I oppose the policy proposed by the Virginia Department of Education that would notify parents of any sexually explicit materials assigned to their child's class. Parents already have the opportunity to review their child's curriculum and to serve on advisory boards for their public schools. So this bill is redundant in many ways.

There is a tendency to take 'sexually explicit content' out of context thereby losing the point of the meaning to be conveyed. The true intent of SB656 is censorship. Teachers will be afraid that someone will object to this content, depriving all the other children of learning something important. In the Virginia code any discussion of LGBTQ issues can be objected to, thus erasing parts of our communities and families from our understanding of the world. 

Kids need to be exposed to new ideas and viewpoints. They need to explore and express and discuss in order to learn to think and understand. Don't limit them!