Letter to the Editor

Some of you may have seen the article in last week's paper.  if not I'll include a link.  A couple parents were objecting to their eighth grade students reading  stories by Shirley Jackson (The Lottory), Jack London (we all know him right? To Build a Fire; Call of the Wild; White Fang...)  Poe (please tell me you know him!), and Stephen King (again...  Carrie; It;....) 

They also objected tehre was a countdown in the class room referring to when the HungerGames movie was coming out.  the parents objected to the whole books and movie about kids killing kids...and likened it to Columbine, intimating that this material might cause another Columbine-esque incident.


 Here is the Link
http://wcexaminer.com/index.php/archives/news/28504

I was incensed.  So I wrote a letter to the editor.. (it was too long.. and upon learning other information I asked that it not be edited and published.)  But I am including it here...

I cannot verbalize how upsetting this article is to me, as a teacher, as
  someone who has multiple degrees in the humanities, as a writer..... This
 objection is outrageous.

 I read those books. I read Jackson, Poe, and London. I continue to read
 those authors. I was reading Poe when I was younger than eighth grade. I
 have not become a mass killer. I did not shoot up my high school, nor was I
 traumatized by this reading material. Rather it deepened my love of
 literature, and I discovered different genres that I adore.

 Did any of you become mass murderers from reading these stories? Did any
 student become a witch or wizard after reading Harry Potter? Did anyone
 receive telekinetic gifts, and reap revenge against their entire senior
 class after their prom? No? Anyone? (I suspect it takes more than just
 reading Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, or Suzanne Collins to create a mass
  murderer.)

 If you disagree with the reading material, read it with your child, and
 discuss it. Open the lines of communication between your student and
 yourself. Allow the child to make an educated decision rather than all out
 forbidding it from their sight. Discuss why what you see in the text is
 inappropriate. Talk to them about the differences between the book and real
 life. Talk to them and see why they like or don't like the book or reading
 material. Listen to the student.

 If you think a child of eighth grade age is unable to make that decision, be
 aware of what your child is watching. How many scenes of violence will they
 see on tv or in films? How many movies do the good guys kill the bad guys?
 How many tv shows geared towards the tween and teen set, have sexual
 innuendos, or more? Even Disney's Phineas and Ferb shows violence. By eighth
 grade students are likely to have been exposed to drugs, alcohol, and
 sexuality. They are already making these decisions.

 What of the Twilight series that was gobbled up by so many, that had a
 graphic birth scene, a headboard breaking sex scene, attempted suicides...?
 What of Lord of the Flies (kids killing kids)? Romeo and Juliet (sex
 between minors, drugs, blatant disobedience to parents, dirty jokes, and a
 double suicide?)

 These authors are expected in college and are considered classics for a
 reason. (When I was in graduate school, Pulitzer Prize Nominated author E.L.
 Doctorow spent a good amount of our fifteen weeks studying Edgar Allan Poe,
 as one of the best examples of the short story. These are the authors
 acknowledged and admired by other writers.)

 By not teaching Poe, Jackson or London, our students are being set behind
 other students as they approach college. But they also are behind, because
 these authors are such a part of our collective culture. It'd be doing them
 a disservice to not teach our students these authors.

 No, you will not please everyone. But do we not teach WW2 because of the
 atrocities that happened there? Do we not teach the Civil Rights Movement
 because of the murders, where ACTUAL people killed ACTUAL children (Hello,
 Emmit Till)? No. Students are expected to know and understand these things.
  Why is literature any different?
  To remove these authors from the curriculum, to not be aware of a series
  that has gotten children reading and kept them reading, and to not stoke
  that excitement, as a reading arts teacher would be foolish. (Have the
  parents who objected to the Hunger Games countdown, actually READ the Hunger
 Games?)

 To rephrase a question: Did anyone become Anne Frank, hiding in the Secret
 Annex during WW2? Could we tap into her fears, her thrills, her realizations
 at thirteen years old? Did anyone find themselves with Huck Finn as he and
 Jim ran away on the river, both escaping? Or did anyone find themselves on
 the trail with Sherlock Holmes, piecing together the mystery, and still able
 to beat the bad guy, rarely with the use of a gun, showing the strength of
 brains over brawn? (Yet we also realized that Holmes was incredibly flawed,
 and occasionally wrong, just like us.)

 Truth be told, ALL good literature is dangerous. All good literature makes
 you think differently, makes you see things in a way you hadn't. It adds to
 us, and helps develop as people.

 Open your minds, and open the books.
 ~



  But then in speaking to my friend who is a teacher, and who knew more than what the article said, or what they knew, I learned that while Poe, Jackson, King, and London are the highlighted authors, the class was also reading other authors  Ayn Rand (are 8th graders ever really ready to handle Ayn Rand? Much less a piece that describes a character losing her virginity and how great the sex was?)  
It looks like there were fine pieces, standard pieces, and then there were indeed inappropriate, and just poor decisions... What the article does not say was that  while it looks like the class was just counting down until the Hunger Games came out in film, they went and saw it as a class, after having read it togetehr as a class.  (I am not necessarily objectuinig to that, I am pointing out that there is information not given in the article that may change the light of things.. or it may not.)

   So my question I have here is this:

  What makes a book or a short story appropriate for the students?  while I do not disagree with reading Poe, London, Shirley Jackson, or Stephen King (depending on the piece)... what makes a piece right or wrong?  What is the appropriateness factor? what are the guidelines?   How do we handle this? Do we send out papers to all the parents saying these are the pieces your children are slated to read, if you do not like it, please discuss with your child an appropriate alternative?  do we give the parents fair warning?  Do we make the curriculum subject to change per the parents decision?  (but then shouldn't those parents who object so heartily to what their children are reading and lerning simply take their kids out and charter school them, or homeschool them?)   or do we just allow book banning to happen in our own area? 
 
My other question I still have is this:  If we teach World War 2, and all its atrocities in an age approrpiate manner, then why is there more wiggle room and objection room for against teachers when it comes to literature?
 
My mother did not want me to read Lord of the Flies when it was done in school.  She thought it was a terrible book.  You know what? I loved it.  I still love that book.  She didn't forbid me from reading it.  She and I talked about books frequently (she was a librarian after all), and I knew that if I didn't want to read a book I could propose another one to my teacher.  I never did that.  Rather I typically read above my class level.

    I am grateful that she let me read, and make my own decisions.  I am grateful she also taught me the standards by which to judge a good book.

   In the LDS church there are thirteen snippets that summarize the faith, written by Jospeh Smith Jr, after he got asked for umpteenth time to summarize the church's beliefs.    These are called the Articles of Faith. 

  The thirteenth article of faith is the longest but it also the one that is most applicable to every day life I think.. and it's what I try to use when I judge a book, or film, or music, or even tv shows..

  "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous,
and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow
the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things,
we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all
things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or
praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

Reading is a highly personal experience.  We each bring our own backgrounds, our own feelngs, and our own interpertations to the table each time we read.  And we do it  EACH time we read, even the same book, can be colored differently in multiple readings.  Some may read into the text, hunting for symbolism, interpertations, while others may not.

Sometimes blue curtains, are just BLUE Curtains.  (go google it)

so what do we do folks?  What do you think?