Yes, Morality Matters
Signed, Oklahoma Parents
“Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” Northwest Ordinance, Article III. First Federal law to address public education, signed by George Washington 1789.
“No free communities ever existed without morals.” Alexis de Tocqueville 1835
There is a narrative being pushed today that a modern-day version of “Nazi Book Burning” is being launched nation-wide by a gaggle of pesky Mrs. Kravitz-like (nod to GenX pop-culture) parents intent on inserting themselves into public school matters; specifically library materials. But remember, a narrative is a story. And as we’ve witnessed in the last two years, many current narratives are created to incite reaction rather than relay truth. This is the case with today’s parent “book banning”. Nazis burned books that they viewed as being subversive or representing ideologies that opposed Nazism. Nazis wanted obedient, submissive followers who relied on the government for every thought, and for the government to provide them with all “truth”. This is not what is motivating concerned parents today. There are many books that present ideas that I vehemently disagree with, but I still read them. I’m a Christian who has more than thirty books on Islam in my own library. I’m also a Conservative who owns many books on Marxism and Communism by authors with varying viewpoints. Two of my most recent purchases are books written by Klaus Schwab (WEF). He and I would likely find it difficult to agree on anything more than the color of the sky, but I still want to know and understand his ideas. I believe in being well-informed and will always support more discussion and debate on matters, not less. Ideas do not frighten me. We share this mind-set with our own children and encourage them to view education as a life-long endeavor. The books parents want removed/ prevented from entering school libraries today are not because we disagree with the subject matter. Rather, it is the graphic, vulgar, obscene language and pornographic descriptions and images that more and more Young Adult Fiction (YAF) authors are including in their books that parents (we) believe are immoral, unhealthy, untenable and yes, unlawful to be made available to minors by public schools.
Until recently, obscene materials in public school libraries would have been considered unfathomable. There are still many who are shocked to learn this is occurring in “their school”, but it is. And the number of YAF books being released (often receiving literary “awards”) each year that include obscenity, pornography, profanity, and vulgarity, is increasing. These authors and book publishers have found a willing and well-funded market in public schools. This is what concerns parents. This is not about politics, but the devaluing of character, integrity, morality in favor of obscenity, perversion, and oversexualized teens. Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa, was asked in a recent interview if she agreed with parents concerned about these types of books being displayed in school libraries and classrooms across her state. She did, and then proceeded to boldly read the following passage from the book, All Boy’s Aren’t Blue, to further illustrate her position. "You told me to take my pajamas, my pajama pants, which I said to take off my pajama pants, which I told you when, which I did. You then took off your shorts, followed by your boxers," she read from the passage. "There you stood in front of me, fully erected and said, 'Taste it.' At first, I laughed and refused. But then you said, 'come on, Matt, taste it. This is what boys like us do when we like each other.' I finally listened to you. The whole time I knew it was wrong, not because I was having sexual intercourse with a guy, but that you were my family. I only did that for about 45 seconds before you had me stop. Then you got down on your hands and knees and told me to close my eyes, and that's when you began oral sex on me as well." This book is also in the Jenks Public Schools (JPS) High School library. Yes, parents are sincerely concerned that public schools are providing this type of material to their minor children. They’re not fascists or “Nazis”, rather Moms and Dads protective of their children’s still maturing minds.
Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. If morality does not stop public schools from providing these books to minors, the law should. Oklahoma has specific law (crafted using Supreme Court rulings) that directly addresses obscenity in our State. The relevant sections of Oklahoma Statute Title 21 are provided at the end of this article. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s (AG) office confirmed on February 22, 2022 that it was “reviewing dozens of school library books to determine if they violate state law on obscene materials”. However, two days later the AG, John O’Connor, announced that he was halting the investigation. He then formally issued the following statement, “I received complaints from several parents about books in public school libraries which the parents found obscene. I will always listen to the complaints of Oklahomans. I recommended that they present their objections to the school boards. I also recommended that they talk with the legislature regarding how Oklahoma law defines ‘obscenity.’ “Our office is not conducting an investigation in this matter at this time. I understand that there is proposed legislation that has been introduced in this new session to address these parents’ concerns. “I respect the role and responsibility of parents in the education and social development of their children and urge the school boards to consider the complaints of these parents and work with them in regard to the materials available in the school libraries" [Emphasis mine]. Oklahoma law did not change in two days, only the AG’s willingness and political courage to pursue it. At a meeting on the evening of February 21, 2022, the Tulsa County District Attorney, Steven Kunzweiler, was asked if he/ his office would pursue the “obscene books in public schools” matter. He too declined, explaining that it would be an “unwinnable” case. Current Oklahoma law makes clear that obscenity includes written material (any medium) and that both the Attorney General and any District Attorney have the authority to investigate violations of Title 21. Much of the new proposed legislation that Mr. O’Connor referenced in his statement puts additional burden on parents to take action, rather than those in elected office and law enforcement. Parents are already doing this and have been met by an arrogant, emboldened Goliath (and our backup has been politicians behaving like Israelites terrified and lacking courage). We have Oklahoma law in place to protect children from obscenity. We need this enforced, not ignored or rewritten.
Many states have adopted obscenity exemption statutes (OES) to absolve public schools and their libraries from state criminal laws against exposing children to obscene material [originally for the purpose of sex education]. Oklahoma is fortunate. We are one of seven states that has not adopted an OES. This means that when your Oklahoma public school (as Bixby recently did) sympathizes with you but explains that they are bound by First Amendment protections and cannot remove or prohibit obscene materials from entering their libraries, they are either ill-informed, bluffing, relying on lobbying efforts/acquiescent politicians, or furthering an agenda. They are also hypocrites. Local schools have policies that prohibit students from wearing clothing “with images or language that depict pornography, nudity, or sexual acts”, or “with violent images or language (including profanity)” (JPS 2021-21 student handbook). A public school that allows the inclusion of obscene, vulgar and pornographic reading material in its library, and then prohibits its students from wearing clothing that pull quotes from these same books is (for a positive spin) providing a lesson on how to break one of the laws of logic; the law of noncontradiction. It cannot be true that it is okay to openly read and share these obscene works on paper in school, but not okay to openly read and share them on a t-shirt (just a different medium) at that same school. Both are wrong.
Setting aside the above-debunked First Amendment argument made by Public Schools in support of providing obscene materials to minors, many schools turn to a defense that centers on the professionalism of their own media specialists. The Oklahoma Library Association President, Cherity Pennington, has stated that “every public school in Oklahoma is required to have [for accreditation] school board approved policies guiding how library materials should be selected and how a parent may request reconsideration of a title from the library.” A Bixby Public Schools Assistant Superintendent explained during that district’s recent review of two books that their media specialists use “evaluation tools to meet diverse needs” and that a variety of “selection aides” including award lists (e.g., Sequoyah), School Library Journal “best of lists”, etc., as well as teacher or student requests are considered for book selection. Clearly with the volume of obscene materials already in school libraries, there are problems with the “we defer to the media specialist” and “we have procedures for parents to object to a title” defenses. The “best of” lists [by library organizations] and literary awards today are oftentimes based more on subject matter than literary prowess or educational value. It would be impossible for a large district media specialist to read every book purchased (or received by donation – another problem). Parents are not questioning the integrity of individual librarians, rather the book selection processes that have not kept up with modern times. Additionally, parents’ ability to request reconsideration by schools of book titles that have been added to a library, is meaningless when the market is increasingly being flooded by obscene, vulgar and pornographic YAF books. Schools are putting parents in a modern-day game of “whack a mole” as they are made to object to books one by one (as the Oklahoma AG also appears to support from his 2/24/22 statement). The books, by law, need to be prevented from ever entering a public school.
Additional arguments made by public schools and those who support retaining obscene materials in school libraries include, “these are true-life depictions”, “this is a way to encourage some to find interest in reading”, and “these books are rarely checked out anyways”. The television station that aired Governor Kim Reynold’s reading of the graphic excerpt from All Boy’s Aren’t Blue stated in its print of the story that “KCCI wanted to air the entire passage read by the governor so parents could hear what was in the book. But, to give it context, we also want to describe what comes before and after the passage, and what the book is about”. It is unlawful to knowingly provide obscene material to minors in Oklahoma, irrespective of context or any excuses offered by adults charged with educating [and not harming] our children. Governor Reynolds had the courage of conviction to not only support parent concerns for obscene books, but to go a step further and force those who might [unknowingly] approve these books to hear an example of the content. At it’s February 16th, 2022 Board meeting, a Bixby Board Member noted that he would not be comfortable reading aloud the section from the book, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, that a parent had submitted as evidence of obscenity, because it was too graphic. This was in a room of adults. Yet moments later, 3 of the 5 Board members voted to keep this book in the Bixby High School library (ages 14 to 18). Character, integrity, morality … when did these lose their value in public schools?
Finally, below are excerpts from two additional books currently sitting on the shelves at the Jenks Public Schools High School library (Crank is also in the Broken Arrow and Union High School Libraries). Set aside the law for a moment and consider how you might argue that what you read from these books is good/not harmful (for children), or appropriate (for children) or of any educational value (for children)? We’ve spent two years watching children be relegated to the bottom tier of societal concern, because of a virus of little risk to them. But it fit a narrative. Now there is a narrative being spun to again protect and validate adults, adult concerns, and adult agendas at the expense of children and their natural development, their innocence. This is immoral. It is untenable. It is evil. Who are we, as adults, if we can’t agree on this?
Book Excerpts
What Girls are Made Of by Elena K. Arnold Lexile: 900L (6th grade)
Chapter 13
“Then he’s there, naked, the thick horn of him wet-tipped and hard, and a rush of wetness floods the cotton lining of my thong. “Take off your bra.” I feel, thrillingly, like I’m in a movie, like I’m on display for a vast and important audience, like the whole world is watching as I reach behind my back and unhook the strap. My bra falls into my lap and I push my chest forward, pretending that I think my pointed little breasts are beautiful. Seth thrusts forward onto the bed and between my legs and against the thin lace barrier that separates us. The hard nose of my teddy bear pokes against my back and I twist to reach it, grab it by an arm or a leg, and toss it to the ground. My thong gets twisted as Seth takes it off, and I hear it rip when he grows impatient and yanks too hard. I shouldn’t care but I do, because the thong is brand new and it matches the bra, and lace can’t be sewn back together. But I don’t say anything, and then Seth rises above me like a wave and smiles, and I smile back and then he pushes into me, hard and fast and it hurts and feels good all mixed together. He puts one hand on my stomach to hold me still—he likes it best, he says, when I don’t move a lot, when I let him be in charge, and I know too that he likes to feel himself inside of me, under his hand, the back and forth motion of it. It’s clear from his face when he’s close, and I brace myself for a second, for the way he usually pulls out roughly right at the end, but then he looks into my eyes and grins, asks, “Okay?” “Okay,” I answer, and then his eyes close and his mouth twists and a vein on his forehead bulges out and he thrusts again and again hard into the center of me and I want to like it but I sort of don’t, and I feel him spasm, and spasm, and he makes a sound that would be funny in different circumstances before he is still. “Fuck,” he says, collapsing against me. I run my fingers up and down his spine, feel a few bumps back there, new ones. He hates that he has acne on his back—bacne, he calls it—so I move my hand away to not draw attention to it. Soft now, his penis shrinks inside me and then slips out. When I get up to go to the bathroom, a runny path of semen, like egg whites, trails down my leg. I am horrified. It feels like I’ve just peed myself. I don’t know what I expected. I guess I thought it would just sort of absorb inside me, or really, I guess I never thought about what would happen at all. The other times when we didn’t use a condom, Seth would pull out and come on my stomach or—those two times—on my back. And then he’d use his T-shirt or a sock to wipe me off. But this time, as I walk to the bathroom connected to my room, the sticky wetness drips down my thigh, a couple of drops falling silently to the carpet.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins Lexile: NP (Non Prose) non standard punctuation w/ this book.
Extensive dialogue on drug use, graphic language, sex (including rape – below).
It
Started with a Kiss
Crank-revved, pistons firing full bore, passion fire crackered in tiny bursts from thigh to belly button.
Oh, baby.
I want you so bad!
"B-b-bad to the bone?" We laughed, but it wasn't a joke. Not for long.
My shirt tore open. "Wait."
I've waited for weeks.
Put up and shut up.
Kisses segued to bites. Bruises.
Pain rippled through my body.
"Brendan, please stop."
No. You promised,
You damn little tease.
Off came my shorts. Down went his zipper. I realized I was in serious trouble. "I'll scream."
Go ahead. No one can hear
but skunks and coyotes.
Still, as I opened my mouth, his hand slapped down over it. Those
sublime muscles hardened.
342
Just relax.
You'll love it.
My brand-new Victoria's Secrets
shredded, and I felt the worst of
Brendan pause, savoring my terror.
They all love it.
Had he done it a different way, I
might have responded with excitement.
Instead, I froze as he pushed inside.
There it is.
Oh, God. There it
goes.
It went, all right, with an audible
tear. Pain mushroomed into agony and all I could do was go stiff.
You weren't lying,
you bitch!
I laid there, sobbing, as he worked and sweated over me. Stoked by the monster, it took him a long time to finish.
Give me a line,
I'll give you an encore.
343
He pulled away, sticky and bloody.
Throbbing inside and out, I didn't move, didn't dare look him in the eye.
What the hell
is the matter, Bree?
I stared up at the clouds, gathering into gloom, shrouding the moon.
"My name is Kristina."
Oklahoma Law on Obscenity and Child Pornography
21 O.S. §1024.1 – Definitions
A. As used in Sections 1021, 1021.1 through 1021.4, Sections 1022 through 1024, and Sections 1040.8 through 1040.24 of this title, "child pornography" means and includes any visual depiction or individual image stored or contained in any format on any medium including, but not limited to, film, motion picture, videotape, photograph, negative, undeveloped film, slide, photographic product, reproduction of a photographic product, play or performance wherein a minor under the age of eighteen (18) years is engaged in any act with a person, other than his or her spouse, of sexual intercourse which is normal or perverted, in any act of anal sodomy, in any act of sexual activity with an animal, in any act of sadomasochistic abuse including, but not limited to, flagellation or torture, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained in the context of sexual conduct, in any act of fellatio or cunnilingus, in any act of excretion in the context of sexual conduct, in any lewd exhibition of the uncovered genitals in the context of masturbation or other sexual conduct, or where the lewd exhibition of the uncovered genitals, buttocks or, if such minor is a female, the breast, has the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer, or wherein a person under the age of eighteen (18) years observes such acts or exhibitions. Each visual depiction or individual image shall constitute a separate item and multiple copies of the same identical material shall each be counted as a separate item.
B. As used in Sections 1021 through 1024.4 and Sections 1040.8 through 1040.24 of this title:
1. "Obscene material" means and includes any representation, performance, depiction or description of sexual conduct, whether in any form or on any medium including still photographs, undeveloped photographs, motion pictures, undeveloped film, videotape, optical, magnetic or solid-state storage, CD or DVD, or a purely photographic product or a reproduction of such product in any book, pamphlet, magazine, or other publication or electronic or photo-optical format, if said items contain the following elements:
a. depictions or descriptions of sexual conduct which are patently offensive as found by the average person applying contemporary community standards,
b. taken as a whole, have as the dominant theme an appeal to prurient interest in sex as found by the average person applying contemporary community standards, and
c. a reasonable person would find the material or performance taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific purposes or value.
The standard for obscenity applied in this section shall not apply to child pornography;
2. "Performance" means and includes any display, live or recorded, in any form or medium;
3. "Sexual conduct" means and includes any of the following:
a. acts of sexual intercourse including any intercourse which is normal or perverted, actual or simulated,
b. acts of deviate sexual conduct, including oral and anal sodomy,
c. acts of masturbation,
d. acts of sadomasochistic abuse including but not limited to:
(1) flagellation or torture by or upon any person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a costume which is of a revealing nature, or
(2) the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed,
e. acts of excretion in a sexual context, or
f. acts of exhibiting human genitals or pubic areas; and
4. "Explicit child pornography" means material which a law enforcement officer can immediately identify upon first viewing without hesitation as child pornography.
The types of sexual conduct described in paragraph 3 of this subsection are intended to include situations when, if appropriate to the type of conduct, the conduct is performed alone or between members of the same or opposite sex or between humans and animals in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.
21 O.S. §1024.2 – Purchase, Procurement, or Possession of Obscene Material – Penalty
It shall be unlawful for any person to buy, procure or possess child pornography in violation of Sections 1024.1 through 1024.4 of this title. Such person shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than twenty (20) years or a fine up to, but not exceeding, Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or by both such fine and imprisonment.
21 O.S. §1024.3 – Powers to Arrest and to Seize Obscene Material and Child Pornography
Every person who is authorized or enjoined to arrest any person for a violation of this act is equally authorized or enjoined to seize an evidentiary copy of any obscene material or child pornography or all copies of explicit child pornography found in the possession of or under the control of the person so arrested and to deliver the obscene material or child pornography to the magistrate before whom the person so arrested is required to be taken.
21 O.S. §1024.5 – Collection and Examination of Evidence Prior to Court Proceeding – Obstruction of Investigation – Penalty
A. When any person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is attempting or conspiring to engage in any conduct constituting a violation of any of the provisions of Section 1024.2 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the Oklahoma Attorney General or any district attorney in Oklahoma may conduct an investigation of the activity. On approval of the district judge, the Attorney General or district attorney, in accordance with the provisions of Section 258 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes, is authorized before the commencement of any civil or criminal proceeding to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, examine them under oath, or require the production of any business papers or records by subpoena duces tecum. Evidence collected pursuant to this section shall not be admissible in any civil proceeding.
B. Any business papers and records subpoenaed by the Attorney General or district attorney shall be available for examination by the person who produced the material or by any duly authorized representative of the person. Transcripts of oral testimony shall be available for examination by the person who produced such testimony and their counsel.
Except as otherwise provided for in this section, no business papers, records, or transcripts or oral testimony, or copies of it, subpoenaed by the Attorney General or district attorney shall be available for examination by an individual other than another law enforcement official without the consent of the person who produced the business papers, records or transcript.
C. All persons served with a subpoena by the Attorney General or district attorney shall be paid the same fees and mileage as paid witnesses in the courts of this state.
D. No person shall, with intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance in whole or in part by any person with any duly served subpoena of the Attorney General or district attorney pursuant to the provisions of this section, knowingly remove from any place, conceal, withhold, destroy, mutilate, alter, or by any other means falsify any business papers or records that are the subject of the subpoena duces tecum.
E. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
21 O.S. §1040.75(2) Obscene materials “Harmful to minors” are defined in that they describe, exhibit, present or represent, in whatever form, nudity or sexual conduct and that the materials, taken as a whole, have the following characteristics:
(1) the average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex to minors, and
(2) the average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors, and
(3) the material or performance lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors.
Finally, since the material are available in the library of a public school, there appears to be a violation of 21 O.S. §1040.76 in that the materials, being harmful to minors as detailed above, are displayed in such a way that minors, as part of the invited general public, will be exposed to such material or allowed to view such material.