Sen. Dave Argall's Civics Bee question stirs controversy

Yahoo

17-04-2025

The parent of a sixth grade student competing at Wednesday's local round of the National Civics Bee raised concern about what she believed was an inappropriate question asked of her daughter by state Sen. David G. Argall, one of the event's judges.
During the event, held at Penn State Schuylkill, judges took turns asking each of the top five contestants questions about the essays they had submitted for the Civics Bee.
Mary A., a sixth grader at North Schuylkill, told the panel about her essay topic — book banning. The National Civics Bee has a strict policy stating that competitors should only be identified by their first name and last initial.
When it was Argall's turn to talk to her, he noted the issue was relevant and widely debated in the state Senate. He then repeated to Mary a question that he said was brought up to the Senate recently:
'Should pornographic magazines be allowed in kindergarten?'
Mary asked the senator for clarification: 'What does that mean?'
Argall replied, 'Pictures of naked people.'
Mary said that she doesn't believe such materials should be allowed in kindergarten, and clarified what she meant by her topic of book banning.
'I don't think certain things like that should be allowed in schools for younger people, but that's a big difference than other books about … other people — people trying to be themselves — books like that getting banned,' she explained. 'But I do agree that books like that should not be in elementary schools and kindergarten.'
After the event, Mary's mother, Erin Anderson, said in a public Facebook post that the question 'was both wildly inappropriate and ridiculous.'
Anderson said the discussion had no place at the Civics Bee, noting that her daughter's paper had nothing to do with pornography.
'I don't know when Mr. Argall last stepped foot in a library, but they aren't providing pornography,' Anderson wrote. 'Discussing this with my 6th grade daughter on a public stage shows a shocking lack of decency.'
As of Thursday afternoon, Anderson's post garnered more than 2,000 reactions, more than 200 comments and was shared by more than 3,000 people.
Argall later apologized for his question, saying it was inappropriate for the setting.
'During last night's local round of the National Civics Bee, I posed a question as a volunteer judge to a participant that was not age-appropriate for this setting,' Argall said in an email Thursday. 'I apologize to the young lady, her family, and all the participants who worked hard to get to this point, with excellent presentations by the students who submitted entries on book bans and many other important subjects.
'I was attempting to ask if some books and magazines are not appropriate for some age groups, a subject which has received considerable attention in the General Assembly in recent years. In hindsight, my obvious mistake was in citing an example that was itself not appropriate for this age group, a mistake which I will not make again.'
Anderson, who attended the event with her husband, their younger daughter and Mary's grandmother, said the family was stunned when they heard Argall's question. They thought it was inappropriate and irrelevant to the content of Mary's essay.
Anderson said she is proud of the calm and deliberate manner in which Mary responded, attempting to steer the conversation back to her topic.
'Despite being confused and put on the spot, she remained composed and respectful,' Anderson said in an email Thursday. 'I am incredibly proud of how she held herself together in such an unexpected and inappropriate moment.'
Anderson said that discussions about adult content, media regulations or legal standards for libraries are best held in legislative hearings, professional forums and public policy spaces, and not in front of children during a civics competition.
'This wasn't a slip of the tongue,' she said. 'It was a deliberate, inappropriate question directed at a 12-year-old girl in a civic setting meant to celebrate youth leadership. What I do want is for student civic competitions like this to have clear protocols in place so that no other child is placed in a similar situation. Children should be asked questions about their essays — not dragged into adult talking points or made to define inappropriate content on stage.'
Anderson clarified that Mary's essay was about the 'civic and constitutional implications of book banning,' focusing on how books are sometimes banned due to what could be deemed offensive content, including language, violence or the presence of LGBTQ+ characters.
'She argued that this violates the founding principles of equality and the civic virtue of respect,' Anderson said. 'She offered real, age-appropriate solutions: working with local librarians, school board members, and even elected officials to raise awareness and defend access to books for all students, especially those from underrepresented communities.
'Her thoughtful approach to civic action deserves to be the center of this conversation — not the deeply inappropriate behavior of an adult who misused the platform.'
Mary, who received a trophy and a cash award for her third-place finish, made it through two rounds of multiple-choice quizzes to reach the final pool of five contestants. She and the other students who finished in the top three will advance to the state level of the National Civics Bee in Harrisburg on June 13.