Atheism, Sex-Heavy Movies in Our Schools?

A lot of times, parents in the suburbs say they enjoy living where they do because of the schools.

But what about when the schools invite atheists and show movies that include sexual scenes? 

This year, in school districts 99 and 86, people spoke out against various viewpoints that were being allowed in local schools. It's part of our top story series of the 2012 Year in Review.

Controversy Over Atheist Speaker Spurs Discussion of District 99 Parent Notification Procedures

District 99 school officials received hundreds of emails last month about Downers Grove North's Constitution Week speaker Jessica Ahlquist, a Rhode Island teen who sued her school to have a prayer removed from the gymnasium wall.

Soon after Ahlquist's appearance at North High, district administrators and board members were flooded with hundreds of emails, most of which were from people far outside Downers Grove, according to District 99 Communications Director Jill Browning. However, they were also contacted by several parents of students in the district, who questioned why they weren't notified of the visit.

D86 Parent Appealing Superintendent's Ruling on Objection to Sex-Heavy Movies

Meanwhile, two of the most critically acclaimed movies of the last 15 years became a topic of debate in District 86 for what one parent called "sex-heavy" scenes: American Beauty and Brokeback Mountain.  

Victor Casini, the Hinsdale South parent who filed the first District 86 curriculum objection in at least eight years, appealed the decision made by the district, which concluded that all district policies were followed by the course's teacher and department when the movies were showed in a high school film class.