In the United States, an art history lesson at a middle school in New York State became a case: during the lesson, in fact, students were asked to explore the official website of the Keith Haring Foundation, and the issue came to the attention of an influential conservative legal group, theAmerican Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which sued Case Middle School in Watertown, New York, alleging that children were “forced” to view material that the organization called “pornographic.”
The subject of the dispute, which dates back to September (although it is now being discussed in the U.S.), concerns artist Keith Haring, known for his 1980s art that explicitly addressed issues such as gay rights and the AIDS epidemic. Haring, who died in 1990 from AIDS-related causes, is now widely recognized for being one of the big names in global street art. His artistic output also includes a wide range of images featuring sexually explicit subjects, and it is around this aspect that the controversy arose.
Case Middle School students were studying Haring’s life and art and were redirected to a link that led to the Haring Foundation website. According to a letter sent by the ACLJ to the school and dated Nov. 21, the students were assigned the task of analyzing and drawing two works of art by Haring created between 1980 and 1990. It was specified, however, that the students were not required to examine specific works.
The ACLJ’s intervention turned the incident into a matter of national importance. In a statement, the ACLJ said the school assigned students to examine an “unscreened website containing graphic sexual imagery as part of an art project.” The organization claimed that by acting in this way, the middle school would “violate parents’ constitutional rights and traumatize children.” Although the ACLJ labeled the images as “pornographic,” it did not publicly specify which of Haring’s artworks would be viewed by the students.
Although the Haring Foundation’s main website does contain images with sexual content, these are not placed prominently. In particular, pages featuring images or descriptions of sexual acts are marked with notices indicating that the content is intended for mature audiences. It is also known that the foundation operates a secondary portal, HaringKids.com, which is advertised as a “safe and fun place for children” and provides teachers with specific lesson plans.
The legal team stepped up its action in late November, prompted reportedly by the petition of at least two parents of children at the school. Nathan Moelker, a senior attorney with the ACLJ, told the 7 News masthead that the children were exposed at the school to something their parents never wanted them to see.
The affair had internal repercussions at the school as early as September, when parents first raised complaints. Following the complaints, the school reportedly placed an art teacher on administrative leave and pledged to launch a thorough investigation.
The dispute, which pits parental rights over the school’s curriculum against the integrity of the art curriculum, is part of the broader debate over freedom of teaching versus parental control over instructional materials, a dynamic that continues to be fueled by legal organizations with clear political leanings.
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| "Pornographic images": controversy erupts in the US over a lesson on Keith Haring in school |
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