The debate over what counts as inappropriate material for minors has been a flashpoint at the Texas Capitol — and beyond — for years.

And in 2025, the Texas Legislature’s 89th session was no different. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 412, which makes changes that could mean criminal charges for educators.

To fully understand the new law, which takes effect on Sept. 1, you first need to understand how Texas legally defines what’s considered inappropriate material for kids. That stemmed from a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Miller v California , which established a three-prong test for what counts as obscene speech.

“The first is whether an average person applying community standards would find the work as a whole appealing to what’s called the prurient interest,” s

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