Pornography now in public school libraries. Did you know?
Education has changed over the last 40 years!
Someone recently returned a library book that was 37 years overdue to the Riverside Library and Cultural Center in Weld County, Colorado. The book “Psychedelics” which was checked out in 1987, finally found its way home last month, with a Post-it note inside stating: “Sorry so late! It’s been a long, strange trip,” beside a drawing of a smiley face.
The most interesting aspect of the book's return, though, may be its designation as a “young adult” book. Were children on a higher academic level 40 years ago? Community relations and marketing manager for the library district, James Melena, told Louise Chambers, in an interview for The Epoch Times, that today this book would be considered college-level psychology.
Now, “young adult” books call to mind books like "The Hunger Games." Melena added “it really might be just showing a sign of the times that the term ’young adult' meant a lot more, or meant something very different, back then.”
Pornography bared from TV, offered in school libraries
The change in what's considered “young adult” isn't the only shift in education that's taken place. Public schools, long thought to be safe havens for children, have become dangerous places in some localities as many public school libraries now carry sexually explicit books.
Pornography and indecency have long been understood as being inappropriate for children. Television programming had been severely restricted during those hours when children were expected to be awake and watching. Yet, today, children are picking sexually explicit books off the shelves of public school libraries across the country.
Articles such as Virginia Public Schools Are Toxic, written by Julie Gunlock in November 2021 for The Western Journal, explain what students are being exposed to. Gunlock, who removed her three sons from the public school system, shared the following:
Consider this: It recently came to light that numerous Virginia high school libraries stock a graphic novel (a genre geared to preteens) that includes extreme and violent sexual content. Parents understandably objected.
. . .
A parent brought the existence of this book to the attention of the Fairfax County school board and read sections of the book out loud, revealing the obviously inappropriate content. The school board pulled the book from the libraries and is reviewing whether it should continue to be carried.
Not only was the book's material inappropriate for children, but for adults as well, Gunlock continued.
Independent Women’s Voice created an advertisement to raise awareness about this issue, which included images from the book. The ad was rejected as too explicit to run during the 11 p.m. hour on television in Virginia. Think about everything you see on TV and imagine what it takes for a television station to decline to run an ad that late at night.
Parents and citizens should be asking one question: Why are our schools so much less protective about what high school students as young as 14 are exposed to than TV stations catering to adults?
Back on the shelves
The books, “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, were both removed from Fairfax County library shelves only to find their way back not long ago. Reasons given for their return included that the books “reflect the student population” and that they would be helpful to children who could relate to them, as Heather Zwicker reported for the Fairfax County Times.
The anonymous committee that reviewed the books in question also determined that they don't violate any legal codes.
The committee determined that the images in the book do not qualify as obscene per the definition in Virginia Code 18.2-372 and is also not harmful to juveniles as defined in 18.2-390. They also found Code of Virginia 18.2-376 inapplicable and said “the book aligns with FCPS Regulation 2603 supporting members of the gender expansive community and affirming individuals in their identity.” They found that the book was an appropriate addition to library collections in accordance with FCPS Regulation 3013.
Two years later, at the end of December 2023, as Frontline News previously covered, a Fairfax County, Virginia man was sworn in as a school board official on a stack of pornographic books aimed at children rather than on a Bible.
Some kids get it, even if adults can't
While some adults don't seem to identify pornography as inappropriate in a school library, there are students, such as Knox Zajac, who do. “Nick and Charlie” is a sexually explicit book that he found displayed in his Maine middle school library and brought to the attention of his father, according to Fox News's Joshua Q. Nelson. When he went to check out the book to show his father, the librarian asked him if he wanted others and if he wanted the graphic novel version. He is 11 years old and in sixth grade. The age advisory in the book is 14 years of age and older.
Knox Zajac is seen reading from the book at a school board meeting in the tweet below.
School board members protect their ears
Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, Sr., confronted a North Carolina school board about a book in their library called “It's Perfectly Normal,” asking the school board who gets to decide what's normal. Even school board members didn't want to listen to pornography — they cut him off as he was about to read from the book:
Learn more about the debate on pornography in public schools:
- Ryan Walters claims 'Glass Castle,' 'Kite Runner' contain porn. What do experts say?
- Oregon school district books contain pornographic imagery of sex acts, according to portal
- Michigan mom reads graphic passages in revolt against pornographic books in school libraries
- Parents Objecting to Pornographic Material in School Libraries Aren’t “Book Banners”
- Here’s how many Utah parent complaints have been filed — so far — about ‘pornographic’ books in schools
- Independent Women's Forum: Written Statement Before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Hearing: Combatting Graphic, Explicit Books in School Libraries
- Libraries are being accused of offering child porn. Librarians explain why that's not true
- Illinois To Defund Schools, Public Libraries That Protect Children From Graphic Sexual Content
- NHCSO investigated schools for ‘obscene and pornographic’ books, DA found no unlawful content
- Do These Books Belong in Public School Libraries? You Be The Judge | Opinion
How to porn-proof your kids
While parents can become more vigilant about what their children are being exposed to in their schools, as Gunlock and others have done, children can be exposed to pornography by many other means.
In an upcoming article, Frontline News will show parents how they can help keep their children safe from pornography.
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