Ohio mayor orders school board to resign or face criminal charges over 'child pornography' taught in schools
Course materials ask students to write about orgasms, 'X-rated Disney scenario'
The mayor of a city in Ohio ordered the school board to either resign or face criminal charges for allowing high school students to be exposed to course material that he described as “child pornography.”
At the Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting Monday, Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert, a Republican, addressed the school board, saying, “It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom. I have spoken to a judge this evening; she has already confirmed that.
“I’m going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged,” he added. The crowd gathered at the board meeting erupted into applause following Shubert’s speech.
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BREAKING: Hudson mayor demands all school board members resign or face possible criminal charges over high school course material that he said a judge called "child pornography."
— Jenny Beth Martin (@jennybethm) September 14, 2021
“I'm going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign or you will be charged." pic.twitter.com/guhp0zc0ns
The course material that raised concerns for Shubert and many parents and students who attended the school board meeting is called, 642 Things to Write About, one of several required texts for composition in the liberal arts II, a college-level English course offered at Hudson High School in conjunction with Hiram College.
Before Shubert spoke, a local resident shared his concerns about the book with the board. “Do not sexualize our kids,” he demanded. “The raw filth that snuck past the gatekeeping functions of this board of ed of 642 Reasons was disgusting.”
The man listed one of the prompts students were asked to write about, including “explain a time when you wanted to orgasm but couldn’t.” He alleged that “students were told not to take the book home” so that their parents would not be aware of the material their children were exposed to at school.
Meredith Judson, a student at Hudson High School, recalled: “The first day we got it, within 10 minutes of us getting this book, all of us around the room had already found the things out” about the problematic prompts in the book. “If we found out in 10 minutes ... that all of these prompts were in the book, it’s just interesting how … the teacher wouldn’t have known about this.”
Judson indicated exposure to sexually explicit material in the classroom was not an isolated incident. She described how in a previous class, she was “watching movies that were rated R that showed very sexual … scenes and very explicit content,” including “a child that was a 10 year old that was up on stage taking off her clothes to do a perverted dance.”
Monica Havens read aloud several additional prompts from the book. One prompt asking students to “Write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom” was followed up by a subsequent prompt asking students to “rewrite the sex scene from above into one that you’d let your mom read.”
According to Havens, 642 Things to Write About also asks students to “describe your favorite part of a man’s body using only verbs,” “write a sermon for a beloved preacher who has been caught in a sex scandal,” “write an X-rated Disney scenario,” “drink a beer” and “write about the taste,” discuss “the first time you had sex” and “write a scene that begins ‘It was the first time I killed a man.’”
“I hope each and every one of you is as uncomfortable as I am after reading that,” she remarked. “Now, imagine you are 17 and in a room full of peers with an adult teacher. How do you feel now?”
“This is what Hudson teachers are asking our children to write about. When these topics are encouraged and read by adults, that is pedophilia and this is happening on your watch.”
Accusing the school board of allowing “grooming” to take place, she told them that “all of you need to be replaced.” Noting that the book has been in schools for six years, she concluded that “you have allowed the sexualization of our youth and grooming material to be approved for classroom content.”
In response to Shubert’s call for him and his colleagues to step down, Hudson City Schools Board of Education President David Zuro issued a statement asserting that “While we respect the Mayor’s position … at this time, no board of education member has indicated any intention to resign.”
The terms of three of the five members of the board of education will expire on Dec. 31, while the other two members have two years left in their terms.
At Monday’s meeting, Board Vice President Steve DiMauro proclaimed that “the fact that our children were exposed to this, it needs to be addressed.” Superintendent of Schools Phil Herman maintained that an investigation into the matter was “underway.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
