Forsyth County Georgia Board of Education - Jere Krischel - 9/20/2022

I'd like to acknowledge the recent East Forsyth controversy - it is indeed problematic, that any student, or staff at our schools, would ever write, or speak out loud, in any context, the racially charged word that is never allowed. It is further problematic that our children were able to post and view videos of this, spreading this evil word over and over and over again - Every person on the internet, who ever played that video, should be very ashamed of themselves. The social media companies who hosted this hateful content should also be held accountable, and I ask the board to make sure they are blocked from all school networks. Left and right, conservative and liberal, republican and democrat, capitalist and socialist, I'm sure that we all agree the slang "C-word" for white people needs to be abolished once and for all from public view. And if there are any Nabisco Saltine C-word packages in any of our schools, I expect them to be thrown out, or relabeled "Nabisco Saltine Dry Biscuits".

Moving on to things that we might not agree on.

Last month, we heard from a speaker who believed that somehow, removing sexually explicit books from school libraries is a violation of the rights of parents who want their kids to see sexually explicit materials at a young age. I would love to have a chance to talk with them further, to better understand their position, because it is genuinely confusing.

Maybe their point was, that the one and only line of defense for children should be their parents - that nobody else should bear any responsibility, for the exposure of children to indecent and explicit materials. And further, those parents who *want* their children to see pornography and childhood sexualization will suffer harm if we deny their 6 year olds the "intellectual freedom" to view porn at school.

Or maybe they believe, that children should be so perfectly trained by their parents, before they get to school, that they aren't traumatized or tempted by sexually explicit materials. And given a world where porn can spill out of any cellphone or computer with a click of a button, I suppose I can understand the importance of developing this kind of resiliency, by raising our children with a strong moral foundation, that understands that men and women are different, yet equally valuable, and that sexual activity is a sacred thing that should be private, monogamous, and ideally, heterosexual.

But even if it *is* important that parents protect their children, and teach them to be resilient, does that really justify introducing them to sexually explicit materials at inappropriate ages? Did the speaker last month really believe that *all* sexually explicit materials are appropriate for *all* ages? I shudder to think of the kind of person who would knowingly and willingly expose a 6 year old to the graphic details of various sexual fetishes, or even the graphic details of standard human sexual activity.

Of course, it's possible that they just weren't speaking clearly, and that they too, believe in the sacred values of chastity and monogamy, and also understand that what is appropriate for a 16 year old might not be appropriate for a 15 year old, or a 6 year old, or an immature 17 year old. Without the chance to have a long, respectful conversation together, I can only hazard a guess as to what they really meant.

I am grateful that we live in a state and county that has made it a priority to protect our children from inappropriate sexual materials, and thank the Board for their work to do so.

And so on that note, thank you very much for your time, and again, I'd love to have lunch with anyone who disagrees with me.