As a lifelong educator who has been proud to call New Hampshire home, I believe education should teach students how, not what, to think. We empower the next generation by trusting them to engage with the full, complex spectrum of human experience. Unfortunately, the New Hampshire House’s recent passage of HB 1792, known as the “CHARLIE Act,” threatens this foundation by restricting that essential academic freedom.
True education goes beyond delivering a sanitized version of reality — it equips students with the intellectual tools necessary to evaluate the world independently. Labeling the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals and the nuanced histories of people of color as “divisive” does not protect students, it deprives them of the critical thinking skills they need to navigate a global society.
Proponents of the CHARLIE Act argue that the bill prevents “indoctrination,” but erasure is not neutrality. We do not indoctrinate students by acknowledging that LGBTQ+ individuals exist or that racial conflict has shaped our nation’s history. In fact, choosing to remain silent on these realities represents its own biased pedagogical decision. It teaches students that certain lives and histories are too “dangerous” or “controversial” to explore.
The implications of this legislation are alarming for our school districts. When teachers face the loss of their professional credentials and schools face $10,000 lawsuits for discussing vaguely-defined “identity-based conflicts,” the result is a classroom defined by fear rather than inquiry. The bill could drive teachers to self-censor to avoid financial or professional repercussions, leaving students with a narrow, sanitized perspective of reality.
The CHARLIE Act insults both teachers and learners. The bill presumes that our instructors do not know how to teach and that New Hampshire students cannot be trusted to encounter a range of ideas and decide for themselves where they stand. If we attempt to prepare students for the workforce or global citizenship without equipping them to confront difficult truths, we have not educated them. We have failed them.
Censorship does not prevent indoctrination; it is indoctrination. By dictating a narrow version of truth, this bill overlooks the diverse realities of New Hampshire families. We must empower both our educators and our students to think for themselves. I urge our state senators to reject HB 1792 and instead to champion an education system that values intellectual autonomy and the courage to pursue truth, however complex it may be. Only then can we prepare our students for the future they will one day lead.
Dr. Eden Wales serves as an affiliate professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire and as a consultant in health care and higher education. She lives in New London.