Anonymous wrote:

My DS (age 10, 5th grade) says one of his classmates is reading Stephen King's "It".

I would not let him read that if he wanted to. Totally inappropriate. As well as not being desirable for him to read it, it is not necessary for him to read it in order to develop "independent thinking".

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For parents who say it's okay to expose your kids to these types of books at an early age, I don't know how much you have to deal with counselor issues at school. We're friends with a guidance counselor and she tells me it's amazing how kids pick up behavior at school and can be really mean to each other. Your angels might not be showing it at home, but their interactions and language with others might not be ideal in a school environment.

I’m one of the PPs above who said I don’t censor what my kids read - in part because I want to encourage independent thinking. And fwiw yes, I did recently get a very nice write up from the school about my kid’s nice personality and behavior at school - a kid who I let read these books. I know this doesn’t need to be said but nevertheless i am saying it

My DS (age 10, 5th grade) says one of his classmates is reading Stephen King's "It".

I would not let him read that if he wanted to. Totally inappropriate. As well as not being desirable for him to read it, it is not necessary for him to read it in order to develop "independent thinking".

I am eternally grateful for parents who never took it upon themselves to decide to deprive me of a book because it wasn’t one I needed.

Even for pro-freedom no censorship...is there ever a line to be drawn? Mein Kampf? Anarchist Cookbook?

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Anonymous wrote:Yes, I think that we're all clear on the idea that boys and girls are different. But people don't read books with their genitals.

Male and female brains are different, too, genius. That's why they're interested in different things, and want to read different books and see different movies.

Which kind of a brain did E.B. White, the author of Charlotte's Web, have? How about J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series?

Haw. Brilliant examples. I will tell you that, as a former teenage boy, JK Rowling has no frigging idea how teenage boys think or act. It was so far off base it wasn't even funny. Harry's relationship with Cho Chang and especially Ginny reflected total ignorance of teenage male psychology.

As a woman, I thought the same thing. It seemed awkward and forced.

I don’t know...listening to oldest DS talk about the girls he’s liked...there’s a definite similarity.

You're not really supporting the "Male and female brains are different, too, genius. That's why they're interested in different things, and want to read different books and see different movies." narrative here.

Yes, I’ll have a long talk with myself about my failure to support the narrative.

I have kids of both genders. There are things they all love - Harry Potter, sports, baking, and animals. Things they all hate: purple, piano lessons, and trips to Costco. Mostly they’re all individuals. I have two boys and one girl who love nerf guns. I have one girl and one boy who can’t own enough pink shirts, and one of each who hate the color. Oldest DS loves to go for no-polish pedicure; youngest DS can’t be bothered to sit still that long. 3 out of 4 are great at math; oldest DD loves science, and oldest DS is a history buff. All are comfortable with the gender they were born and generally won’t feel constrained by what girls or boys are “supposed to do.” Even their personalities: oldest DS obsessed about what to wear, his hair, what someone really meant when they said X; oldest DD is comically logical and matter of fact and DNGAF.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For parents who say it's okay to expose your kids to these types of books at an early age, I don't know how much you have to deal with counselor issues at school. We're friends with a guidance counselor and she tells me it's amazing how kids pick up behavior at school and can be really mean to each other. Your angels might not be showing it at home, but their interactions and language with others might not be ideal in a school environment.

I’m one of the PPs above who said I don’t censor what my kids read - in part because I want to encourage independent thinking. And fwiw yes, I did recently get a very nice write up from the school about my kid’s nice personality and behavior at school - a kid who I let read these books. I know this doesn’t need to be said but nevertheless i am saying it

My DS (age 10, 5th grade) says one of his classmates is reading Stephen King's "It".

I would not let him read that if he wanted to. Totally inappropriate. As well as not being desirable for him to read it, it is not necessary for him to read it in order to develop "independent thinking".

I am eternally grateful for parents who never took it upon themselves to decide to deprive me of a book because it wasn’t one I needed.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but also have an 8 year old and very very tired of the language. I've thought about stopping them. When he was younger we did take away as in K-1 it was completely not appropriate.

veiled brag alert

I think you are just jealous that my 2-yr-old read these Wimpy Kid series and was unfazed. Now that he grew out of that phase, he is on college text books in the second grade.

Really? My first grader loved Foucault and Derrida. She just loves post-structuralist theory. We have to be extra careful with the subtext though. Life in binary opposition is so Kindergarten!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For parents who say it's okay to expose your kids to these types of books at an early age, I don't know how much you have to deal with counselor issues at school. We're friends with a guidance counselor and she tells me it's amazing how kids pick up behavior at school and can be really mean to each other. Your angels might not be showing it at home, but their interactions and language with others might not be ideal in a school environment.

I’m one of the PPs above who said I don’t censor what my kids read - in part because I want to encourage independent thinking. And fwiw yes, I did recently get a very nice write up from the school about my kid’s nice personality and behavior at school - a kid who I let read these books. I know this doesn’t need to be said but nevertheless i am saying it

My DS (age 10, 5th grade) says one of his classmates is reading Stephen King's "It".

I would not let him read that if he wanted to. Totally inappropriate. As well as not being desirable for him to read it, it is not necessary for him to read it in order to develop "independent thinking".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For parents who say it's okay to expose your kids to these types of books at an early age, I don't know how much you have to deal with counselor issues at school. We're friends with a guidance counselor and she tells me it's amazing how kids pick up behavior at school and can be really mean to each other. Your angels might not be showing it at home, but their interactions and language with others might not be ideal in a school environment.

I’m one of the PPs above who said I don’t censor what my kids read - in part because I want to encourage independent thinking. And fwiw yes, I did recently get a very nice write up from the school about my kid’s nice personality and behavior at school - a kid who I let read these books. I know this doesn’t need to be said but nevertheless i am saying it

My DS (age 10, 5th grade) says one of his classmates is reading Stephen King's "It".

I would not let him read that if he wanted to. Totally inappropriate. As well as not being desirable for him to read it, it is not necessary for him to read it in order to develop "independent thinking".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but also have an 8 year old and very very tired of the language. I've thought about stopping them. When he was younger we did take away as in K-1 it was completely not appropriate.

veiled brag alert

I think you are just jealous that my 2-yr-old read these Wimpy Kid series and was unfazed. Now that he grew out of that phase, he is on college text books in the second grade.