Sue G in PA Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Dd12 was assigned this book by her ps teacher (8th grade). I find the material completely inappropriate for that age group (drugs, street violence, drinking, drug overdoses, dating/girl-chasing, pool hustling, bar fights, etc.) and fail to see the educational value of it. Has anyone's dc read this? Thoughts? Am I overreacting? For the record, dh disapproves, too. Can the schools not find anything more educationally appropriate and thematically appropriate? Sure, this book seems to really catch the attention (it's exciting and suspenseful) of this age group, but aren't there more appropriate books out there that could do the same? Any thoughts are welcome. I'm just not liking this. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) I think that assigning books of this type in junior high is very common. If it's any comfort, the Hinton novels are considered among the best of this type, and, if memory serves, characters tend to pay a heavy price for their misdeeds (there is always at least one character 'searching for a better way' and there is always a 'lesson learned'). Educational value? eh, they are meant to serve as a real-life warning: don't join a gang, kids, or you'll be knifed in a fight! and go to your death with a horrible nickname! I don't think the Hinton books are terribly harmful, as long as other choices are included. I read them, hmmm, I think much earlier than 8th grade (although not for school). If the teacher has a reading list for the year, I'd check it out now, and perhaps ask for substitutes for the worst ones if it really bothers you. Edited September 1, 2009 by katilac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We had to read that in ninth grade. I do not understand the point of schools assigning books with offensive things like that. We also had to read books with adult themes and language. After getting out school I discovered how wonderful and exciting the books of Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill- OK Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Educational value? eh, they are meant to serve as a real-life warning: don't join a gang, kids, or you'll be knifed in a fight! and go to your death with a horrible nickname! LOL...she really can think up the names, can't she? :001_smile: If the teacher has a reading list for the year, I'd check it out now, and perhaps ask for substitutes for the worst ones if it really bothers you. Yeeaah...I hate to say it, but S. E. Hinton books are pretty tame, compared to some of the things I've heard of being assigned to middle schoolers. :-o If I had a child in public school, I might want to see what's coming up, and reserve my "Uh Uh" for the worst of the worst. (That isn't to say that you shouldn't voice your concern about this book, just that you might want to see if there are other choices you'd object to, more, that are coming up.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 My dd is in school. I have refused, in the past, to allow my daughter to read certain books. The school my dd went to until this year did not give parents a booklist. My dd would come home with books I found inappropriate and I would send back a note asking the teacher to call me. When I would tell them that I didn't want my dd to read a certain book, they would give me a whole song and dance about how the entire classroom would be discussing these books and it would be very hard for dd not to be exposed to them. I told them that their management difficulties didn't concern me at all and that I expected that my child be assigned worthwhile literature and not leisure reading for school. After several episodes of this, the school started notifying me beforehand of what the upcoming books would be, and I noticed that their selections improved some. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 We also had to read books with adult themes and language. After getting out school I discovered how wonderful and exciting the books of Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo are. On the other hand, Simply Charlotte Mason advises against reading many of Shakespeare's plays because "frankly, we were concerned about over-exposing our children to what can be bawdy plots and lines....Some of the plays are simply too intense or inappropriate for younger children." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Wallace Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 On the other hand, Simply Charlotte Mason advises against reading many of Shakespeare's plays because "frankly, we were concerned about over-exposing our children to what can be bawdy plots and lines....Some of the plays are simply too intense or inappropriate for younger children." Well, anyone who'd ever read Titus Andronicus would have to agree. Plus, you can't translate a large percentage of Mercutio's lines in Romeo and Juliet without swiftly heading into classroom-inappropriate material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Titus Andronicus would certainly send many heads a spinning. On the other hand ,many things that are slightly lascivious go right over a young person's radar. Wheelock's Latin has a great many readings from Catullus and fortunately "buggering" went clear past dd but she snorted over the whole Lesbia thing thinking herself quite clever for noticing that little tidbit...Seriously dd is a young teen and quite sophisticated in many ways . In others, not so much as they really are good at ignoring that which is too much too soon for their individual rates of development. SE Hinton is really quite tame compared to some other books that dd read in her local bookstore book club. I readily admit that Rats Saw God albeit clever , had some content that even for our progressive family was a bit much. I truly loathe bad writing far more than edgy subject matter and egads there is a bounty to be had in the department of ,"Where was the editor ?"...For this mother, it is far more offensive to me to see Twilight being proffered as literature in so many schools. I find the gender roles abusive and an ode to the matingpractices of the neanderthals, the role modeling abhorrent and the writing dismal at best. That is why I home educate, so that my individual discernment regarding appropriateness of texts for our young person is solely in my hands. That is also why I absolutely pity the poor soul who must attempt to interest 30 different personalities at once and appease their parents and guardians with regard to what are often capricious objections . For one the unacceptable might be cursing , another violence and another reprehensible syntax. How on earth can instructors in large groups manage to even begin to accomodate the wide range of often conflicting demands?? Personally, I find it unreasonable to ask them to do so . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Well, I simply thought it was worth noting that many authors who are considered great do also dip their toes into adult themes and languages. Doesn't Les Miserables have a healthy dose of street violence including plenty of bar fighting, prison themes, suicide, and even cross dressing? Doesn't Dickens get into plenty of criminal themes? I don't think great literature necessarily shrinks from dealing with the ugly issues of life; that was my point. I was neither criticizing nor agreeing with Simply Charlotte Mason, but merely mentioning that some people don't want their children reading Shakespeare for the exact same issues. Baudiness seems to know no literary bounds. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Am I overreacting? What is a 'regular' amount of reaction? What does 'over'-reacting look like? A reaction is what it is. ;) If there is any reaction at all, why must seem "over" reacting? :-) Can the schools not find anything more educationally appropriate and thematically appropriate? Of course they could, but this is what they wish to expose the children to. Our tax dollars at work but aren't there more appropriate books out there that could do the same? Yes, they include the titles students read before the 1960s and existential themes. I'm just not liking this. I think we read that book in PS in 7th, and Lord of the Flies in 8th Even as a kid back then I thought, wow, hundreds of years of literature and this is the best they could assign :001_huh: :lol: Good thing we are all paying for this.....?......... sigh... :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 I must say I am enjoying the banter over this topic. :tongue_smilie: I'm not going to fight this one right now. My dh did point out that there are other "classics" that get into controversial material (he mentioned Catcher in the Rye having the metion of prostitutes). True enough. So, I suppose I am "overreacting" to this, probably b/c I just don't want her there anyway. To fight this, would mean alienating her from her class during discussion time and she certainly doesn't need that, kwim? So...we'll just discuss it at home. Fact of the matter is...she wants to come home and it is only a matter of time before that happens. So I'll just ride this one out. Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Yeah, my uncle hates Catcher in the Rye -- I think it's the copious use of the "f" word and the (in his opinion) dumb plot. I recently read something written by someone who'd come from hard circumstances, I can't remember the specifics, and he really was amused at how Holden's presents his life as so difficult; he would have loved to have had his "problems." It was funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 My English Lit professor was showing our class the new Scholastic catalog for teachers, and, I kid you not, one of the new "recommended" books was So You Want to be America's Next Top Model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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