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Robert Lawton, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
Local conservative activists are calling on the Lubbock Independent School District to remove explicit materials from the school libraries because they do not comply with state law.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Turning Point USA\u2019s Lubbock chapter called on the district to remove titles that do not meet the requirements set by Senate Bill 13<\/a> and the Reader Act<\/a>, which \u201cprohibit materials that are harmful to minors, sexually explicit, pervasively vulgar, indecent, profane, and educationally unsuitable.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a statement from TPUSA Lubbock, there are more than 1,030 books that do not meet the standards set by state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Examples included \u201cThe Female of the Species\u201d by Mindy McGinnis, which contains profanity, sexual activities, assault, nudity, violence, underage alcohol use, and drug use. This book is available to students ages 14-17 at Coronado High School.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMe, Earl, and the Dying Girl\u201d by Jesse Andrews contains \u201cexplicit sexual activities\u201d and \u201ccontent that encourages oral sex\u201d and is also available to students who are ages 14-17.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCrank\u201d by Ellen Hopkins, which is available to students as young as 11 years old, includes passages depicting sexual assault involving a minor, \u201cgraphic sexual descriptions, forced sexual activity, violence, nudity, and explicit language pertaining to rape.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery parent, regardless of political affiliation, should be able to agree on one principle: schools exist to educate our children, not expose them to harmful content like these,\u201d said Stephen Lara with TPUSA Lubbock. \u201cBut perhaps what\u2019s even more concerning is what has happened after these issues were brought to the school board\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Lara said that they have worked alongside Citizens for Education Reform to request reviews of more than 130 books found in the Lubbock ISD system, but have felt no effect from these efforts because of a \u201cburdensome and difficult\u201d review system.<\/p>\n This has led community members to believe that this process has \u201cdiscouraged participation instead of encouraging transparency and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut let us make something clear, parents should not have to fight through unnecessary obstacles simply to ask their school district to review sexually explicit, vulgar, and indecent material made available to their children. Period,\u201d Lara said. \u201cAnd according to Senate Bill 13, it is the School Board\u2019s responsibility to keep these harmful books out of our schools, not to wait until a parent or concerned citizen discovers them and files a challenge request.\u201d<\/p>\n Local activists pointed out that multiple other local school districts have created \u201cbetter systems\u201d to keep explicit books off of school library shelves and questioned why Lubbock ISD has not adopted a similar one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Local news outlet Everything Lubbock<\/a> reported Lubbock ISD\u2019s response to TPUSA. The district\u2019s statement focused on how the law applies to materials purchased, not on how it affects books already located on school library shelves.<\/p>\n They said that the Texas Education Agency has provided a \u201chigh-level overview\u201d of SB 13 which added new requirements regarding \u201ca school district\u2019s library materials and catalogs.\u201d The district argued it already provides opportunities for parents to check what is offered in its library.<\/p>\n \u201cParents can also be involved in what children can read in the library,\u201d according to the district. \u201cThis means a parent can see exactly what books are in the school library and what is available for their children to check out.\u201d<\/p>\n Parents are also allowed to put book titles on a \u201crestricted list\u201d if they do not want their children reading certain titles and are notified when their child checks out a book from the school library.<\/p>\n Lara said this is not good enough. \u201cWe believe Texas families deserve stronger protections, greater transparency, and meaningful consequences when those protections are violated or ignored,\u201d he added. \u201cWe call on the Lubbock ISD School Board to take these concerns seriously, to fulfill their elected duty, and to simply remove these harmful, indecent books.\u201d<\/p>\n During a June Lubbock ISD school board meeting<\/a>, activists testified about issues surrounding the book review process and State Sen. Charles Perry<\/a> (R\u2013Lubbock) criticized both the content available to students and the district\u2019s response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that there are specific rules the school districts must follow when books are purchased or donated and Lubbock ISD is following them,\u201d explained the district.<\/p>\n
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