OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate panel on Tuesday passed a bill aimed at barring students from accessing books with obscene or offensive content.
Senate Bill 397 by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, passed the Senate Education Committee by of vote of 10-2 and now heads to the Senate floor.
“This bill would stop students from accessing obscene or offensive content at schools,” Hamilton said. “Parents across the state are concerned that their students may be able to get their hands on inappropriate materials from the library.”
The bill would create local committees to classify books and other materials in school and public libraries into age-appropriate categories ranging from elementary to juniors and seniors and making the content available to those specified age groups.
Students seeking to access books only for juniors and seniors would be required to show parental or guardian consent in writing.
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“Beginning July 1, 2024, no print or nonprint material or media in a school district library, charter school library, or public library shall include content that the average person age 18 or older applying contemporary community standards would find has predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex,” the measure says.
Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, asked why private schools were not included.
Hamilton said they are not funded with public dollars.
Hamilton said it is not the intent of the measure to ban anatomy or biology books used in sex education.
Sen. Michael Bergstrom, R-Adair, said nothing in the measure would prohibit a parent from checking out a book and providing it to the student.
“Once again, our Republican colleagues are telling Oklahoma parents we don’t trust them to make decisions for their families,” said Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa. “I’m sorely disappointed we have chosen to limit Oklahomans’ freedoms by censoring schools and libraries.”
Content in libraries is something parents are paying attention to, said Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, R-Edmond.
“I have previously opposed banning books,” Pugh said. “That is not what this bill seeks to do. This bill seeks to create a set of standards that are appropriate school by school, grade by grade, and include parents in the process.”
With all the talk of banned books, Tulsa World Staff Writer Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, who covers education, checked with local school librarians to see what the process is like. She talks with Tulsa World Editor Jason Collington about what she found out and other hot topics when it comes to education in Oklahoma.
These were the top 10 books people wanted removed from schools and libraries in 2021
1. ‘Gender Queer’ by Maia Kobabe
Reasons for challenge, according to the ALA: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.
Find it on Amazon.
2. ‘Lawn Boy’ by Jonathan Evison
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Find it on Amazon.
3. ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ by George M. Johnson
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and profanity and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Find it on Amazon.
4. ‘Out of Darkness’ by Ashley Hope Perez
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Find it on Amazon.
5. ‘The Hate U Give’ by Angie Thomas
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity and violence and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
Find it on Amazon.
6. ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and use of a derogatory term.
Find it on Amazon.
7. ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ by Jesse Andrews
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
Find it on Amazon.
8. ‘The Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
Find it on Amazon.
9. ‘This Book is Gay’ by Juno Dawson
Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sex education and LGBTQIA+ content.
Find it on Amazon.
10. ‘Beyond Magenta’ by Susan Kuklin
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Find it on Amazon.
