Letter to the Editor
Is the Cape Public Library a safe place for teens?
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Is the Cape Girardeau Public Library a safe place for teens? Most people would expect that teens could be left unaccompanied to peruse material and books in the teen section of the library. I agree that parents should decide what information of a sexual nature they wish to expose their children. However, that option at the Cape library is only available to those parents who do not mind if their children are exposed to prurient, obscene and pornographic material.
Now what about the parents who do not want their teens exposed to this material? They cannot leave their teen children unaccompanied. What appears to be a “Catch-22” is the fact that the library policy forbids adults in tbe teen section when teens are present. Now how does that work for parents who do not want their teens exposed to material they deem obscene and pornographic?
Any reasonable adult would be shocked at what is being made available to these children. One book gives instructions on how sex apps work. This is extremely dangerous as the instructions include sending a stranger a pic, chatting to find their location and meeting up. This is how child trafficking can be implemented and that book is not safe for teens in any library.
Other books contain graphic sexual material and would never, if properly applied, pass strict scrutiny of state and federal obscenity and pornographic laws. Several years ago, pornography businesses were exited from town. Now our public library carries on their business. Where is law enforcement?
SHARON JACKSON, Jackson