Porn in our Schools: Inside the Explosive School Board Meeting that Rocked Savannah

Concerned citizens, a group that included grandmothers, a mom, a caretaker, a lawyer, and a local doctor, made their case during the public appearance agenda portion of the January 5 meeting of the Savannah Chatham County School (SCCPSS) Board.

Caution: Graphic and sexually explicit language.

There are some books that every child should read at some point. Whether it’s the engaging fantasy of a Harry Potter book, the unflinching tragedy of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or the stirring emotion of Bridge to Terabithia, these are the stories that form a child’s outlook on life at a key time in their development. 

But according to one group of Chatham residents, those classic works of literature are sharing shelf space in public schools with pornography. 

These concerned citizens, a group that included grandmothers, a mom, a caretaker, a lawyer, and a local doctor, made their case during the public appearance agenda portion of the January 5 meeting of the Savannah Chatham County School (SCCPSS) Board. Presenting research enabled by an Open Records Request, they shared with the Board and Superintendent Levett multiple examples of sexually explicit passages, including one also with graphic pornographic images, from books they had found being made available to our middle and high school students at system libraries/media centers. 

Among their findings were fifteen book titles, to date, that contain everything from R-rated language, mature content and masturbation to explicit pictures of sexual acts, such as oral sex between two boys. Each presenter read at least one excerpt from one or more of these book titles. Though only one or two excerpts from each book were read, these passages were not anomalies. The pornography was ubiquitous throughout the books.

From Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson.

“They leave the room complaining about how stupid I am. As soon as they’re out of the door, Marisol shoves me away from her bed. “Disgusting puta! You smell like p**sy through your holey panties.” “What the f**k is taking so damn long,” the girl’s mother groans. I can’t believe this f**cking s**t. ….. And you go and f**k him again.”

From All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Johnson, housed in Islands, Jenkins, Savannah High and two middle Schools, Coastal and Ellis K8. 

“He reached his hand down and pulled out my d**k. He quickly went to giving me h**d. I just sat back and enjoyed it as I could tell he was, too.” The passage continues: “He didn’t know I was a virgin, and I did my best to act dominant like my favorite porn star.”

From Monday’s Not Coming, by Tiffany Jackson, housed in Beach, Islands, Jenkins, Savannah High, Johnson and Windsor Woods.

“Me and Monday…. We did do something.” He took a deep breath. “She… sucked my d***. I didn’t really want it to happen, it just kinda… did,” “Her top lip curled up. ‘Wait a minute, is that what was really going on? She did your homework and you [ate] her c****ie! Is that why you crying? ‘Cause Monday’s not around to do your homework no more?”

These books normalize teenage sex whether it is heterosexual, homosexual, or transsexual with no mention of age of consent. Some of the books suggest to students that choosing their gender is a decision everyone has a responsibility to make with the same gravity as choosing a college. Further, it is encouraged that this decision must be made sooner than later, long before their rational brain (prefrontal cortex) is fully developed at the earliest of age 18. The books that encourage this aren’t written by psychologists or counselors but by any random author. For example, the author, Sherman Alexie, author of one book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian had to publicly apologize for the alleged sexual harassment charges made against him by 20 women. 

A packet was left with the board to include the book lists, school locations, ratings of the books if the Motion Picture Association of America ratings guidelines were applied to the books (e.g. R, NC-17) and the excerpts read by the presenters. The response from one member of the Board was that the only option for follow up was for the team to file 85 appeals, one per book, per school location. 

The question remains, why aren’t there criminal charges being prepared for this sharing of obscenity with our minor students in Chatham County? The answer is that Georgia is one of only a handful of states that has a loophole exception for holding culpable the public school and public libraries for sharing obscenity. The team made it clear that they aren’t book burners so don’t care about the loophole for public libraries but want the loophole for school libraries closed immediately.

A bill introduced in the last legislative session tried to close this loop, but the legislature adjourned sine die without addressing it. Noelle Kahaian of protectstudenthealthga.com was the point person for this effort. She and others will push for school “transparency” through a parent “Bill of Rights” during this legislative session to include ridding public school libraries of inappropriate books. The School Board packet was shared also with our local legislators who appeared to be unaware: they intend to take the cause with them to upcoming session.