When we were kids, our parents had to watch out to make sure we weren’t exposed to filth on television. Now, apparently, television has to ensure our parents aren’t exposed to the filth their kids are seeing in school.

That’s at least the situation in Virginia — ground zero for educational unpleasantness at the moment, where progressive educators are aghast that parents apparently think they have some say in what their kids are exposed to at school, no matter how objectionable or dissipated it might be.

The educators have an ally in Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate this year and a former governor of the Old Dominion. During his time as governor, McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have allowed parents to remove sexually explicit books from Virginia schools.

During the final gubernatorial debate last month with Republican Glenn Youngkin, McAuliffe vigorously defended his policies on education.

“I’m not gonna let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions,” McAuliffe told Youngkin. “I stopped the bill that I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Most of the coverage regarding McAuliffe’s remark during the debate centered on the battles surrounding curricula that include elements of Critical race theory, a controversial far-left school of thought that argues both the United States and Western civilization were founded on systemic racism.

That’s a rabbit hole for another day, but there’s a creepier side to McAuliffe’s remark, given another front in Virginia’s education battles: Pornographic materials that are either part of the curriculum or available to children.

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Take the book “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe. As a recent ad from conservative group Independent Women’s Voice noted, the material in the book is so graphic that “TV rules say adults can’t see this, but VA schools think it’s fine for kids.”

The scene from the graphic novel shows a character, who is apparently a girl who identifies as a boy,  in a library exchanging sexual texts with someone. The text had to be redacted and the images blurred because even TV — home to “The Jerry Springer Show,” “Jersey Shore,” “The Real Housewives of ” and “My Mother the Car” — still has some standards.  An unexpurgated version of the ad is available IWV website — and, if you must know, the conversation revolves around a sex toy and several sex acts.

“This is the most turned on I’ve been in my life. I am DYING,” the girl says.

On the next page, one of the aforementioned sex acts is demonstrated — and needed to be blurred out, natch. Apparently, the girl doesn’t like it, saying that it “was MUCH HOTTER when it was only in my imagination.”

“Let’s try something else,” she says, to which her lover says, “Of course.”

This is all deliberately vague because, well, you’re not reading Teen Vogue. The ad — including the uncensored version — can be seen here. Be forewarned: You’ll likely wish this all remained vague.

However, it’s important because, when he was governor, McAuliffe vetoed a 2016 bill that would have allowed parents to block their children from accessing or being taught sexually explicit material.

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“McAuliffe (D) said a state law is ‘unnecessary’ because the Virginia Board of Education is considering changing state policy to accommodate parents’ concerns,” The Washington Post reported at the time.

“School boards are best positioned to ensure that our students are exposed to those appropriate literary and artistic works that will expand students’ horizons and enrich their learning experiences,” McAuliffe said at the time.

This includes “Gender Queer,” which was one of two books a Virginia mom was able to check out of her kids’ high school in Fairfax, Virginia. She went viral after she confronted the school board about the availability of the material.

“Both of these books include pedophilia,” Stacy Langton told the board, according to a Fox News from Sept. 24. “Sex between men and boys 
 One book describes a fourth-grade boy performing oral sex on an adult male. The other book has detailed illustrations of a man having sex with a boy.”

When she began reading from the books, one of the school board members interrupted her with this immortal line: “There are children in the audience here.” I’d recommend laughing at the irony as opposed to crying over the rank depravity, if only because the latter is unbecoming.

WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.

So apparently, that “changing state policy to accommodate parents’ concerns” part turned out swimmingly in the intervening five years.

And now, the Democrats are looking to elect a man who says, “I’m not gonna let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.” This, presumably, includes “Gender Queer.”

This is why it would behoove parents to elect candidates who allow them to make the decision to take porn out of their child’s library.

According to the FCC, “Federal law prohibits obscene, indecent and profane content from being broadcast on the radio or TV.” The FCC acknowledges that what constitutes “obscene,” “indecent” or “profane” is subjective, but even in 2021, there are few sane adults who would argue that the scene depicted in the Kobabe work doesn’t fill the bill — and then some.

If they can’t show it on TV, schools shouldn’t be showing it to kids, either.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.