There are a plethora of books being presented in schools as part of a social/emotional learning curriculum, sometimes referred to as SEL. These books offer characters of diverse backgrounds and worldviews and are meant to help students understand and even identify with their stories. Initially, this curriculum may have been introduced as a means of helping students understand and learn about other cultures, socioeconomic circumstances, or religious beliefs to prevent bullying. But however well-intentioned, it has been hijacked by activist teachers.

The issue now, more than ever, is that these books increasingly contain content that is explicit, pornographic, obscene, profane, and full of horror that leads to a character’s suicide. Parents are now finding out about these books from other parents across the country and are investigating with the vain hope that it’s not in their own child’s school.

Last week, a Virginia mom from Fairfax County confronted the school board after discovering these books were available in her high schooler’s library. Two of these books contain material that was pedophilic and graphic. She said: “This is not about being anti-gay, anti-trans, or whatever. I would have been there and said every single word I said if this had been the depiction of a heterosexual couple with heterosexual acts — pornography is pornography, and I don’t care what the gender is. And by the way, it’s even worse that the pornography involves children. That takes it to a whole other level of evil.”

Warning: Video contains explicit language.

She recited some of the passages at the meeting. Ironically, though, the oblivious school board cut off her mic, saying there were children present. If it’s something you’d be horrified to have read aloud at a public meeting, you should be equally horrified to know it’s available at your high schooler’s library — which is exactly this mother’s point.

In Texas, there were two different incidents where moms went to the school board about books their middle school-aged children were being asked to read. The first mother, Kara Bell, found a sexually explicit passage in a book called Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez. It describes acts that no high schooler, let alone middle schooler, should be exposed to. This mother was irate as she confronted the board.

Warning: Video contains explicit language.

In the second instance, Texas mom Sherry Clemens had to confront her child’s school board after attempts to go to the teacher, principal, and district were proven ineffective. She had very grave concerns about the books her gifted middle school child was asked to read. The first red flag was when her child brought home a reading list, and seven of the books needed a permission slip. The next red flag was when her daughter mentioned that she herself was concerned, which was the impetus for Ms. Clemens to start investigating. After researching and reading these books, the mother found there was explicit sexual content, sexual violence, obscenity, books with LGBTQ+ material, and instances of suicide. Understandably, she brought her concerns to the teacher (who has yet to meet with her), the principal, the district, and finally, since no actions were being taken, the school board.

There are other instances that only make the local news, but more parents across the country are actively searching for these books that are clearly inappropriate for their children. Which should be a good thing, right? Unfortunately, at a Virginia gubernatorial debate this week, the Democrat candidate staunchly disagreed. Terry McAuliffe feels that parents should not be allowed to interfere in what schools are teaching their children. He thinks it is demeaning toward the teachers and that parents should just let them be. This despite the two candidates discussing the incident of the Virginia mother regarding pedophilic books. Monstrous.

If a politician has the audacity to try to take away your rights as parents in your child’s education, that should be a huge wake-up call. There is great and terrible power in books with bad ideas. The more these inappropriate books are exposed and taken out of the hands of these vulnerable kids, the better. But to McAuliffe’s point, parental interference is the only stopgap to cultural depravity and teachers with an agenda.