Inappropriate reading book (in my opinion)

adea

iammumtoone wrote: »

30 children that is the whole class. Its only a primary school I would be interested to hear how many classes per year they have. My sons school have 2 (60 children) so that would be half the children in the year, his is a large school for this area most of then only have 1 class (30 children per year) meaning the whole class would be reading it!

Of course if the school has 4 or 5 classes per year meaning only 20/25% of the children have been given it this would be different. I don't know of any primary schools this big but am happy to be corrected.

I have just read some of the reviews on amazon



what a great and thought provoking point, however I stand by view point that most 10 years olds would be like "so - can I play on the xbox now"

There are 2 classes per year.

iammumtoone

adea wrote: »

There are 2 classes per year.

Thanks for clearing that up. I stand by my comments. I do agree that a small percentage of 10/11 years might be able to understand the concept behind it, but not 50% of them!

JoW123

iammumtoone wrote: »

30 children that is the whole class. Its only a primary school I would be interested to hear how many classes per year they have. My sons school have 2 (60 children) so that would be half the children in the year, his is a large school for this area most of then only have 1 class (30 children per year) meaning the whole class would be reading it!

Of course if the school has 4 or 5 classes per year meaning only 20/25% of the children have been given it this would be different. I don't know of any primary schools this big but am happy to be corrected.

I have just read some of the reviews on amazon



what a great and thought provoking point, however I stand by view point that most 10 years olds would be like "so - can I play on the xbox now"

My daughter is in Yr 5 and there are 4 classes of 30 children in her year making around 120 in total. It is a particularly big primary school though, but they do exist.

meritaten

Its interesting that this morning the Beeb news announced that a group of Cheshire Headteachers sent a letter out to parents warning them that if their children were allowed to play on 'age inappropriate' games at home - they would be reporting them to the authorities. so how would this be different to introducing children to reading matter which is also age inappropriate?
I haven't read the book and didn't want to comment before, but I discussed it today with my 14yr old neice who has read it recently. She felt uncomfortable with it and wouldnt have wanted to discuss it in class - but felt it was ok for her to read in private. (she is a voracious reader btw - but quite shy. she felt the issues were important but, she wasn't sure she was ready to 'deal with them'. she is a sensitive child - but sensible, and when I asked her if she would recommend it to a friend she replied 'No, not yet'.)

I think this is down to individual parent to query why this book is given to 10/11 year olds. and I think parents are entitled to request that another more suitable book is substituted for their child to read.

maman

iammumtoone wrote: »

No I did admit earlier I haven't read it, but am seriously thinking of popping over to amazon to get it!

In the OPs case the WHOLE class have been given it to read, I suspect some of them will be at a lower learning stage than others, it is probable that they will just focus on the controversial parts.

I had a further thought that sometimes schools do bridging projects as preparation for secondary school. So it could be that the book will be followed through in year 7.

Jagraf

maman wrote: »

I had a further thought that sometimes schools do bridging projects as preparation for secondary school. So it could be that the book will be followed through in year 7.

I agree - its only a few months off. They have three months left in primary school that's all. They will then be in ks3.

gettingtheresometime

I've ordered it from the local library after reading the comments !

Whilst i can understand (to a certain extent) the OP's concern given that I haven't read the book but surely to nurture a love of reading children should be given books that opens their mind or fires their imagination - isn't that why Harry Potter was applauded for getting boys to read?

j.e.j.

Well, first there's the age of the child to consider, then the personality of that child. Some might be 10 going on 15, others might be young for their age. Nothing wrong with either, but I certainly wouldn't give Noughts and Crosses to a ten year old. I wouldn't ban it, if they picked it up in the library and wanted to read it, but I wouldn't recommend it for that age group.


Malorie Blackman writes excellent books, but I would say to be fair Noughts and Crosses is intended for teenagers not primary school children.

meritaten

from what my niece told me - Harry Potter it aint! she felt the issues were 'grown up ones'. it was hard for her to explain to me - she read the book but felt it was 'too full' in her words. she understood it she thinks - but then she thinks she didn't.
we share a love of reading and I have given her many adult fiction books I thought were suitable for her. and she reads a lot of 'teen fiction' and some adult fiction. but her mum or myself ALWAYS vet the adult fiction.
I got the impression she thought the book dealt with issues which children get no control over? that they were issues adults should be dealing with (and aren't).

Nicki

meritaten wrote: »

I got the impression she thought the book dealt with issues which children get no control over? that they were issues adults should be dealing with (and aren't).

That's very astute of her, and yes a fair representation of the book. It is about a society which practises apartheid and the story of two kids on either side of the divide and how their lives differ. So not a situation which was within the children's power to change but how they interact with each other, and the fact they choose to have a relationship with each other and ignore bigotry is of course their personal choice.

The book is marketed as suitable for KS3 classes. The older kids in that class will be 10 3/4 now. In September the youngest kids in the same class who will be KS3 will be just 11. Will so much change in just 4 months to make the book unsuitable for all children in year 6 but suitable for all children in year 7? I don't get that at all!