Censorship in Florida: How House Bill 1467 Harms Students and Staff

Abstract

School systems across the United States are being inundated with claims of inappropriate materials in the classroom, causing an uptick in challenged and banned books. Hiding behind the concept of parental rights in education, Florida has enacted one of the strongest laws, wherein school librarians will be forced to close their libraries, comb through the materials, and assess each title for its suitability. Should any library materials circulated be construed as harmful to minors, staff can face felony charges, forcing librarians to create homogenous collections to avoid controversy. In this paper, I intend to show how these stringent strictures lay an undue burden upon staff and the restrictions laid upon students will diminish their educational endeavors. Through first-hand testimonies, the development of legal precedence, and the rise of grassroots efforts to stave off these restrictions, I will demonstrate how Florida’s politicians have exceeded their role as lawmakers by cowing to special interest groups with an agenda to quell materials that do not meet their conservative worldview.