NCAC and Free Speech Groups Argue Against Regulations for 'Sexually Explicit' Books

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and eight other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read have written the Virginia Board of Education to oppose a regulation to require schools to warn parents about educational materials containing "sexually explicit" content and to provide an alternative assignment on request. Essentially, the proposal would require parental consent for all students, including those over 18, to read many valuable works of literature.

The Board will consider the issue at its meeting on January 26, 2017.

The current proposal is the latest effort in a 3-year-campaign spearheaded by the parent of a student who was assigned Toni Morrison's iconic novel Beloved in a 12th grade Advanced Placement English class. Last year, the campaign culminated in the so-called Beloved Bill, which was similar to the regulation now under consideration. NCAC and many others opposed the bill on educational and constitutional grounds.Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed the bill, noting these concerns and the fact that the Board of Education was already examining the issue. Proponents of the bill now urge the Board to adopt a regulation to accomplish the same thing.

The groups object that the regulation will undermine education by stigmatizing and deterring the teaching of valuable literature. They also oppose it on constitutional grounds, pointing to a 2011 Supreme Court decision rejecting a parental consent requirement for minors to buy violent video games. The Court found that the video game restriction violated the First Amendment and was unnecessary because parents had other ways to supervise their children's video game purchases, just as Virginia parents already have the right to review the curriculum and request an alternative assignment. In language that applies directly to the Virginia situation, the Supreme Court observed that the parental consent requirement for video games "may indeed be in support of what some parents" want, but that the requirement was really about "what the State thinks parents ought to want."

The letter is co-signed by American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Comic Book legal Defense Fund, National Council of Teachers of English, American Booksellers for Free Expression, Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators, Association of American Publishers, Authors' Guild and PEN America.

"Proponents of the proposed regulation want state law to reflect their personal objections to books with sexual content, but not all parents share their views and concerns. Even worse, the regulation would threaten the constitutional right to read books of unquestioned educational value," said NCAC's Executive Director Joan Bertin.

READ THE LETTER

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