To the editor:

In her letter of Feb. 28, Esther Price writes that she is “sick of seeing porn pictures” of Anna Nicole Smith. I’ll assume Price is referring to television images, specifically the kinds of clips shown on CNN and Fox, rather than something else.

A Feb. 27 article on proposed legislation to increase the chances of teachers being prosecuted for using books that conservative parents want to censor quotes Rep. Lance Kinzer as saying, “The practical effect of this defense is that materials that would be illegal if sold at a porn shop may be displayed in a kindergarten class.”

Assertions that footage of Smith on CNN is “porn,” that teachers would display “porn” in kindergarten, or that novels by acclaimed authors Richard Wright, Maya Angelou and Ken Kesey are “porn” are patently absurd.

Readers should alert themselves to this pernicious manipulation of inflammatory language. Its misuse by prudish individuals such as Price and Kinzer guarantees our children’s increasing awareness of real “porn” and what is actually meant by pornography.

Isn’t this the opposite of what they are trying to achieve?

John W. Hoopes,

Lawrence