by Teri Weesner

 

This editorial is based on the premise that there is a connection between young people accessing porn via the internet and their innate curiosity about human sexuality and their own bodies. Young people viewing internet porn have an information need that can be addressed by youth services librarians and library collections. To ignore this information need is just as inaccurate and inappropriate as young people gleaning their information from internet pornography and cybersex chat. Young people's information needs are legitimate and the response of shaming from librarians is an ineffective tool for teaching, learning or discipline.

Cultural reluctance to educate young people about human sexuality and cultural reaction of shame and punishment for young people's experimentation and access to information through the prolific pornography industry is an intrinsically related combination which fosters unhealthy cultural human sexuality. Unhealthy in the sense that shame and ignorance become barriers to people's healthy and safe concepts and practice of sexuality. A culture which will not educate itself about sex in order to "protect" itself is left (on many levels) ironically unprotected.

We relegate a large percent of sexual culture to the pornography industry and keep it separated as forbidden knowledge. When pornography overextends these boundaries of separateness, as in the case of young people accessing internet porn, a body of accurate, accessible and respectfully presented knowledge is needed to turn to.

Go Ask Alice (http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu or the 1998 paperback) is one of the best resources I've seen in terms of medical accuracy and honest and respectful responses. Go Ask Alice is not only an indispensable resource of accurate health information for people of any age with questions but an excellent primer for librarians on honest and respectful dissemination of "sensitive" information. As my signed copy says, "Be healthy and happy -- Alice"

As librarians, our charge is to create an environment of information in relation to the needs of all people who would access that information as well as an ideology of honesty and respect towards all people and their information needs. Shooing young people off the internet is like obnoxious shooshing of their curiosity and hunger for knowledge. Young people speak with their behavior. When we are confused by their behavior, ask them what it is they really want to communicate and help them find it in your collection (which includes the library's computer). We are the gatekeepers and porn and cybersex chat are barriers in youth services. Our job as librarians is to open the gate when asked and assist young people to navigate those barriers.

As adults looking back at our own youth, think about how such dispassionate information may have benefited us to make informed, individual choices.

Take a look at your youth services human sexuality collection under the subject heading, "sex instruction." What proportion of the titles are current, accurate, respectful, dispassionate information in a form young people will read? Are the juvenile titles in the juvenile or the adult collection? Weed and reseed your collection for Teen Read Week, Oct. 17-23, 1999.

The following are a few human sexuality titles I highly recommend.

Bell, Ruth, and other co-authors of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and Ourselves and Our Children, together with members of the Teen Book Project. (1998) Changing bodies, changing lives: A book for teens on sex and relationships. (Vintage Books: New York) Accurate information, illustrated with drawings and photographs. Uses real-life stories from teens themselves. Its authorship might make it especially trustworthy for readers familiar with the classic, "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

Blank, Joani. (1983) A kid's first book about sex (Yes Press: San Francisco, CA). "A first for this age child... the focus is on self image, the pleasures of sexuality and personal relationships, not on reproduction..." -- School Library Journal. I picked this one up at the Women's Presses Library Project booth at ALA. Visit their site at http://www.litwomen.org

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu Originally for Columbia University, the internet allowed Columbia to share the wealth of health information in a Q & A format. This site is still linked to ALA's "Teen Hoopla" site. Although Dr. Laura's nationally syndicated condemnation of ALA and Go Ask Alice was negative attention, it was attention none the less. Many people are now glad to know of this site with an archive of over 1,500 Q&A's.

Columbia University's Health Education Program. (1998) The "Go Ask Alice" book of answers. (Henry Holt: New York). The book from the site of the same name. I picked up this gem for $5 at ALA; my only regret is not buying an even dozen to share with all the libraries and resource centers I have contact with.

Harris, Robie (1994) It's perfectly normal. (Candlewick Press: Cambridge, MA). A cartoon type illustrated book for young people which is easily accessible in format and language.

- Finally, here are two human sexuality books by favorite authors who have contibuted greatly to children's literature.

Brown, Laura Krasny and Marc (1997) What's the big secret?: Talking about sex with girls and boys (Little, Brown and Company: Boston MA). From the creators of Dino Life Guides for Families and the Arthur books comes a book about human sexuality for young children with niether dinosaurs nor ardvarks but just as wonderfully illustrated. After discussing gender socialization and how that is not always an accurate indicator of gender, page 10 says, "Actually, the only sure way to tell boys and girls apart is their bodies." Homosexuality is not discussed.

Cole, Joanna (1988) Asking about sex and growing up: A question and answer book for boys and girls. (Beech Tree Books: New York). Although 11 years old, if this book is still in your collection it is still valuable. "The most important thing to remember about sex as you grow up is to respect yourself and others." She covers a wide range of topics including homosexuality. At the end she encourages the reader to consult other resources (people and books) and emphasizes life-long learning.

If you have other titles to add to this bibliography, please send them to me at teri@libr.org.

From Library Juice 2:28, July 21, 1999.

 

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