Image Credit: Parental Concerns in Wilson County, TN / Rumble
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
Explicit materials available in Wilson County school libraries have been a heated topic of debate at district school board meetings for some time now.
Earlier this month, a public records request revealed that Amanda Price, Chair of Moms For Liberty in Wilson County, has been the only book challenger to actually have a student enrolled in the district.
Price has stated that she was unaware of this fact herself until the public records reveal.
She told The Tennessee Conservative that some other parents don’t want to speak up at school board meetings because what they say is public record, and they don’t want to be attacked or see their children deal with social consequences.
“I really think that no parent wants to be in a battle where they feel like their child is in the crossfire,” Price told News Channel 2 Reporter Kendall Ashman, in a recent interview.
This interview resulted in a 2.5-minute-long segment, which focused largely on Price’s association with Moms For Liberty.
In the accompanying article, Ashman reminds readers that Moms For Liberty has been deemed an ‘extremist’ group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which cites that Moms 4 Liberty “opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated book bans.”
However, nearly thirty minutes of uncut interview footage available here and here, provides a better understanding of Price’s role in these book challenges and clarifies Moms For Liberty’s position. (Note: Video is a also available for viewing at the end of this article)
“I feel that it’s intellectually dishonest to consider us an extremist group based on the fact that we are challenging sexually explicit material. They’ve changed our intent,” Price told Ashman during the interview.
Price first approached her school district about this issue in November 2021, after she came across excerpts of material available in the school libraries.
“It was not even through Moms For Liberty that I found out about this issue,” Price recalled. “I saw some excerpts […] and I was like, there’s no way that’s in Wilson County schools.”
Price made it clear that she doesn’t view the problem to be a “librarians issue” or a “teachers issue” but rather a systemic issue.
When asked to clarify what Moms For Liberty wanted to see come out of these book challenges, Price told Ashman that, “Moms For Liberty very much wants to make sure that parental rights are honored.”
Like many others, Price wishes the book challenging process didn’t have to take up so much time but understands why it does.
The formal review process is limited to two books at a time and requires that the book committee read each one and discuss it in a book review committee forum, before making a recommendation to the school board.
Often instead of being removed, these books are added to something called the “mature reading list.”
“I do worry that the mature reading list might be used as a obscenity protection list in some cases,” stated Price.
Regarding the board members tasked with making these decisions, Price said, “There’s always that fear that they’re gonna be called book banners if they make the wrong choice.”
When asked if there was anything else she wanted to discuss, Price brought up the upcoming reconsideration of Policy 4.403, which could result in local residents not being able to challenge books anymore.
“I think the reason why they want to re-word this policy is to prevent this controversial issue from coming up as frequently as it is,” stated Price. “They kind of want it to go away.”
Trouble playing the video above? Watch directly on Rumble Here.
Trouble playing the video above? Watch directly on Rumble Here.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
5 Responses
Thank you for this article.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a Leftist Extremist group and is the enemy of conservatives. To call Moms extremists destroys any credibility they had. It’s like calling parents terrorists.
Thank you Moms for Liberty!
Schools are paid for by property taxes. Any taxpayer should be able to comment.
Wilson County needs to vote out these Libs.
A student must either be 18 or have written parental consent to read anything on the Mature Reading List. Since we send our “kids” to war at the age of 18, the age of majority, I don’t see what the problem is.
You make an obvious point. Students have access to all of this material when they turn 18. If you listened to the uncut video, you would understand the main problem. Not every book was read before the librarians placed them on the shelves. Not all sexually explicit material has been placed on the Mature Reading List yet. The unacknowledged elephant in the room is that, before the Mature Reading List was created, we don’t know how long or how often school libraries distributed extreme sexually explicit material to minors without parental knowledge or consent.
Public funds should not be used for pornography, grooming or sexual proclivities of any kind, ever.
$1,000.00
To any parents group that files civil suits against any schoolboard, principal, teacher or librarian.
Let them read in public the books made available with public funds.