State lawmakers proposed a bill to prohibit certain topics from being discussed in West Virginia history classes until students have studied the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents for a year and a half.

Prohibited material outlined in House Bill 2107 includes the study of social problems, economics, foreign affairs, the United Nations, world government, socialism and communism.

Delegate Michel Moffatt, R-Putnam, said he co-sponsored the bill because he wanted to maintain emphasis on the original documents for solid groundwork before students pursued studies on other governments.

“The drive behind [the bill] is that students need to have a good understanding of our existing government and how it was formed,” Moffatt said. “If we have a good, strong foundation, we can build on that foundation and learn about all kinds of governments.”

Groups of disgruntled West Virginians have responded to the bill on various social media, landing HB 2107 on popular news sites. A “Huffington Post” article received more than 14,000 likes on Facebook.

“I can understand why people are so outraged by this because they’re not taking into consideration that you do need to have a basis of the rest of the world to speak about why the United States was formed,” Moffatt said.

Jess Morrissette, associate professor of political science and director of international affairs at Marshall University, said with increased globalization, the omission of certain material seems troublesome.

“I do agree that it does make sense to study some subjects before others,” Morrissette said. “You’d never think about studying algebra before you studied addition. My issue with the bill comes down to some of the specific topics that have been postponed for students until [they have studied] the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents.”

While communism and socialism are mentioned on the bill, Morrissette said the failure to mention other types of doctrines such as fascism suggests these were potentially enumerated out of political fears or concerns.

“The idea that you’re putting those topics off limits, or at least postponing them until students can be somehow inoculated against that sort of presumably dangerous knowledge…seems like a very politically motivated decision,” Morrissette said.

Morrissette said not allowing students to study social problems and foreign affairs would take away from a student’s appreciation of those subjects.

“It seems problematic to not study the United Nations, an organization the U.S. helped found after World War II with the very best of intentions to ensure world peace,” Morrissette said. “To treat that like a dangerous subject… seems to be working against what I would see as the student’s best interest.”

Tensions and concerns about the bill have also risen from within the West Virginia Legislature.

Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said West Virginia’s remarkable social history deserves to be discussed.

“Social history is important,” Rowe said. “I think that sometimes history gets lost as we go from war to war and we lose a lot of what America is really about whenever you study more detail for your local area.”

Rowe said a proper consultation with teachers, scientists, and other experts would make the best education policies possible.

“Knowing Mr. Overington, I don’t think he had an ill intent,” Rowe said. “I just think that generally we do need to respect the professionals and let them do what they need to do.”

HB 2107 was introduced to the House Jan. 20 and is still in committee.

Lexi Browning can be contacted at [email protected].