Description
LIBRARY 101 is part of the chapter’s “2022-2023 School Year for Parents” initiative, focusing on one critical issue in Williamson County Schools per month. The March focus is on the graphic sexual material available to students in school libraries nationwide, across Tennessee, and in Williamson County Schools. This event offers parents and citizens a “crash course” on what is actually present in school libraries and how it affects a child’s developing brain.
Most have heard about the issue of “pornography in school libraries,” which repeatedly made national news in recent years as parents across the country brought it to the forefront by reading books aloud at school board meetings, many, including those in Williamson County, having their microphones muted so as to not “violate FCC obscenity law.”
This issue sparked fierce debate at the Tennessee capital during the 2022 legislative session, ultimately passing two of the three bills that address it. But has the legislation made a difference? What books are really in our schools? The American Library Association and left-leaning media accuse these parents and this organization of book banning and censorship. But is it? What does this material truly look like? Does it violate the law? Moreover, what are the downstream effects on children when they are exposed to it?
LIBRARY 101 will open with “School Library Storytime with Victoria Jackson,” formerly of Saturday Night Live, as she presents the material that she has personally found in local Williamson County libraries, targeted towards children. Dr. Joe Malone, author and professor on the topic of sexual wellness, will then address the physiological and neurochemical response this material elicits in children and what the long-term effects of this early exposure to sexually graphic material might be.
Victoria Jackson was born in 1959 and grew up in a Bible-believing, piano-playing, TV-free home in Miami. Her father coached gymnastics so she competed from age 5-18. Her gymnastic skill led to a college scholarship to Furman University, where she was cast in her first play and got the acting bug.
When Johnny Crawford (The Rifleman) met her at a Birmingham summer stock production, he bought her a one-way ticket to Hollywood to be in his night club act. For two years, she held odd jobs in the show-biz capital — as a cigarette girl, waitress, and typist — until Johnny Carson noticed her stand-up routine and put her on The Tonight Show… twenty times. After that, she starred in many movies and TV shows, most notably six seasons on Saturday Night Live.
Jackson was reunited with and married her high school sweetheart, helicopter pilot Paul Wessel in 1992 and when he retired in 2013 from the Miami Dade Police Dept. they moved to Nashville to be near their daughters and grandchildren. Jackson still appears in occasional films, does stand up comedy, sings her original ukulele songs around town and most recently was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the International Christian Film Festival for her role as Alma in Lost Heart (2021). Jackson authored Is My Bow Too Big? published by White Hall in 2012 about how she got on TV, and in 2017 she wrote Lavender Hair, published by Broadstreet, about her breast cancer journey and recovery.
Jackson was just nominated for Best Actress at the 168 Film Festival 2022 for the short film, “Birthday Brash.” She is currently on tour with her stand up act.
Her Instagram is @victoriajacksonofficial. victoriajackson.com
Dr. Joe Malone, Ph.D., CFE, LWMC, CPT, known as the sexual integrity scientist, holds a Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance with a specialization in women’s health and sexual wellness. Dr. Malone taught health and wellness type classes for many years at Middle Tennessee State University including one he created in 2012 called Women’s Personal Conditioning. Dr. Joe was named Greek Faculty Member of the Year at MTSU in 2010 and 2016 for his wellness work with sororities and fraternities. He has presented at Princeton, Vanderbilt, and the University of Miami as well as many other universities and continues to speak across the USA on sexual wellness issues.
Dr. Joe served on the CDC Initiative for STI Prevention for Tennessee. He has also earned national certifications as a Personal Trainer, Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant, and Fitness Educator. Dr. Malone is the former Chair of the Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team and the current Topic Network Chair for Health Promotion for the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood http://ssea.org/.
His wife of 45 years Jody and he live in Nashville near their children and grandchildren. God and family are their highest priorities. Dr. Joe is the co-author of a book written especially for young adults. In it, using cutting edge scientific research, he advocates that they live a life of sexual integrity that leads to marriage in order to best navigate today’s sexualized relationship culture. It is called Battles of the Sexeshttps://www.amazon.com/Battles-Sexes-Raising-Conflict-Empower-ebook/dp/B07D97LQ67. He has also written numerous related articles for the Institute for Family Studies, Heartbeat International’s Sexual Integrity Communiqué, Faith and Fitness magazine, Infinite Worth magazine, Natural Womanhood and Christian Health magazine. https://www.drjoemalone.com/
Tickets for this event: $15. Download shareable flyer HERE.
