OREM — If Orem purports to be Family City USA, then it better have an ordinance backing up some of those beliefs, says one resident

Utah Valley State College student Aaron Bylund approached the Orem City Council in February with an idea about a resolution to promote decency and reaffirm family values in the city.

"What I'm trying to do is encourage people in a kind way," Bylund said. "It's all about our children. They can't protect themselves — they're innocent. They need somebody. The idea is to establish community standards — we're saying, 'This is what our community stands for."'

Bylund's perseverance paid off last month, when the City Council approved a "child-appropriate standard" for Orem.

The resolution encourages "all businesses, schools and public institutions in Orem to adopt child-appropriate standards for their respective operations."

It also reaffirms the city's support of existing laws that protect children and families.

Although the document doesn't state what is or isn't "child-appropriate," Bylund said simply having a document will make it easier to approach businesses who use racy images in their advertising or to ask grocery stores to cover potentially offensive magazine covers.

Harmon's Grocery store at 870 E. 800 North in Orem has been using plastic magazine rack covers for years, said grocery manager Scott Lewis. And anything "really risky" such as Maxim or the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated is kept behind the counter.

"I think it's needed," Lewis said of the plastic covers. "I don't think that's what kids should be exposed to at such a young age. Especially in this area, for the consumers. ... that's what we need to do."

Bylund said he decided to tackle the decency issue after returning from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and noticing a sign in the city that he considered offensive.

"It just got me really angry," he said. "I figured there had to be a better way ... a way to do it with love and patience. Encouraging businesses with a lot of respect and not shoving it down their throats."

Bylund first became involved with a group called Citizens For Families that lobbies cities to pass family-friendly resolutions in other cities and has since started his own club at UVSC.

JoAnn Hamilton, founder of Citizens for Families, said 32 other cities have passed similar ordinances or resolutions or read proclamations.

"Our goal has been to teach and encourage the community to have (a standard) so an 8-year-old child could go into any public building and store and not be inundated with things that aren't appropriate," Hamilton said.

She said the responses from store owners she's spoken to have been "excellent," and many of them comment that they don't want their children seeing those images, either.

"We congratulate Orem for what they're doing," Hamilton said. "They've taken a giant-sized step."

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