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A South Carolina dad confronted one school district's approach to banning sexually explicit books by throwing bags of chicken feed at the board members.
David Cook stood before the Beaufort County School District's (BCSD) school board on June 27, with a backpack behind the podium where he made his case.
"I've appealed to you all repeatedly, and only a few of you have recognized we do not need to keep sexually explicit books in our schools," he said.
David Cook confronted members of Beaufort County School District's school board on June 27, accusing them of taking the cowardly way out on pulling allegedly explicit books from shelves. (Beaufort BOE/The County Channel)
After delivering the line, he reached into the backpack, pulled out bags of chicken feed and tossed them at the sitting board members.
"There's your chicken feed," he continued. "I give you this gift as a way to demonstrate mine and many others' opinion of your lack of action. Chicken. Too afraid. Matter of fact, your behavior gives chicken a bad name."
Though the board members offered no direct responses to Cook, one was seen kicking the bags of feed across the floor, away from his colleagues.
"Flamer," a novel by Mike Curato, garnered criticism for its sexually explicit content. (Author Mike Curato)
The entire exchange followed Cook's spiel about the detrimental effects of pornography on child wellbeing, a conversation overshadowed by previous calls to pull books like "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "Flamer," both of which have been accused by parents of containing sexually explicit depictions.
Both books are under scrutiny in the district and have been banned in a number of other districts nationwide, according to local ABC 6 News.
"There's a big difference between a book ban and eliminating access to this material. These books haven't been properly reviewed or they would've never been in our libraries," Cook began his speech to the board.
Book bans have become a hot-button issue for parents and school districts across the U.S. as some argue content found in libraries and in classrooms is inappropriate for children and teens. (iStock)
Leaning against the podium, he continued, "A few weeks ago I referred to a study on the impact of pornography on children published by the American College of Pediatricians from June of 2016. Please read it. The scientific study is proof of the negative impact of pornography on children use it to justify recalling any books that you've sent back into our libraries. It is within your power to refer to the study."
The books Cook sought to remove remained unclear during the meeting.
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