Parents and school boards prepare to take action
New Jersey is often overlooked by the New York and Philadelphia corporate media. This week, that is not the case! New Jersey has been featured on national news coverage for the mysterious drones flying over sensitive locations and for Governor Murphy signing the so-called and misleading, “Freedom to Read” bill.
The lack of facts being reported on both of these major stories is what makes people frustrated with the government and distrustful of the media. Headlines like this cause confusion:
“N.J. just struck a blow against banning books” NJ.com
“New anti-book ban now law in NJ” NJ Spotlight News
Now, here are the facts:
1. By signing this bill, the Governor is not opening the door for sexually explicit books to be in public school libraries. These books are already there and have been accessible to children for years! Our organization has led the fight against these books since 2017 as we urged the Watchung Hills Regional School District to remove the book “Fun Home” from their required reading list.
2. By signing the bill, a new formal process will be required in school districts to allow local parties (parent, student, teacher within the district) to challenge a book on the basis it is age-inappropriate for the students in the school.
◾A review committee will be formed and bring a recommendation to the school board.
◾The school board will have final and full authority to decide if a challenged book is age-inappropriate/grade inappropriate.
◾They will vote on restricting access to the book and must put the reasons for their decision in writing.
◾Books are not allowed to be restricted to students because of the identity of the author or the viewpoint presented, even if such views are offensive. (Legally, this is called “viewpoint discrimination”, and it’s not allowed in any state.)
◾School Boards may restrict access to books if the book is age-inappropriate for students. The librarians don’t decide what is age appropriate. It is in the hands of locally elected school board members that you can vote out of office if they put children at risk for their decisions.
As a matter of more facts, look at this statement from Governor Murphy’s press release when he signed the bill:
Today’s legislation requires local school boards and governing bodies of public libraries to establish policies for curation and removal of library
materials, including a system of review to address concerns over library materials… boards of education and governing boards of public libraries are prevented from censoring library material based on a disagreement with a viewpoint, idea, or concept, or solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups.
Two important facts to keep in mind:
1. Who gets to decide what books are age-appropriate or developmentally inappropriate? Your local school board does! But first, a parent, student, or teacher must challenge the book.
2. Don’t these books violate our obscenity law? We believe they do! However, conservative legal experts nationwide acknowledge judges are hesitant to label books as pornography or obscenity because criminal law comes into play. It is a high bar to meet. However, it’s an incredibly low bar for what is appropriate to give minors in school.
In the final analysis, sexually graphic books featuring depictions and descriptions of sex acts need to be removed from libraries serving children in school. The New Jersey Family Policy Center will be producing educational resources in the weeks ahead for parents and school board members to use this law to protect children.
If anyone doubts these books are age-inappropriate, show them the decision of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) when Allan tried posting photos of the book, “Let’s Talk About it” that is currently accessible to minors in many New Jersey schools.
If Facebook restricts access on their platform, school boards should not do less in New Jersey, because social media feeds should not be safer for children than public school bookshelves!
Let’s make 2025 our best year yet in protecting children in New Jersey. Momentum is on our side!
