Marietta, GA — On Thursday evening, a group of concerned parents gathered for a press conference before the monthly School Board meeting to expose the harmful pornographic novels in Cobb County school libraries. They were joined by incumbent Republican school board members Brad Wheeler and Randy Scamihorn.

Arielle Kurtze is the mother of three government school students who was the first to raise this issue before the School Board in September of 2023, praising the decision to remove some of the inappropriate books.

“What should have been an easy and common sense solution has turned into a political and social fight in our community,” said Kurtze.

The press conference featured numerous pastors and two school board members who spoke in support of the Superintendent’s decision. The Democrat members on the school board previously attempted to pass a policy change that would have prevented the Superintendent from being allowed to independently remove titles from school libraries, but that vote failed along party lines, with Republicans holding a one vote majority. Superintendent Ragsdale has been open about not being deterred from protecting students and continues to receive support from the community for his courage and initiative in this effort.

“This is egregious and a nefarious agenda that is attempting to indoctrinate our kids, trying to groom them, it is actual soft pedaling pedophilia. It even promotes rape culture with the language… it begins to warp their sexual preferences toward things like violence,” said Pastor Frankie Vega of Awakening and Reformation Center. 

Beside the press conference was a table for the other side featuring numerous controversial books, a flag saying “Read Banned Books” and signs and t-shirts calling for the removal of Superintendent Ragsdale. A group supporting the obscene books gathered around the table and were joined by Andrew Cole, the Democrat candidate challenging Brad Wheeler for Post 7. By displaying copies of the objectionable books, they proved the books were not in fact “banned.” If the books were truly “banned,” you wouldn’t be allowed to purchase or own them. These books were simply removed from children’s libraries that are funded by tax-dollars. It is expected that if the Democrats gain a majority in the November 5th election, they will fire Superintendent Ragsdale and reintroduce all of these books into Cobb’s school libraries.

Members of the anti-child-innocence group on the side took the opportunity to heckle and contradict speakers on more than one occasion during the press conference. 

Speakers recommended voters visit the web site www.booksinschools.com and take time to read for themselves the content in question. You will find the removed books contain graphic depictions and first person narratives of teen fornication, and teen homosexual perverted acts, sexual abuse, teen drug and alcohol abuse, attempted suicide. The narrative in books like Flamer is so explicit and so vile the school district won’t allow you to read it aloud on their recording of the school board meeting. Speakers attempting to read from the books get stopped and the video recording paused before they are allowed to continue. Posting such obscene language might leave the school district liable and vulnerable to lawsuits, but if it is inappropriate for the general public, why give it to children? 

“We have to be the adults in the room, that is our job,” said Brad Wheeler, one of the school board members featured. “I’ll never support the material you’ve seen at booksinschools.com.”

The school board has been split along party lines, with Republicans favoring the protection of children and Democrats opposing it.  

It is worth noting that the books removed are not biology text books. These are not descriptions found in a health class. These are novels that are shaping the minds of the next generation, and while many of them have been removed, there are more concerning books that are awaiting review, such as “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” a story that centers on a teen girls journey into fornication and rebellion against her concerned parents, and contains explicit details.

“I’ve read some of this material – a lot of it, and let me tell you, it’s disgusting! I would not have grown men in my church read this material, much less children reading this material,” said Pastor Nick Steinichen, of Four Points Church in Kennesaw. He referenced the gratuitous use of profanity, another common theme in the books, including frequent use of “the N-word,” which encourages children to use it themselves. He also referenced the graphic depiction of attempted suicide featured in the notorious book Flamer. 

“I asked myself this question… What kind of grown adults wants kids to read these books? And why?” He quoted Matthew 18:6, saying, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

He took the opportunity to urge everyone in the group of hecklers supporting the books to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for salvation.

The indoctrination is not subtle anymore and the left continues to plow through every cultural standard of sexual ethics, relentlessly pushing the envelope to normalize sexual deviancy and sexual acts Americans once considered criminal. Leftists claim conservatives are simply behind the times and not progressing with the changing culture, while being themselves the agents of cultural change by normalizing perversion. They defend their actions by saying anyone appalled by explicit sexual narratives being given to children are people who “just don’t understand this decade.” People concerned about the breakdown of the family, it’s impact on the economy and the next generation, would do well to take heed to what is occurring behind the backs of parents in government schools around the country.

“As a parent of small children, I am extremely conscious of the fact that the books I read to my children are shaping their view or reality, their worldview, their sense of right and wrong, and their sense of normal and abnormal. Their limited life experiences are greatly supplemented by the books they read. To pretend like the books we encourage children to read are all, generic, neutral and equal is absurd,” said Abigail Darnell. 

“We want to protect our children both physically as well as mentally, and give parents a chance… to make individual decisions about how to educate their children,” said Randy Scamihorn, another Republican School Board Member. “We need appropriate material at the appropriate level, and we need to remove that material that is not appropriate. And sexually graphic material is not appropriate.”