Chris Lange, FISM News
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A new Virginia law will require the state’s public schools to alert parents if their children could be exposed to sexually explicit content.
The policy says it is designed to help parents make decisions for their children “in accordance with their customs, faith and values.”
School boards across the state have been given a January deadline to adopt regulations that give parents the right to choose whether to allow their children to be exposed to content that includes “any description, picture, photograph, drawing, motion picture film, digital image or similar visual representation depicting sexual bestiality, a lewd exhibition of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse, coprophilia, urophilia, or fetishism.”
It also would require schools to maintain a current list of “any content used by one or more students for educational purposes,” which includes library materials used as part of curriculum or in class assignments.
Schools must also provide “alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests.”
Officials with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) said the policies allow parents to have the final say concerning what their children are exposed to, with the caveat that the policy should not be used to censor books or classroom material based solely upon the sexual orientation of the characters, according to local Richmond outlet WTKR.
The law, which was signed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in April, specifically tasks schools with (i) “ensuring parental notification; (ii) directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and (iii) permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content.” The policy requires school board policies to be consistent with the new VDOE model policies, though they may be more comprehensive.
Virginia has been a hotbed of conflict between parents and school boards, which factored heavily in Youngkin’s 2021 off-year gubernatorial campaign and stunning defeat of Democratic rival Terry McAuliffe, who had long been considered the frontrunner in the blue-leaning state. Youngkin ran on a platform of protecting parents’ rights in schools. His victory was widely viewed as a rebuke against woke school boards.
Several social media users applauded the new mandate.
”@GlennYoungkin and Virginia continue to lead the way on parents’ rights to determine what their children are taught in public schools,” one user tweeted.
“It’s amazing that it had to come to this! Way to go Virginia!!!” another wrote, adding, “How can any sane person think it would ever be ok to show minors anything sexual!?!
Another user praised the new law.
Why this needs to be a mandate is beyond me. It used to be common sense. https://t.co/azv90z80Ls
— KayR (@Kellyring) October 2, 2022