Florida's Pinellas County school district, reflecting a trend taking place across the state, pulled five books from its shelves amid concerns that their graphic sexual and violent content is inappropriate for minors, the GazetteXtra reported Wednesday.
As part of the new trend, parents have started to recite excerpts at board meetings of books they want removed from schools instead of filing formal complaints and going through a public hearing.
Other school districts in Florida have taken similar actions. The Indian River County School Board last month removed several dozen books from libraries after parents complained about graphic content in them at a meeting, CBS12 reported.
This is in accordance with a Florida law that states schools can't have books with pornographic content or material considered harmful to minors, according to GazetteXtra.
The Pinellas County school district also told schools to reclassify another 11 books as available for high school juniors and seniors only if they get written permission from their parents. In addition, 12 books were labeled for high school grades, removing them from middle schools, and another two remain under review.
Laura Hine, vice chairwoman of the Pinellas board, said it makes sense for the district to take a closer look at materials that are brought forward, and that there are "times when executive action has to be taken."
Angela Dubach, president of the Moms for Liberty group Pinellas chapter, who has been among the residents calling for books to be classified more appropriately, and removed if necessary, praised the district for its decisions.
"That's good they're doing what they should," Dubach said. "If I were to hand material to a child that has explicit sexual material ... I could be arrested for that. So why is it different inside a school?"
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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