PRIMARY school students have been banned from reading the teen cult classic Twilight books because they are too racy and contradict religious beliefs.

Librarians have stripped the books from shelves in some junior schools because they believe the content is too sexual and goes against religious beliefs.

They even have asked parents not to let kids bring their own copies of Stephenie Meyer’s smash hit novels _ which explore the stormy love affair between a teenage girl and a vampire _ to school.Santa Sabina College at Strathfield was so concerned about the Twilight craze that teachers ran a seminar for Year 6 students to discuss sexual and supernatural themes in the books. The school’s head librarian Helen Schutz said:

“We don’t have a policy of censorship but the issues in the Twilight series are quite different from the Harry Potter classics.
“It is not available in our junior library for these reasons.”

She said that younger kids read the book _ which have been turned in a smash hit movie _ so they could “talk the talk and are part of the cool crowd”.

But teachers addressed the primary students because they were concerned they might be too young to deal with the adult themes.

“There was a great level of concern from the teachers and we anticipated there would be concern from the parents,” Ms Schutz said.

“We wanted to make sure they realise it’s fictitious and ensure they don’t have a wrong grasp on reality.”

The four Twilight books trace the love affair between Bella Swan, who moves to a new school, and Edward Cullen, a mysterious heartthrob who belongs to a family of vampires.

The line between real life and fiction has been further blurred by constant speculation that on-screen stars Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart are off-screen lovers.

Catholic Education Office spokesman Mark Rix said individual schools had to decide whether the books were suitable.

“It comes down to the discretion of the school to keep an eye on what the kids read,” Mr Rix said. “Some primary students are not ready to read Twilight. That said, some secondary students may not be either.”

Balmoral’s Queenwood School for Girls head librarian Heather Voskyl said only senior school students were allowed to borrow the books from the library.

“There isn’t a lot written for the Year 4 to 5 age group so they are quickly pushed into higher reading age groups. There is a mismatch between their level of maturity and their level of reading,” she said.

St Anthony’s Catholic primary school in Picton has asked parents not to let their children bring the book to school.

Emmi Payten, 10, from Bellevue Hill, has read three quarters of the first Twilight book.

“I know it’s all just fantasy. I think it’s really good, really interesting and bits of it are really funny,” she said.

Source: Daily Telegraph