Some parents are outraged over the cartoon drawings of naked people and others involved in sexual acts. It’s available at the middle school libraries. And although it show that it’s meant for kids 10 years and up, it’s still making some parents uncomfortable.
“Most of the time, when I showed this to parents, their jaws just hit the floor,” parent Tim Schmidt said. “They were shocked and then their next reaction was outrage.”
Tim Schmidt is a father of two. He’s talking about the reaction some parents have to “Perfectly Normal.” According to the authors, it talks about changing bodies, growing up, sex and sexual health.
“It has a lot of explicit drawings,” Schmidt said. “Cartoon images, life-like cartoon images. A look of nudity. It actually shows people having sex.”
This is the first school year that the book has been in the Francis Howell School District. It’s only available in e-form at the middle school libraries… but it’s not a part of the school curriculum.
Schmidt filed a formal complaint to have the literature removed. The school district’s only comment on this issue mainly addressed the complaint.
District officials say “it was determined to keep the ebook available as a resource for check-out in the library. If a parent determines that he/she does not want to their child to have access to certain materials, we honor that request.”
Some parents are ok with the book, including June Tiller.
“I feel like if the school teaches them this, and they have this information available, it’s very important, and it will help keep them safe,” Tiller said.
I reached out to several other school districts about the ebook. Parkway and Ferguson-Florissant got back to me, and they say neither of those districts have the book.
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