Tom Minear: Importing US culture wars doesn’t help young people

Amid the controversy over a “graphic” sex book for children, Tom Minear argues importing US culture wars will leave young people to learn from their smartphones.

School libraries are the new frontline of America’s culture wars.

Parents are forcing hundreds of books to be pulled from shelves, upset by stories about sexuality, gender and race, while states are legislating sweeping bans.

The battle seems odd in an age where kids wouldn’t know a thing about the Dewey Decimal System, and contradictory in a country built on free speech. Couldn’t they ban guns instead?

Nevertheless, it is understandable for parents to worry about what their children are taught.

What is less understandable is why some Australians – in the latest effort to import US culture wars down under – last week campaigned to ban a book not from schools, but shops.

The cover of Welcome to Sex. Picture: Supplied

Welcome to Sex, by Yumi Stynes and Dolly Doctor’s Dr Melissa Kang, is branded as a “frank, age-appropriate introductory guide to sex and sexuality for teens”. Critics say it is grooming kids with disgusting pornography, and should not be for sale in Big W or Dymocks.

A disclaimer: I have only read the snippets posted online, about everything from sexting and porn to masturbation and anal sex. The woman who sparked the furore calls it “graphic, highly sexualised material”, which is true to the extent that that is your view of sex itself.

Stynes and Kang’s book treats sex as something natural to be enjoyed, and it treats its readers like real people. It’s not perfect and it’s not for kids of any age, although it is hard to imagine many will buy it for themselves. Parents will decide if it’s right for their children.

Treating sex as a taboo subject does not help young people. They are going to have sex, and if the adults in their lives are only going to talk about birth control – or refuse to discuss sex at all – then they will learn from unrealistic and awful depictions in porn and on social media.

Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang. Picture: Supplied

Schools have a role to play in sex education, particularly consent. (Queensland’s Liberal National Party recently rejected that, with a member saying only a 30-second “no means no” talk was needed. If we want young people to be safe, they must understand consent in practice, starting with “yes means yes”.)

But it is ultimately up to parents, surely even the most conservative of whom would rather their children direct their questions to them instead of their smartphones.

A book offering unashamed answers therefore sounds like a handy aid. After it skyrocketed up bestseller lists, it seems plenty of families agree.

Originally published as Tom Minear: Importing US culture wars doesn’t help young people