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Local family is marching against school reading Hunger Games


Moxie
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This is so dumb. A local family is *marching* in front of the middle school because the literature class is reading Hunger Games. The school has a policy that the parents can substitute any book that they object too but that isn't good enough for them. These people pulled their child out of school for the day, gave her a sign that says "I don't want to kill" (WTH???), and had her march in front of her own school. Poor kid!

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I'll bet they've never read a single page of it. I remember being disturbed when a friend said her daughter was reading it because of all I had heard about it. Then I read it and couldn't figure out why everyone was whining about it. I'll never comment on or judge a book again by what others say.

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My goodness. Don't tell anyone I let my students read... Gasp... Romeo and Juliet... At a CHRISTIAN school. The killing, the drinking, the sex, and more killing. Oh the horror! How could I have been so irresponsible as to let my students read such filth???

 

 

My ds's attend a Christian school and they read R&J also. AND--they were allowed to read The Hunger Games as one of their summer reading selections last year. :eek:

 

:D :D :D

 

I'm not aware of any loud objections to that title being offered as one of the choices.

 

ETA: The "I don't want to kill" sign confuses me. What's that supposed to mean? Is it like how some people thought reading Harry Potter would turn kids into devil worshipers?

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Gah! Censorship drives me insane, even when it is directed towards a book that I am not a huge fan of. This reminds me of how there were people at my Christian school who didn't want The Chronicles of Narnia on the reading list because there was a witch in it. I don't know whether to just get mad or to pity them for their ignorance and move on.

 

In college I went to a class called Banned Books and Censorship where we read through some of the most banned books throughout history. Some were great and others were terrible, but I don't think that it is right to ban something simply because you disagree with it. One of my favorite books, "A Wrinkle in Time" has been censored hundreds of times since it was first printed.

 

I think that this comes from parents whose goal is to shelter their kids from everything instead of teaching them the skills to approach books with an analytical mind.

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Of course it is. We also have the freedom to think and say what we think about their protesting. Namely, it's stupid.

 

But the poor kid... :sad:

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Of course it is. We also have the freedom to think and say what we think about their protesting. Namely, it's stupid.

 

True that. And they probably think your opinion is stupid. It's a great country where we can have opinions and express them. :)

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I feel sorry for the kid. With a family like that she was probably already somewhat of a social outcast at school. This just sealed the deal for her. Especially since every other kid will read the books and then really not get what her/their point was. It will just make her freaky.

 

The HP thing drove me crazy. There was a one woman in play group that was completely against it. She didn't have clue about it, was basing everything on what someone at church told her their mother's minister had said.

 

You don't want to read it, fine. But don't make stuff up you don't know anything about.

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Are they? Or are they just being very public about their own beliefs?

 

 

Yeah, I didn't see anything in the OP about them trying to get the book banned. There are a lot of supposings and assumptions being made about this family in this thread, and if I have a problem with anything in this scenario, that's it. People read something and immediately caricaturize a family without knowing anything about them except that they don't like a book that others like. Assumptions are being alluded to that this "poor child" is being forced to do something by her "crazy" parents when we have no idea whether or not they've read the book and what the discussion was like in their home.

 

We have no idea, and they have the freedom to express their opinion. That's my point.

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My goodness. Don't tell anyone I let my students read... Gasp... Romeo and Juliet... At a CHRISTIAN school. The killing, the drinking, the sex, and more killing. Oh the horror! How could I have been so irresponsible as to let my students read such filth???

 

Snicker, snicker, snicker...we just finished an in depth study of R & J (much to the chagrin of my anti-romance boys) because a local theater company - well, not local but close enough to be worth making the long commute to - is performing the play.

 

I always tell Christian parents that are against the classics (not suggesting that HG is by any definition "classic", talking about other traditional historical literature) that if they object to much of this type of content, then they had better make sure their children don't read the Old Testament. If one had to give that a rating, it would be R!

 

The world is filthy and kids do have to deal with that. I'm not for gratuitious violence and s&x just for the sake thereof. But, sometimes, you have to have some discourse and debate about the nasty issues.

 

I am sure some think the Hunger Games is gratuitous and others see a lot of discussion that can take place about dictators, regimes, parallels to the Roman Empire, personal responsibility, facing the ultimate test of your faith and morals, etc. We found a lot that was worth discussing and though the reading level is certainly not challenging, dh and I were able to challenge the boys' thinking on situational ethics. So we felt it had value.

 

Seriously, marching against it! If they were allowed to just say, "Hey, I don't want my kid to read that!" and then choose something else, they've got no business making such a scene. There was a policy in place that protected their right for family values to trump the assignment. They should be thrilled. In most schools, you read what you are assigned period and get a 0 if you don't. Parents need not complain; it will fall on deaf ears. The "march" appears maybe to be just attention seeking since their child would not have been forced to read the book.

 

Faith

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The school already had a policy in place so the child didn't have to read the book. So if they aren't protesting to keep the whole school from reading the book, what are they protesting?

 

 

 

Yeah, I didn't see anything in the OP about them trying to get the book banned. There are a lot of supposings and assumptions being made about this family in this thread, and if I have a problem with anything in this scenario, that's it. People read something and immediately caricaturize a family without knowing anything about them except that they don't like a book that others like. Assumptions are being alluded to that this "poor child" is being forced to do something by her "crazy" parents when we have no idea whether or not they've read the book and what the discussion was like in their home.

 

We have no idea, and they have the freedom to express their opinion. That's my point.

 

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The school already had a policy in place so the child didn't have to read the book. So if they aren't protesting to keep the whole school from reading the book, what are they protesting?

 

 

Possibly to say that they don't think it's a good choice of reading material for kids that age? I don't know. I haven't talked to them. They are free to express their opinion, though, and that's what they're doing. Maybe they're just trying to get people to think rather than just do. I'm transcribing a high school English class this year, and I could see where some of these choices in literature are left wanting. If I were a parent, I might think there are better choices and might state so. I may not do a public protest, but I have the freedom to if I wanted to. That's all I'm saying. Why be so critical -- and why try to define and analyze everything to the nth degree -- when all they're doing is exercising a freedom they have to express an opinion about a book?

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I don't disagree, but really I thought we were just kinda talking about it, not really being harsh exactly. At the end of the day I could care less if she wants to march in front of the school.

 

You're right. I removed the word "harsh" before I even saw this post of yours. And as to the second part of your post -- I agree with that, too. My thoughts have been stated and now I have no more time/energy to donate to this thread . :)

 

Off I go to buy Chex Mix ingredients for the "Little Dorritt" party my girls are going to tonight and to prepare our home for the visit of one of our former priests who is dropping by for a visit today.

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Especially since every other kid will read the books and then really not get what her/their point was.

 

I'm against censorship, but I read these books and I was horrified too. Still kind of am. I wish the universal reaction to teenagers killing each other was, "I can't stand to hear any details about that! How awful!" I don't think you should assume that everyone who reads them will not get why the protesters were doing that.

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The interview said that the school sent home a letter telling them that they were reading the book and why and that there was an alternative book to read if parents didn't want their child to read it. Her parents did not read the letter and were not aware that she was reading it until she had read half of it. That is her parents own fault.

 

She is learning a lot though about standing up for what you believe and freedom of speech. That could be a very good lesson to learn.

 

I read the Hunger Games and thought they were extremely dark. If I had realized that they would be so sad, I wouldn't have read them. I kept thinking there would be a happy ending eventually and there never was. That is the nature of these types of novels though. But at the same time, I can see some great discussions coming from them and it wouldn't hurt for them to start in middle school, especially in public school. It would help them think about the results of violence and hopefully see that there are no good results on any side.

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I would have let my 4th grader read it understanding that they would not comprehend everything in it. I would also make them read it when they were older so we could discuss it again.

 

None of my kids has wanted to read them. Something about hsing and not wanting to do what everyone else is doing...if everyone else their age had not been reading it, they probably would have ;) .

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:blink:

 

 

 

My reason for saying this is that they had recourse. Their was a policy that allowed them to opt out. So, their constitutional rights weren't being violated. At this point, it then becomes nothing more than disruptive of school for all of the other children which is a violation of their rights.

 

See, no ones rights extend past the rights of another. It has to be balanced. The school had a fair and balanced policy that allowed them to choose something else. No violation occured.

 

They have a constitutional right to protest though there are some legal restrictions. I shouldn't have stated it the way I did. I'm sorry about that. However, the fact of the matter is that their rights weren't violated which makes the March a moot point, which means that all they are doing is being disruptive. While that might be constitutionally protected (though it could also be argued and unfortunately has been successfully argued in a number of cases that if you enroll your child is school A, then you are voluntarily making yourself subject to the policies of school A), the march is not warranted.

 

That is the way I should have stated it. The march is unwarranted.

 

Sorry for the stronger language. Yes, I agree they have a right to it. I just have to question the validity of their reasoning because their rights weren't actually violated and they had perfectly acceptable redress through the school policy.

 

Thanks for reminding me that my wording was very poor.

 

Faith

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I agree that she should be able to make her voice heard, but it does seem weird that she was given an "opt out" choice and she is still protesting. That tells me that there is more than what we see going on.

 

 

*shrug*

People aren't required to get abortions. They can "opt out" and continue their pregnancy. But they'll still protest clinics. I don't think there's anything more to the story.

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I think it's rather ironic that these parents — who didn't read the letter the school sent out a month before the book was assigned, and who didn't pay attention to what their daughter was reading until she was halfway through the book — are carrying signs urging other parents to "step up" and get involved in their kids' educations. :rolleyes:

 

Since they are the only ones protesting this, I presume that the vast majority of the parents who got the letter either approved the reading assignment or requested the alternative assignment that the school offered to provide. Removing the book from the school reading list, as they demand, would in fact take away the other parents' rights to choose what their kids read.

 

Of course they do have the right to protest; they also have the right to look stupid. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

Jackie

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