Kerby Anderson

Our culture seems obsessed with children and sexuality. That is the conclusion of columnist Laura Hollis, who reminds us of the public reaction two years ago to the Netflix film “Cuties.” The young girls in a dance competition included sexually provocative moves in skin-tight costumes. She recounts an opinion piece for NBC News in which the author dismissed the outrage as merely a “cynical ploy” by “the pedophile-obsessed American right, driven by QAnon.”

A few weeks ago, Project Veritas released an undercover video of the dean of a private college-prep school in Chicago. He described in graphic terms how students had sex toys handed out to them in class and then went into detail on how to use them. Nevertheless, some writers applauded the dean’s actions saying it was a “comprehensive approach to sex education.”

Parents are becoming even more concerned about school policies that put girls in danger. One of the best-known examples took place in Loudoun County, Virginia. A male student was allegedly “gender fluid” and thus allowed to use the girl’s facilities. He sexually attacked a female student, was transferred to another school, and sexually assaulted another student.

At a school board meeting, parents expressed their outrage. The board denied any knowledge of the sexual assault. The father of one of the victims was violently escorted out of the building. The New York Times jumped in to accuse parents of hysteria.

But we now know the rest of the story. A Virginia grand jury returned indictments against the superintendent of the Loudoun County schools and the school system’s public information officer for mishandling sexual assaults and lying about them.

Our culture does seem to be obsessed with children and sexuality. And often the establishment press is willing to provide cover for that obsession.