by Dr. Mark Creech
Director of Government Relations
Return America
A growing grassroots effort to protect children from sexually explicit and age-inappropriate material in public school libraries took center stage this week before the Davidson County Board of Education, as board member Mur DeJonge delivered a forceful appeal for stronger local safeguards.
Speaking not as an elected official, but as “a parent and a grandparent,” DeJonge left his seat at the board table and addressed the board during public comment, urging immediate action to address what he described as “graphic sexual language and explicit descriptions” that remain accessible to minors through school library collections.
DeJonge detailed months of work in which he followed the district’s formal book-challenge procedures, reading contested books in their entirety and submitting detailed objections. While his challenge to Ready Player One at Tyro Middle School succeeded, efforts to remove Hopeless by Colleen Hoover and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky were denied at both the school and district levels. A challenge to The Art of Racing in the Rain remains under appeal.
DeJonge said he remains deeply concerned that decision-makers have not fully weighed the explicit language, sexual content, and implied sexual activity found in these books against the ages of the students who are able to access them.
To underscore the gravity of the issue, DeJonge read excerpts from The Art of Racing in the Rain that described explicit sexual activity – material he argued that would never be permitted in a classroom or school assembly, yet remains available to students in school libraries.
DeJonge stressed that his concerns are not about prohibiting ideas or eliminating books, but about where materials are placed, whether they are suitable for students’ ages, and whether parents can trust the school system’s judgment.
He called on the board to conduct a comprehensive review of all library materials containing explicit sexual content and to strengthen review procedures so that developmental safety remains the primary standard.
Why This Matters Statewide
The events in Davidson County reflect a broader failure at the state level to fully resolve the problem.
Earlier this year, the North Carolina General Assembly advanced House Bill 636, Promoting Wholesome Content for Students
The bill is a strong reform package that would have:
- Established clear content standards
- Created mandatory review committees with parental involvement
- Required public transparency for library materials
- Provided enforcement mechanisms and legal accountability
However, nearly all of those protections were stripped in the Senate. What ultimately became law – House Bill 805, Prevent Sexual Exploitation/Women and Minors – offers only:
- Public online access to school library catalogs
- Parental authority to block specific books for their own children
HB 805 does not regulate content.
It does not remove explicit material.
It places the burden almost entirely on parents and local leadership.
The Consequence: Local Communities Must Lead
Because the General Assembly failed to establish meaningful content standards, responsibility now rests squarely with local officials – school boards, county commissioners, and community leaders.
As Return America has consistently warned, transparency alone is not protection. Parental opt-out is not the same as keeping harmful material out of schools. When explicit content remains on library shelves, children remain exposed.
The message from Davidson County is unmistakable: parents expect their schools to uphold basic standards of decency and age-appropriateness. When the state fails to act, the community must.
Return America’s Position
Return America strongly supports the efforts underway in Davidson County and urges communities across North Carolina to address this issue at the local level.
This is not a partisan fight. This is not censorship. This is a child-protection issue, and it now falls to local leadership.
Return America believes that doing nothing is itself a decision, and it leaves children unprotected.
