Anchorage Schools Restrict
It’s Perfectly Normal After All
The board of the Anchorage (Alaska) School District voted 6–1 October 8 to restrict elementary-student access to the Robie Harris sex-education book It’s Perfectly Normal to children who have their parents’ permission. The decision overrode the materials-review committee’s September 18 recommendation to maintain unfettered access.
Several days before the board vote, State Rep. Joe Green (R-Anchorage) offered 2,300 registered voters who rarely miss an election additional food for thought: He mailed them a packet containing photocopies of 11 graphic illustrations from the book, draped by a cover sheet disclaiming “Warning! Adult material enclosed!” “This is the kind of thing the public needs to get involved in,” Green said in the October 5 Anchorage Daily News.
More than 100 people apparently agreed, packing the October 8 school-board meeting to air their concerns. “We need to focus on whether or not little Johnny can read, not whether or not he can masturbate,” Julie Cheverton, a mother of six, testified. “I want my child to learn to make choices,” Charles Springer, father of a 7-year-old, countered.
Posted October 15, 2001.
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