Florida Father Says School Board Cut Mic for Reading ‘Pornography’ Found in District’s Books

“I’m going to read things; if there’s children watching, cover their ears,” Friedman said at the meeting.

“I’m going to stop you right there, sir,” someone responded to Friedman, calling to “turn off his microphone, please”:

UNREAL. A dad says he’s gonna read from graphic books available to children in school and gets shut down by @oneclayschools board before he even starts because it might be against the law to read from these books in front of children.

These books are in school libraries. pic.twitter.com/PCJSMCttq5

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 12, 2022

When Friedman asked why, he was informed that “these meetings are broadcast, there are people at home that are watching it on YouTube” and on “community television.” Ultimately, the school board told him he would not be permitted to read “pornography” aloud, as there are “federal and state laws that prohibit you from saying the things that you’re getting out to say on television.”

“There are state laws that prohibit in federal communications laws that prohibit you from publishing these things to a child. You don’t have the ability at this point to determine who’s watching the television show. And for you to say, ‘everybody cover your ears’ just doesn’t cut it,” they allegedly told the father.

“Somebody failed drastically in their mission to protect children,” Friedman, the head of Florida’s No Left Turn in Education, told Fox News. Notably, Friedman said he sent his 15-year-old son to New York public schools for two years — kindergarten and first grade — and he claims it “did considerable harm” to his son.

“That is why I’m here — I never shook it off. I never stopped fighting. We got him into a private school promptly after first grade, but the damage was done. It took five years, in my opinion, to put him back on the right track,” he said, also blasting the attempts to inject Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools.

“All of that is the same junk. And all of it is designed to divide us and make us hate each other. Our children deserve better. They should be taught reading, writing, arithmetic. Put them on the bus and send them home safe. Do your job. Stay in your lane,” he said, thanking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for taking action to get the Marxist ideology out of classrooms.

Indeed, the Florida legislature and Gov. DeSantis have moved to preserve education in the Sunshine State, rooting out CRT as well as rejecting books that do not adhere to Florida standards — those that include Common Core and CRT. DeSantis also signed the Parental Rights in Education bill this year, which bars classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade.

The topic of parental rights has made national news, as some widely credit Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory to his commitment to make “education a primary focus.”

“My message to parents is this, you have a fundamental right, enshrined in law by this General Assembly, to make decisions with regard to your child’s upbringing, education and care. And we will protect and reassert that right,” Youngkin said in January to the joint session of the Virginia legislature, prompting applause from Republicans and silence from Democrats:

WATCH: Democrats refuse to applaud when @GovernorVA @GlennYoungkin tells parents they “have a fundamental right, enshrined in law by this General Assembly, to make decisions with regard to your child’s upbringing, education and care. And we will protect and reassert that right." pic.twitter.com/TMTVLkI5U4

— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) January 17, 2022

In recent months particularly, school boards have transformed into battlegrounds as more parents are speaking out.

“There is a playbook, and, what I think so many people have now realized, as the result of the great parent awakening after COVID, the same playbook that happens in Sarasota County happens across the state and happens across the country,” conservative Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler told Breitbart News in March.

“And it’s largely based on indoctrinating local policy officials all the way down to professional development [given] to the educators, and that trickles down to indoctrinating our students with a very left, progressive agenda,” she added.