1- INTRODUCTION
The current policy regarding obscene curriculum materials and books at East Noble schools requires improvement. It drives unnecessary division in the community. Ideas to improve this on a state-wide level were presented to our State Senator and State Representatives in February 2024 during a Legislative Update held at the Kendallville Public Library.
The following is an overview of an approach that would likely satisfy parents, and end the claims about book bans.
2- THE CURRENT PROCESS
SUMMARY:
- The choices of curriculum materials and books by educators have no up front parental involvement.
- It is a fact that books containing obscene/materials harmful to minors have made it into the hands of East Noble students. Only a portion of these materials were removed after exposure.
GAPS IN THE CURRENT PROCESS:
- Unfair Burden – Places all the work on busy parents who take an engaged interest in protecting their children.
- Passive & Reactive – Parents are often left to discover that their student was exposed after the fact.
- Redundant – Parents are re-doing the research work which is likely to have already been done by others.
- No Ratings System – The online book catalog has no ratings system! Even streaming services and movie theaters have this!
- Discourages Complaints – It suggests that the parent’s concern carries less weight or is less legitimate unless and until they read the materials end to end. Believing that a person cannot rely on a ratings source as a reasonable judgement about a book and a summary of it’s contents is like saying that math is invalid if you use a calculator.
- Ineffective Complaint Process
- Not representative of the values of many parents
- Committees are outside of accountability for voters
- Doesn’t take input from the parents/community
- Takes time away from educators to focus on teaching
- Has resulted in inconsistent outcomes from book to book with no reasonable explanation to citizens on why one book is removed and another isn’t when they both clearly contain obscene/material harmful to minors
- Brings division and turmoil to the community
3- WHAT IS “DEFAULT OPT-OUT”?
Put simply, it is parental informed consent.
- Any book containing obscene/harmful content as defined by Indiana Code (with the exception of “as a whole” loophole) requires that the school obtain informed consent of the parent before the student is exposed to it.
- This is not materially different from what used to occur in K-12 education when we were kids for such things as field trips, or other items of risk.
4- ADVANTAGES (of Default Opt-Out)
- Greatly reduces the burden on engaged parents
- Prevents students from being exposed before parental consent
- Likely eliminates the complaint process entirely – freeing up staff and administration
- It cannot be misconstrued as book banning and censorship
- Removes division in the community – giving each parent a choice
- It is legal and requires no additional changes to legislation to implement
5- HOW IT MIGHT WORK
- DETERMINATION – Curriculum materials and books would need to be reviewed by the teacher.
- This burden could be reduced if the staff developed a shared spreadsheet/database.
- THE STANDARD – The standard rule/definition would be the existing definitions in Indiana Law of what is obscene/harmful to minors (without the great loophole of “as a whole”).
- FORMS & APPROVAL – The parental consent form would be provided well ahead of the material being distributed to students.
- Parents must sign and return by a reasonable deadline.
- The form would explain that the material/book has content that is defined by Indiana Law as obscene/material harmful to minors.
- It cannot just be a blanket “it may contain” statement and again leave additional unnecessary work up to the parent.
- It would be kind and helpful to parents to provide references to the type and location of the questionable content (chapter/page).
- It would be kind and helpful to parents to encourage them to locate a trusted source to find out more information.
- FAILURE TO APPROVE – The student must be assigned something without obscene/harmful content.
6- EXPECTED QUESTIONS
Q1: What would be the standard used to determine if a material/book contained obscene/material harmful to minors?
A1: Indiana Code (without the “as a whole” loophole)
Q2: Doesn’t this put an unfair burden on the teacher?
A2: A trusted educator should already be well aware of books that have had controversy if they have a heart to help and respect parents. Burden can be managed and greatly reduced with information sharing amongst educators.
7- FINAL COMMENTS
If you have suggestions for further improvements to this proposal, please contact EngageEastNoble@gmail.com.
You are also encouraged to reach out and discuss it with board members and the superintendent.