National Center on Sexual Exploitation Exposes School Educational Database Company Providing K-12 Students with Pornography

  • 06/29/17

Washington, D.C., (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EBSCO Information Services, the largest U.S. online library database subscription for K-12 schools, has come under fire from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation for exposingchildren to pornographic and sexually graphic content in their educational products. Though EBSCO has worked with NCOSE to clean up their systems, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) uncovered on-going systemic problems this week that should concern all parents.

“Children have been exposed to pornographic and sexually graphic content in public and private schools providing EBSCO services,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “This company markets itself as providing curriculum-appropriate educational resources, and so it is trusted by parents and teachers, but we’ve found its databases contain graphic results for elementary, middle, and high school users regarding pornography, as well as group, anal, public, and BDSM sex.

EBSCO has been in communication with NCOSE for several months in an effort to solve these problems, and has implemented many positive changes like removing certain publications and fixing some publisher settings.  However, Hawkins notes the problems are so widespread within the company’s systems that much more work is needed until the parents of America will be satisfied that their children can be free of sexually explicit material on schools-based educational databases.

Just this week, researchers from the National Center found 50 sexually graphic articles in 50 minutes and many of them from databases intended for middle and elementary school children,” Hawkins continued. “What parent can be satisfied with that?” she said.

“EBSCO has made significant improvements to the system and we applaud that, but parents and schools need to know that EBSCO systems are free from sexually exploitive materials or they will discontinue using EBSCO products. “Concerned parents can learn how to take action by accessing NCOSE’s packet 'The ABCs vs XXX: How to Ensure Your School’s Online Library Databases are Pornography Free.'"

To watch NCOSE’s video reviewing examples of content found on EBSCO on June 26th, watch this video.

EBSCO is a member of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2017 Dirty Dozen List, which names 12 mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation. To learn more visit: endsexualexploitation.org/ebsco.

Featured

  • Designing Learning Spaces that Support Student Mental Health and Wellness

    In today’s education landscape, schools are more than just centers for learning; they are integral to the holistic development and well-being of students. The global pandemic underscored the importance of addressing mental health in schools, as productivity dropped, stress levels rose and students faced challenges managing emotions.

  • Inglewood Unified School District Breaks Ground on New High School

    The Inglewood Unified School District in Inglewood, Calif., recently broke ground on a new campus for Inglewood High School, according to a news release. The project has a budget of about $240 million, funding coming through bond proceeds from Measure I.

  • Lawrence Group Announces Expansion of Student Housing Studio

    Integrated planning and design firm Lawrence Group recently announced that it has hired Nick Naeger, AIA, as the new Associate Principal / Senior Project Manager at its headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., according to a news release.

  • Spaces4Learning Announces Winners of 2025 Product Awards

    Spaces4Learning has just announced the winners of the 2025 Product Awards! The award program recognizes innovation and excellence in products that enhance learning environments in K–12 schools and institutions of higher education.