North Carolina bill would give parents greater say over public-school libraries

The North Carolina Senate is poised to vote on a bill establishing new guidelines to monitor media in public-school libraries – which includes giving parents more leeway in adding and removing items.

House Bill 636 or “Promoting Wholesome Content for Students” would create a community library advisory committee of parents and school staffers to recommend approving or denying materials.

The bill passed the House 63-46 last week with Republicans supporting the legislation and Democrats opposing it, according to WRAL.com.

“Since the beginning of our country, we have recognized the importance of protecting the innocence of children, and that’s what this bill is all about,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Neal Jackson, R-Moore and Randolph.

However, critics of the bill called it tantamount to a book ban, arguing it could create legal and administrative burdens for schools.

“All we’re really doing is inserting government and politics back into classrooms and suppressing ideas and free speech to the detriment of our entire society,” said Rep. Laura Budd, D-Mecklenburg.

Putting mature content ‘out of the reach of children’

If passed, the bill would still allow school districts to decide whether to follow or reject the advisory committee’s recommendations, according to the Associated Press. 

“This is not a book ban,” said Rep. Brian Echevarria, R-Cabarrus. “This is putting things out of the reach of children.” 

Supporters also argued parents could still give their children these materials by purchasing them or borrowing them from public libraries. 

Public-school library materials have drawn criticism in recent years for including sexually explicit content, including themes of “gender fluidity.” 

In Texas, a school board passed an amendment against such content after Emelie Schmidt, 25, testified her school “had a huge part” in grooming her “to be trans.” 

“Why do you want to teach children that self-hatred is normal?” she said. “Why do you want to teach children that they have to chop off healthy body parts in order to be happy? And why do people like you tell me that I needed to self-harm in order to be happy?” 

The school Schmidt attended also required teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns, directly contradicting the guidelines of Schmidt’s mom. 

“Teachers were required to call me ‘Jacob’ and use ‘he/him’ pronouns,” Schmidt said to the Texas House Public Health Committee in 2023. “I believe that if they would have called me by my real name that I would have came out of my delusions and depressions sooner. I am proof that a child can overcome gender dysphoria by not feeding into their delusions.”