Students Forced To View Pornographic “Art” in Class – ACLJ Demands Action

The ACLJ is taking decisive action after a New York school district exposed seventh-grade students to pornographic images under the guise of an “art lesson” – and then attempted to downplay what happened. The Watertown City School District didn’t just fail its duty to protect children; it violated the constitutional rights of parents and traumatized children. We are now demanding immediate accountability.

Our clients, Stephanie Boyanski and Jessy Roberts, were horrified to learn that their seventh-grade children were assigned to visit an unvetted website containing graphic sexual images as part of an art project. The teacher, Ms. Bridgette Gates, displayed these images on a Smart Board in class, acknowledged that “some images were inappropriate,” and then instructed students to “ignore them and be mature.”

She required these minors to continue the assignment anyway.

This wasn’t an accident. Students viewed this explicit material repeatedly over the course of approximately two weeks, for a graded assignment. No parental notice. No opt-out option. No filtering of graphic content. No alternative assignment.

One of the students involved is a survivor of sexual assault. This assignment triggered traumatic memories, and this student is now in counseling as a direct result of the school’s actions.

It was only by accident that parents were made aware. When the parents reviewed the assignment on the students’ school laptops, they immediately recognized the material as sexually explicit. Ms. Roberts contacted the teacher directly. Instead of taking responsibility, the teacher blamed the IT department for failing to block the pornography.

Ms. Boyanski contacted administrators and even law enforcement. A school resource officer met the parents outside the school, but the district refused to allow them to meet with the teacher.

Only after the parents intervened did the district remove the assignment link and place the teacher on administrative leave – without informing the parents.

The district then issued a message framing the incident as students having “come across inappropriate content.” That phrasing was deliberately misleading. Students did not “come across” anything. They were assigned to view this graphic content by their teacher.

When the parents voiced their concerns at an October school board meeting, the response was appalling. The president of the teachers union mobilized teachers to attend the meeting in “solidarity,” canceled after-school activities to ensure staff attendance, and distributed “Fact Over Fiction” pins – an unmistakable message aimed at parents. He went so far as to compare concerned parents to vandals of his Little Free Library outside of his home and dismissed them as “internet warriors.”

Not one board member publicly addressed or defended the parents.  However, the law is clear: Parents have more rights than schools to control their children’s moral education.

Parents Have the Constitution on Their Side

For over a century, the Supreme Court has affirmed that parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children. Cases like Meyer v. Nebraska, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, and Troxel v. Granville make this crystal clear.

And just months before this incident, the Supreme Court reaffirmed those protections in Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025), holding that schools must provide parents advance notice and opt-outs when exposing children to sexually sensitive or religiously objectionable content.

Despite the long and strong affirmation of parental rights by the courts, the Watertown City School District violated parental rights at every turn. No notice. No opt-out. No regard for parental authority.

New York law also requires schools to ensure the safety and well-being of students – and prohibits exposing minors to obscene material. The district’s own policies stress age-appropriate content and materials that promote “sound and healthy values.”

What happened here violates every one of these standards.

ACLJ Issues Demand Letter: The District Must Act Immediately

The ACLJ sent a formal demand letter to the Watertown School Superintendent outlining the district’s constitutional violations and its failure to protect students from exposure to pornographic material. We are demanding a formal reprimand in the teacher’s file, a clear policy barring teachers from showing sexually explicit content to children without parental notification, mandatory parental consent and opt-out procedures, and district-funded counseling for students traumatized by the assignment.

This is not the first time the ACLJ has held the Watertown School District accountable for unconstitutional acts. Previously, the district refused access to a religious group. We won that case, and we intend to make this a 2-0 record.

What is happening in Watertown is part of a growing trend of schools disregarding parents, exposing children to sexual content, and attempting to cover it up when caught. That ends here. The ACLJ is committed to defending parental rights, protecting students, and holding public schools accountable when they violate the Constitution.