate movements because they were taught to conflate discomfort with danger

And if those kids turn out to be queer, neurodivergent, trans, or simply different in ways their parents didn’t expect? They’ve already absorbed the message: You’re not welcome here either.

Real examples from across Canada:

• In Ontario, school boards have removed queer and anti-racist books after pressure from “parental rights” groups.

• In Alberta, curriculum revisions have erased Indigenous history and equity language.

• In New Brunswick, policies were introduced requiring schools to out trans and non-binary kids to parents.

• Across Canada, educators report being afraid to teach the truth.

The takeaway?

“Think of the children” shouldn’t mean “Censor difference to preserve comfort.” It should mean: Make sure every child feels seen, safe, and supported.

Banning books won’t make the world safer. It will make it smaller, scarier, and less just for everyone’s kids.

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