by Charlotte O’Hara as published in the Johnson County Gazette. Shared with permission

I’m so confused, why have many of our JoCo schools and our JoCo Public Library become purveyors of obscene and indecent materials?  Are they now groomers for the Porn industry, an industry which has revenue estimates of up to $100 billion worldwide and $13 billion in the U.S.? Irrefutably the Porn industry is a direct conduit into the dark world of human trafficking.

According to this 2019 study published in Journal of Counselor Practice: “Pornography is the driving force behind the international sex trafficking industry (MacKinnon, 2005). Women and children devise much of the pornography industry and are often “rented” in order to produce films that flood the market (Mackinnon, 2005). Higher demands for the production of pornography have fueled the need to find individuals that can be used in these films. Together, pornography and sex trafficking have become an epidemic in the violation of human rights.”

So why are the following titles available in many of OUR schools and in ALL of OUR JoCo Libraries?

1.  Court of Mist and Fury, Young Adult, By Sarah J. Maas, BookLooks.org, 4/5 Not For Minors: “This book contains sexual nudity, explicit graphic sexual activities, violence and profanity.”

SMSD, BVSD, Olathe SD and JoCo Library (all copies in use, ebooks, downloadable audiobook, CD audiobook, and book with 356 holds total all categories)

2.  A Court of Silver Flames, Young Adult, By Sarah Maas, BookLooks.org 4/5 Not For Minors: “This book contains obscene sexual activities, explicit sexual nudity, excessive/frequent profanity and graphic violence.”

Olathe SD, BVSD, SMSD and JoCo Library (all copies in use, 73 holds on 20 copies, ebook all copies in use, 93 holds on 16 copies) pulled from Gardner/Edgerton

3.  All Boys Aren’t Blue, Young Adult, By George M. Johnson, BookLooks.org 4/5 Not For Minors: “This book contains sexual nudity, sexual activities including sexual assault, alternate gender ideologies, profanity and derogatory terms, alcohol and drug use and controversial racial commentary.”

Available SMSD, BVSD, Olathe SD and JoCo Library (listed as Teen, all downloaded copies in use, 1 hold)

4.  Fun Home, Adult Graphic Novel, By Alison Bechdel, BookLooks.org 4/5 Not For Minors “This book contains alternate sexualities, alternate gender ideologies, profanity, alcohol use; suicide commentary, controversial religious commentary, sexual activities; and sexual nudity.”

In SMSD, BVSD, Olathe SD and JoCo Library (all copies in use, 1 hold)

5.  Gender Queer, Adult Graphic Novel, By Maia Kobabe, BookLooks.org 4/5 Not For Minors “This book contains obscene sexual activities and sexual nudity, alternate gender ideologies and profanity.”

SMSD, BVSD, Olathe and JoCo Library (all copies in use, 6 holds)

These titles are a few of those available to OUR children.  Why are WE allowing these obscene and indecent books in OUR public schools and libraries purchased with OUR tax dollars?  Material in these books would not be allowed on radio or broadcast TV between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. to protect OUR children. Why aren’t the same standards in place to protect OUR children in OUR public schools and libraries?

At the Spring Hill School Board meeting, Monday, Oct. 23^rd in the public comment time (5 minutes and broadcasted, unlike the BOCC 2 minutes, banned from broadcast) I voiced concerns about their freshman health textbook, An Invitation to Health.   Subjects included:  Sex on Campus, Hooking Up (students may engage in casual/commitment-free sex), gender identity (Transgender agenda) and Rational Suicide.  There is more, far too graphic to include, which was ALL available to OUR 14-year-olds!!!!  Thankfully a vigilant mom asked to review the textbook with the curriculum director.  It had not been allowed outside of the classroom, a HUGE red flag.

After the review, the textbook was removed, the Spring Hill School District deemed it not age-appropriate (when would this be age-appropriate?).  But not before OUR children were exposed to this “not age appropriate” material.    How did this ever get into the classroom?

Quoting from the FCC website: In the Supreme Court’s 1964 landmark case on obscenity and pornography, Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote: “I know it when I see it.” 

I have seen it, I know it and I ask: have OUR public schools and libraries become groomers and or purveyors for the porn trade, which irrefutably feeds into the dark world of human trafficking?