UPDATE: The school district issued a statement claiming the book is "not part of our Barrington 220 curriculum." They also said the book is intended for high school students and is "award-winning." You can read the full statement here.

In the olden days, kids would be sent home for the summer with a reading list containing classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit, and 1984. A Chicago school sent 6th-graders home with Gender Queer, a graphic novel containing explicit illustrations of masturbation and oral sex. One mother thought this was inappropriate for her eleven-year-old, and she confronted the school board.

The mother read a passage from the book of a brother talking to his sister, saying, "So, you never tasted yourself." The sister then showed her brother something called her "vagina slime."

She also held up illustrations from the book. You may notice the following embedded tweet says "the following media includes potentially sensitive content." It's content that is too sensitive for Twitter but is a-okay for an eleven-year-old. You can either view or go to the link.

The mother then told the school board, "This is exactly what I would expect a pedophile to behave when approaching a child. To normalize sexual behavior, to abuse them. And this is how I see you."

There's been a fierce debate in America since the passage of Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill" over schools sexualizing students through their curriculum. On one side of the debate are people who think assigning minors comic books depicting masturbation and oral sex is wrong. On the other side of the debate are people who want kindergarten students to draw where they can masturbate in their house and who take children to strip shows.

The debate rages on.

><><><><><><

Brodigan is Grand Poobah of this here website and when he isn't writing words about things enjoys day drinking, pro-wrestling, and country music. You can find him on the Twitter too.

Facebook doesn't want you reading this post or any others lately. Their algorithm hides our stories and shenanigans as best it can. The best way to stick it to Zuckerface? Sign up for our DAILY EMAIL BLASTS! They can't stop us from delivering our content straight to your inbox. Yet.