Explicit content, personal bias? Is Onslow County School's 'graphic books' policy working?

Onslow County parents are divided over a recent issue regarding what some are claiming is inappropriate and graphic content in school library books.

Angie Todd, a newly elected member of the board of education, shared her concerns in late October saying she discovered something "heartbreaking" as a result of a Freedom of Information request. Todd claimed Dixon High School allows students to check out books from school libraries containing what she called 'graphic content' without parental consent.

Todd added she has discovered a similar list of 'graphic' books at another Onslow County high school. The list of books she included in a news release had subject matter ranging from LGBTQIA+ topics to abuse and other adult subject matter.

Some of the books Todd referred to included titles such as Boy Meets Boy, A Complicated Love Story Set in Space, Homosexuality, Two Boys Kissing, Gay Power: The Stonewall Riots and The Gay Rights Movement of 1969, Autoboyography, LGBTQ: The Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teensand It Looks Like Me.

"I believe parents should be the deciding force when allowing children to read mature subject matter," Todd said in an October release. "I believe we can do better as a community and honor parental rights and protect our students' innocence."

Todd proposed that, at minimum, these books be removed from the shelves until a student has a written permission slip from a parent or guardian.

Several parents and members of the public spoke at a Nov. 1 Board of Education meeting on both sides of the issue, mainly focusing on the subject matter related to LGBTQIA topics.

"Part of our responsibility is to educate our children in such a manner that they can go into the world and be productive citizens," said Onslow County resident Kenyatta Euring during the meeting. "I agree with the fact that parents should have a say in what their children are exposed to, however, any solution that we come up with that takes away the rights of representation of any other group of students is the wrong solution. Every child needs to see themselves represented in the books they read, things they watch, their education and so forth."

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Onslow County LGBTQ+ Community Center Director Dennis Biancuzzo said he's heard many use the terms obscene and immoral when referring to some of the topics in the books. He disagrees with the use of those terms.

"Any books that are not age-appropriate should be removed from libraries," Biancuzzo said. "The problem lies in what individuals deem as age-appropriate. We have parents who want to turn a blind eye to the reality of their teenage children's lives. Books that speak to age-appropriate sexuality and gender non-conformity are appropriate for teenage-age children."

Board of Education member Melissa Oakley said her personal feelings regarding someone's lifestyle portrayed in a book is not necessarily conducive to the actual reason a book may be pulled, which is per the American Library Association guidelines.

She added there are things they have to go by when looking at what would be deemed inappropriate, asking themselves if the material is truly explicit, or if it's a personal bias.

"I perfectly understand where parents are coming from," Oakley said. "In the meeting, I try to convey everything from a board member standpoint based on how we would be forced to review materials if we looked at them and that is literally from a non-biased lens and a constitutional perspective under the ALA's guidelines that we have in our policy that was just revised and approved."

Parents speak out

Onslow County resident Kimberly Jimmerson also spoke at the meeting, saying as a parent of children in the LGBTQIA community, she believes all identities deserve representation.

Samantha Johnson, another local resident and pastor, said school libraries are an invaluable resource for young people. She said without access to some of these books, students will turn to the internet and social media where information is not vetted or curated.

"These books that have been listed, rather than be a list of books we ban or are accessible only with permission, they are, in my opinion, some of the most valuable books in these school libraries," Johnson said. "They offer a vulnerable population, our LGBTQIA+ teens, reliable resources that they can view or check out in order to understand the questions they're already asking themselves."

Others disagree.

Onslow County resident and mother of two in the Onslow County School system, Rachel Panos, said in the meeting that she does not want her children, or any child, subjected to the "perversions and sexualizations" she claimed the board has allowed. She said the board needs to stop robbing children of their innocence, "let kids be kids."

Oakley emphasized again that the board cannot just start pulling books off of shelves. There are processes they have to go through and guidelines they have to follow. She also highlighted the many books outside of the LGBTQ genre that has also been banned in recent years.

"When you look at it from both sides of the line with the political spectrum, we're banning books everywhere," Oakley said. "My question is, at the end of the day, when do we stop? As far as I'm seeing it, before it's over, my grandchildren will grow up in schools where there aren't any books on the shelves because someone somewhere found something offensive."

Oakley said she understands the outrage of parents who don't want their children reading pornographic material or seeing images of people engaging in sexual activity. She said she agrees that to be wrong. However, she added she also agrees with it being wrong regardless of whether it's heterosexual or homosexual.

"If it's sexually explicit, it's sexually explicit regardless of the side of the line," Oakley said. "What I'm seeing happen here, is, around the state and around the country, there's only one genre of books that people are focused on when really and truly, there are books beyond that genre that have some explicit stuff."

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So, what's the solution?

Oakley said she wouldn't be opposed to permission slips as a solution.

She said she has made calls to other North Carolina board members who have faced this issue already and many of them went the permission slip route, saying it's worked. She said she also wouldn't be opposed to having some sort of media committee where community members and residents from different demographics and dynamics come to the table so all voices could be represented and heard.

"Parents have rights, they just have to exercise them," Oakley said. "I think that's a lot of the problem that we're dealing with is that parents aren't really sure what their rights are and then they don't know how to exercise them and how far they can exercise them when they do have them."

According to Onslow County Board of Education Policy Code 3210: Parental Inspection and Objection to Instructional Materials, the board provides opportunities for parents to review instructional materials and to object to the use of materials.

"Parents have a right under federal law to inspect all instructional materials which will be used in connection with any survey, analysis, or evaluation as part of any applicable federally funded programs," the policy states. "Parents ordinarily also may review all other instructional materials following procedures provided by the school or superintendent."

The policy also states that if the principal or school-based media review committee determines that any material violates the constitutional or other legal rights of the parent or student, the principal or the school-based media review committee will either remove the material from instructional use or accommodate the particular student and parent.

"The decision of the committee or principal may be appealed to the superintendent," the policy reads. "The decision of the superintendent may be appealed to the board. The superintendent shall develop the necessary administrative procedures to implement this policy."

Onslow County Schools Chief Technology Officer Jeff Pittman and OCS Director of Digital Learning and Teaching Stephen Taylor said the previous and current board policies regarding this issue have worked well in the past, adding the process in place allows students, parents and community members to express their specific concerns, while also ensure media center have a diverse and age-appropriate collection.

"OCS Media Coordinators consult national and state resources such as the North Carolina School Library Media Association, School Library Journal and others for recommendations on book lists that include criteria such as reading complexity and suggestions as to appropriateness for specific grade level configurations," Pittman and Taylor said. "Media Coordinators also take into consideration such factors as circulation statistics, their community’s local interests and recommendations from staff, students and the community at large.

Reporter Morgan Starling can be reached at mstarling@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Is Onslow County School's 'graphic books' policy working?