HARRISBURG, Pa.—Pennsylvania’s Senate Education committee voted Wednesday to advance a bill that would require parental consent for children to access “sexually explicit content” in schools.
Critics allege the bill is a “book ban” and part of a broader Republican attack on public education.
However, proponents of the bill say it would simply allow parents to protect children in a manner consistent with other laws on explicit content.
Senate Bill 7 would identify explicit content in school curricula, materials, and books. It would create an opt-in policy that would notify parents of the sexually explicit content, allow parents to review the materials, and require parents to give direct consent for their children to have access to the sexually explicit content.
Corruption of Minors
Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephenie Scialabba (R-Butler) spoke to The Epoch Times earlier this month about the bills: “We’re not saying ban books, burn books, get them off the shelves. That’s not what we’re saying. What we’re saying is: follow the law. You cannot let kids access this, at the very minimum, without parental consent.”Ms. Scialabba is a co-sponsor of House Bill 1659, and a minority member of the Education Committee.
Her remarks reinforced statements that she made on Oct. 4 on the steps of the state capitol: “When we’re dealing with this kind of content, it gets wrapped in mass hysteria and accusations, honestly, from the left ... What you see to the right and left of me is corruption of minors, and anything to the contrary—and I will borrow their term—is theater.”
The images in question were from books at Pennsylvania high schools. Ms. Scialabba pointed out that the images were so pornographic that they could not be shown on camera. Yet, they are available to school children.
“This is not a new concept. It’s not a new law,” Ms. Scialabba told The Epoch Times. “This is not about banning books. This is about enforcing existing obscenity law.”
The new bills would amend the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, by adding a section that provides for parental control relating to instructional materials and books containing sexually explicit content.
“What it is saying is that you cannot have children accessing pornography,” Ms. Scialabba explained. “If you’re going to have it in your library, we are not telling you to remove it, [but] telling you that you had better keep it in a different place. That you’re not letting kids access it unless the parents said they can go to it.”
‘An Absolute Proliferation’ of Pornography In Schools
“We are seeing an absolute proliferation of inappropriate content in schools,” Ms. Scialabba said. “And I’m not talking about concepts and ideas. What I’m talking about are graphic depictions of what looks like children on children porn. This does not belong in schools. It’s not Scholastic.”During the interview, she showed some obscene pictures collected from school libraries or school book fairs.
This sexually explicit content is in school libraries across the state, from elementary to middle to high school, Ms. Scialabba said.
It’s available at book fairs, where kids “can buy these books, they can rent the books, they can keep them in their locker, they can keep them at school, they can take them home and their parents never have any idea.”
Ms. Scialabba cited a school board member who saw sexually explicit books at a Scholastic book fair. Others have seen them in school libraries.
“What we are talking about is absolutely porn,” Ms. Scialabba said. “There is zero room to argue that it is not, there is zero room to argue that it has some other redeeming characteristic, some great political value, or even an insignificant political value. This is pornography that is being made accessible to minors in our schools.”
‘Not a Left Versus Right Issue’
“There are a few people who have been recipients of that left push for hysteria, that we are trying to ban books. And that is not the case,” Ms. Scialabba said.But there are restrictions, she added. “We have laws in place that say you need to be 18 plus to enter a sex strip or a sex club or a strip club … we have laws that say if you’re going to enter a sexually explicit website, you need to be 18 years old. You can’t read pornography unless you’re 18 years old,” she said.
After she showed people the obscene photos, “I have not heard one of them say that they believe that it belongs in the school,” she said.
Ms. Scialabba reiterated that the two bills are not banning books. Instead, “it’s requiring students to have parental consent permission to access sexually explicit content.”
“We’re not asking you to remove it. We’re not telling you to ban the book. What we’re saying is you can’t give it to kids unless their parent says that particular book is okay.”
The Three R’s—Plus Porn
Ms. Scialabba said she wants parents to take a stand and get more involved.“It’s similar to what we’re seeing in Israel right now, where you don’t want to look because it’s uncomfortable. It’s disturbing, but you have to look, you have to see what’s going on.”
The vast majority of the reactions are “very disturbed“ and “very angry,” she said, after parents saw the sexually explicit photos from schools.
Ms. Scialabba said when parents send their kids to school expecting them to be learning math, science, English, and history, “you don’t expect them to be viewing porn in school.”
She said she wants parents everywhere who want to exercise their right to protect their children from viewing explicit material to step up and give the message to lawmakers, school boards, and school superintendents: “We are concerned, we don’t like this, and we want to see a change.”
Exposure Makes Children Vulnerable to Predators
Ms. Scialabba said that the negative impact of sexually explicit material goes beyond simple exposure. In her district and across the Commonwealth, there is a rise in child trafficking and sex trafficking.“Exposing our children to sexually explicit material normalizes and desensitizes them to the grooming behaviors of predators,” she said.
A child trafficking case happened in her neighborhood last May. “About a mile down the road, a child was taken from his home.”
Ms. Scialabba stressed the importance of both education and mental health care. Parents need to step up and get involved, and realize what’s happening in our schools.
She cited one example. Last year a local school district’s Spirit Week lined up with Veterans’ Week, Nov. 7-11. On Monday, the district had Pride Day. On Tuesday, it had Transgender Support Day. Yet, on Friday, Veterans’ Day, the school district did not do anything.
“I think that is absolutely wrong. I think it’s disgraceful,” Ms. Scialabba said. “I don’t think that you should be having state-wide or school-wide activities talking about anything sexual.”
“It’s constant sexualizing of our children.” She said she feels that sexual topics—beyond the basic workings of anatomy—do not belong in school.
Prior to running for General Assembly, Ms. Scialabba was an attorney at a national law firm. However, she said, “This is the hardest that I’ve ever worked.”
“Because it is absolutely critical and meaningful. This is not a questionable type of topic. It’s not something that you could be wishy-washy on. This is something that you need to commit to helping. And it takes every ounce of you emotionally and physically. I have no other choice, but to try to help our kids.”
