I recently picked up a book to read to my kids from the neighborhood library. I could not finish it. I don’t want that filth in my children’s minds. The book, “The Ballad of Adam Cox,” came out more than 20 years ago. Its author is the late Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks philosophy Professor Walter Benesch. He retired in good standing, despite promoting ideas most parents would find morally objectionable. In his book, the moral was spelled out in rhyme:

“The story’s moral, if understood,
Is that to be bad is very good,
Or that being good is not so hot.
If ever a Crackle’s got you caught!
So when your Mom says, ‘Oh, that’s bad!’
Tell her, ‘Mom, you should be glad.’
Because, so long as I’m bad, you see,
No CRACKLECRUNCH would dare eat me!!!”

On its own, the book may seem like an odd relic of eccentric academic humor. But the moral – “being bad is very good” – was presented for children, not adults. It was one of those moments when philosophy lost its grounding and dressed up cruelty as cleverness.

This matters, not because of one old, out-of-print book, but because the same academic mindset – mocking parents, blurring moral lines, and inverting good and evil – still shapes the way our universities prepare teachers, and how those ideas filter into Alaska classrooms.

Instead of focusing on reading, writing, and math, we pay school officials to smuggle sexually charged and abusive material into our children’s classrooms and libraries.

From University to Classroom

Universities set the tone for K–12 schools. Teacher candidates take their courses. In-service teachers attend their workshops and professional development seminars. College faculty write the frameworks for “character education,” “social-emotional learning,” and “diversity training” that end up shaping lesson plans and ultimately our children’s minds.

I remember being told by one English teacher at UAF that I should write a paper on how there is no such thing as truth. I remember another ethics class where we discussed the supposed validity of relativism. Sadly, much of the education I sat through at UAF was moderately-priced prattle.

When those upstream voices sneer at virtue, minimize parents, or treat rebellion as wisdom, the effects ripple all the way down. Garbage in, garbage out – straight to our kids.

A Timely Example: The Mat-Su Book Controversy

If you think this concern is just about an old children’s rhyme, look at what happened recently in our own state. In 2023, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District reviewed its school libraries and found 56 books that were highly objectionable. Many of these were deeply explicit works, inappropriate for minors, paid for with taxpayer dollars.

A federal judge ruled that most of the books had to be reshelved but agreed that seven titles were so graphic and inappropriate they could be permanently removed. Teachers, librarians, and administrators chose those books for our kids – then defended them when challenged.

No wonder Alaska routinely ranks among the worst in the nation for government-run schools. Instead of focusing on reading, writing, and math, we pay school officials to smuggle sexually charged and abusive material into our children’s classrooms and libraries.

There is no reason this material (sexual confusion, graphic adolescent struggles, and suicide) should ever be put in front of children. Yet Alaska school officials fought, and won, to keep it on the shelves.

Here Are the Books That Were Successfully Removed in the Mat-Su.

— Call Me by Your Name (André Aciman)
Depicts a sexual relationship between a 17-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man. This blurs into statutory rape territory and normalizes predatory age-gap relationships.

— It Ends With Us (Colleen Hoover)
Centers on domestic violence, sexual assault, and graphic intimacy. Students need protection, not exposure to explicit cycles of violence disguised as romance.

— Ugly Love (Colleen Hoover)
An erotic romance filled with graphic sex scenes. Its sole appeal is adult relationships – not remotely appropriate for impressionable teens.

— Verity (Colleen Hoover)
A psychological thriller laced with dark eroticism and sexual manipulation. Disturbing for any minor reader.

— A Court of Mist and Fury (Sarah J. Maas)
Fantasy novel aimed at adults with multiple explicit sexual encounters. Not suitable for K–12 audiences.

— A Court of Silver Flames (Sarah J. Maas)
Even more explicit than its predecessor, featuring prolonged graphic sex scenes. This is adult erotica disguised as fantasy.

— You (Caroline Kepnes)
Thriller about a stalker who engages in obsessive, violent, and sexual behavior. Glorifies manipulation and criminal obsession.

They were selected, purchased, and promoted by local educators in our government-run school system.

One of the books the judge ordered to be reshelved in the Mat-Su is called “Flamer,” by Mike Curato. This graphic young adult novel follows a 14-year-old boy at Boy Scout camp wrestling with same-sex attraction. It contains explicit references to arousal, and suicidal thoughts. It is centered on confusion about sexuality and loaded with LGBTQ themes.

There is no reason this material (sexual confusion, graphic adolescent struggles, and suicide) should ever be put in front of children. Yet Alaska school officials fought, and won, to keep it on the shelves. That is what they consider “appropriate” for kids at taxpayer expense.

What Responsible Education Should Look Like

— A healthy school system should do three things well:

— Teach academic basics – reading, math, science, and history.

— Model and reinforce permanent virtues – honesty, courage, self-control, respect for parents and elders.

— Stay accountable to families and communities.

It doesn’t require edgy professors writing children’s books about why being “bad” is “good,” or librarians stocking novels that normalize abuse, perversion, or suicidal ideation. It requires moral clarity.

A Call to Reform

If Alaska wants better schools, we need real reform:

— Review personnel and programs at UA. Especially those influencing teacher preparation and philosophy of education.

— Transparency. Publish syllabi, reading lists, and materials online so parents and taxpayers know what ideas are shaping classrooms.

— Character-based standards. Anchor teacher training in timeless virtues, not fads or contempt for parents.

— Parent oversight. Give parents real authority to review and veto inappropriate content in K–12.

— Refocus professional development. Away from ideology, back toward literacy, numeracy, civics, and classroom craft.

— School choice. Allow families to move their children if institutions refuse to reform – funds should follow students, not systems.

The Bottom Line

Public universities and schools do not exist to entertain academic whims. They exist to serve Alaskans and prepare the next generation for life, work, and citizenship. If a professor once thought it was clever to tell children that “to be bad is very good,” that was a warning sign. If school officials today are spending taxpayer dollars to stock K–12 libraries with books full of statutory rape, graphic sex, glorified abuse, and sexual confusion, then that is proof the problem is still with us.

Our children will live up to the expectations we set. Let’s aim higher.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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