
Have a Question?
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve heard about some concerning content being found in other schools. Is that something I should really be concerned about in my own community?
Yes. Our public schools’ standards for what’s considered appropriate content for our children have changed in recent years.
For decades, our society has had widely-accepted age restrictions on content. Those restrictions have provided parents and the broader community guidance on what content is inappropriate for children of different ages. Not only have our school administrators chosen to disregard those standards and allowed some concerning content into our schools, but they have also done so without even informing our community.
If pornography is so prevalent and readily accessible to children on the internet, why do some school library books matter?
Pornography isn’t accessible to all children. Even if it were, children’s access to the internet is a parental decision—parents should be able to influence and choose what content their children are exposed to. When public schools provide pornography as legitimate, they’re also condoning and promoting it.
Furthermore, books accepted within the public school library are widely considered acceptable for classroom instruction, as in the case of the book The Poet X.
Why is your group trying to “ban books”?
The term “book banning” was used throughout history when powerful governments and religious organizations would stop the publication and distribution of books containing content with which they didn’t agree. The use of the term “banning” also typically elicits a visceral response in people who support freedom—which includes most Americans—so they would be inclined to disapprove. The books currently being opposed are not being “banned,” because only the government has the power to do that. As a society, we don’t allow children to purchase alcohol or tobacco. If our public schools suddenly started ignoring those rules and providing alcohol and tobacco to children, and we disapproved, would we be trying to “ban” alcohol and tobacco products?
Books that are age-inappropriate due to their explicit sexual themes or books that can create confusion in young impressionable minds should not be provided to our children by our public schools, without a parent’s full knowledge and active approval. Parents are free to purchase any of these books through a merchant of their choice, or to borrow these books from a public library for their child. Therefore, we want some of these books out of our school libraries, as they had been until recent years.
Are bigotry, racism, and homophobia driving people’s desire to restrict certain books and content within our public schools?
While many of these controversial books do have some LGBTQ+ content and people represented from culturally diverse backgrounds, our opposition to the books are because of their sexually graphic content and/or because they contain content which could cause potentially harmful confusion in young developing minds. If these books had sexually explicit heterosexual behaviors with non-diverse individuals, we would find them just as inappropriate and objectionable for children.
Besides, are there no books that promote kindness and tolerance with culturally diverse individuals without the sexually graphic and explicit content? Do these age-appropriate books not exist?
Some “experts” and “professionals” have deemed these books having sexually-explicit content as appropriate material for children; shouldn’t we trust their opinions?
Not without due diligence and considerable forethought of the risks and the potential harms. There are lots of “experts” and “professionals” with differing opinions on nearly every subject—this subject is no different. Parents know their children best and are the ones who have the right to make these determinations. Our website and other communications help them to do that. It’s also why these issues should be handled on an individual basis and privately within the family, not within our public schools.
Why do we support school choice?
Every child deserves a quality education, no matter their family’s income or situation. School choice empowers parents to select the best educational path and environment for their child, breaking barriers to opportunity and allowing each child to thrive. When funding follows the child, families gain the freedom to leave ineffective schools and seek the learning environment their child needs to succeed.