Condoms, Drug Dealers, Drunk Fathers – Are these good books for 6th graders?

[Anonymous]

During a recent 6th grade English class, a number of books were recommended for the kids to read including the following titles: Ghost by Jason Reynolds and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

Reviews of the book online mention the following topics and words - a drunk father trying to kill a boy and his mom, a coach with a drug addict father, horny, grinding, use of condoms, gang shootings, drug dealers, lots of curse words, over 90 F*** and Sh**, Bit**, F*** THE POLICE

Are there any child psychologist reading this? Are these books appropriate for 11- and 12-year old’s?

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-hate-u-give

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/ghost-track-book-1

[Anonymous]

Nope - I am disgusted by what counts as youth literature nowadays. I think they think it will help some kids relate to the characters, but I think it promotes bad stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

OP is this a rhetorical question? Why are you asking?

[Anonymous]

What do you want your kids to read, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

[Anonymous]

As long as my kids read, I’m fine with their reading just about anything. And 6th graders already know about condoms, drugs and drinks. They have access to TV, the internet and they talk.

[Anonymous]

My 6th grade daughter loved The Hate U Give.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you want your kids to read, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

Yes, what is wrong with that? Most older books have better vocabulary and real grammar.

[Anonymous]

It’s appropriate for my child maybe you can get an accommodation if you middle schoolers will be emotionally traumatized by cuss words, drug dealer and drunk dads.

You kid is wacking off to his phone btw. In case you were not aware.

[Anonymous]

I’m normally pretty lenient and open minded but I think these cross the line. DD has probably, ok definitely heard all of these words before but having them in a school setting normalizes it and would probably make him think it’s okay to repeat. His current math teacher says crap all the time in class and my son asked why he can’t say that word, so I can only imagine he’d try to repeat the words in the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as my kids read, I’m fine with their reading just about anything. And 6th graders already know about condoms, drugs and drinks. They have access to TV, the internet and they talk.

Well, yes, but this is a pretty lazy goal for the education of your children. Literature is meant to inspire, expose people to beautiful words and new ideas, etc. Schools of education now think that kids need to "relate" to everything. No, kids have been imagining themselves in other worlds and times for several centuries through literature. Why not choose books that elevate rather than degrade. And "just reading anything" is a pretty low standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as my kids read, I’m fine with their reading just about anything. And 6th graders already know about condoms, drugs and drinks. They have access to TV, the internet and they talk.

Well, yes, but this is a pretty lazy goal for the education of your children. Literature is meant to inspire, expose people to beautiful words and new ideas, etc. Schools of education now think that kids need to "relate" to everything. No, kids have been imagining themselves in other worlds and times for several centuries through literature. Why not choose books that elevate rather than degrade. And "just reading anything" is a pretty low standard.

Degrade?

Clearly all of this is lacking in your kids life if you have sheltered him from it, I’m glad the schools are helping kids like yours be less sheltered so they are not afraid of their own shadow.

[Anonymous]

Times have changed and I think that's a good thing. I've read all of the newer young adult fiction and enjoyed their take.

These books might be a little old for 6th grade. However, my favorite book when I was a kid was A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. That book featured a drunk father, if you recall. Is it ok for children to read about drunk white fathers but not drunk Black fathers?

[Anonymous]

I hear you OP. There is a vast array of books between the ones you mentioned and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms.

FWIW my daughter loved the Hate U Give, but both my kids hated the graphic novel New Kid which was required.

And while I do think its fine to include one or two of these books, it’s actually not diversity to promote this one view of AA life. And it’s also not representing all the other people in America — Asians, Latin, Jews, immigrants.

It’s really about scoring political points.

[Anonymous]

Lest people really think children’s books used to be all rainbows and puppies: does anyone remember the book about the girl who was essentially abandoned? I don’t remember the title, but it was definitely a young adult novel. It depicted a lot of child abuse and it was absolutely eye opening for me when we read it in middle school.

We have kids read the Diary of Anne Frank, which depicts horrific situations. Why shouldn’t they read about other horrific situations, like the shooting of an unarmed black person?

[Anonymous]

Would you rather they read the Odyssey? Maybe Cstcher in the Rye? Huckleberry Finn? Jane Eyre? Macbeth?

Good literature has always dealt with dramatic themes. Even fairy tales have cannibalism and rampant child abuse throughout—youre just used to it so it seems “innocent.”