A lawmaker is urging his colleagues to back a bill he is sponsoring to ensure Pennsylvania parents get notified when sexually explicit content is distributed in their children’s K-12 schools.
State Representative Russ Diamond (R-Jonestown) announced he will introduce a companion bill to a Senate measure authored by Senator Ryan Aument (R-Lititz). The legislation would mandate that schools note sexually explicit texts and other media assigned or displayed as part of students’ coursework. The bill would further instruct schools to tell parents when a book their child accesses from their school library features sexually frank content.
Under the proposed law, parents or guardians would need to directly consent to their children receiving these materials. If the guardians do not do so, schools would be obligated to provide the student with “non-explicit alternatives” to the materials in question.
“Over the past two or three years, parents have become increasingly concerned about inappropriate content in their children’s school curriculum and library books,” Diamond (pictured above) wrote in a memorandum on his forthcoming bill. “This issue is certainly not unique to Pennsylvania as parents across the country have been shocked at the increasingly sexualized material being provided to their children or made available to them in classrooms and school libraries.”
Diamond cited research by Senator Aument’s office listing a few explicit texts found in Keystone State curriculums or school libraries. They included Gender Queer, a comic-style memoir by Maia Kobabe, which depicts and describes various sex acts. School libraries carrying the book include Warwick School District in Lancaster County, Kutztown High School in Berks County, North Penn and Wissahickon school districts in Montgomery County, West Chester School District in Chester County and Central Bucks School District in Bucks County.
A similarly styled novel called It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris displays images and text regarding queerness, masturbation and anti-religious themes. Aument indicated such institutions as Antietam Middle-Senior High School in Berks County, Hegins-Hubley Elementary School in Schuylkill County, Newtown and Maureen Welch Elementary Schools in Bucks County, New Hanover-Upper Elementary School in Montgomery County, School Street Elementary School in McKean County and Smoketown Elementary School in Lancaster County carried the title.
The senator noted several other storybooks containing lurid text or images including Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, Flamer by Mike Curato and This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson.
“Parents, understandably, are outraged,” Diamond asserted. “And when voicing their concerns to school administrators, many have felt like their concerns were dismissed or trivialized. This is unacceptable. Parents must be confident that their children are receiving a quality education in our schools without being exposed to inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”
Aument’s Senate bill has not received a committee vote, though the legislation could fare better in his chamber, which Republicans control 28-22. Diamond’s companion measure will likely have a more difficult time getting through the state House of Representatives, in which Democrats enjoy a one-vote majority.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Russ Diamond” by Russ Diamond. Background Photo “Classroom” by Wokandapix.
