Photo by JACQUELINE BRANDWAYN on Unsplash, cropped
You may have heard about what we call Marxism’s “long march through the institutions.” Hardly anywhere has it been more effective than in our education system. One outgrowth of such endeavors, however, may be a term you aren’t familiar with. “Recency bias” has recently come under scrutiny. This bias refers to the tendency to prioritize newer materials over older, classic works. This has particularly been prevalent in recent discussions about library collections.
This approach, heavily influenced by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, leads to the removal of traditional literature in favor of contemporary books that align with woke ideologies.
Especially in children’s literature, recency bias displaces uplifting tales of physical and moral courage, exploration, adventure, historical authenticity, and patriotism, and replaces them with dark-themed stories of sexual deviance, suicide, divorce, drug and alcohol addiction, and more. Many also contain sexually explicit content. The fact that so many examples of pornographic “children’s” books have surfaced in recent years is demonstrative of recency bias in action in both public and school libraries.
Now there are already court rulings in place to protect children. A 1968 U.S. Supreme Court ruling sought to protect children from obscene materials in Ginsberg v. New York, in which the defendant, a store owner, was convicted of selling adult magazines to a minor. The court ruling established “different obscenity standards for minors than are used for adults.” The case affirmed the right of parents to raise their children as they see fit, but it also maintained that “the state has a complementary role in ensuring children’s welfare and protecting them from harmful influences.”
In a similar, current case, the Supreme Court faced the question of whether parents in Montgomery County, Maryland have the right to opt their children out of LGBT themed instruction.
We must fight recency bias at the highest levels in our institutions! As a result of decades of concerted efforts by the left, it’s entrenched, and really the only long-term solution is for ordinary citizens to take control of their local and state governments.
This post originally appeared at https://phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/free-speech/recency-bias-in-your-local-library/
Phyllis Schlafly