Inappropriate reading book (in my opinion)

ashley

Does your child watch any soaps? If then I don't see the problem as she has already been exposed to the issues. Also by studying the book in school a good teacher will offer opportunities for the pupils to discuss and give opinions on these issues. I would say that is better than passive exposure via the television. Why not discuss he book with your child. Letting her know hat violence and rape are never acceptable.

Typhoo

Think books are dependant very much on each individual child and how family bring up. Discussing sex around 11 years old is probably beneficial as it will give children information.Hopefully this will help to reduce the high numbers of teenage pregnancies in the UK which are preventable by better education.Kids now have access to shows such as 16 and Pregnant but the unfortunate truth is that in the UK there are many who are under this age..Kids can also find out that being forced to have sex and being in abusive relationships is not normal.

Tee.Ohh.Emm.

Oh... this isn't about The Bible then.


:huh:

elliee

I read Noughts and Crosses when I was 11 and I thought it was a great book, not really unsuitable tbh I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Ames

I'm onto book three now. That one has an explicit sex scene that's probably not suitable for 10 year olds, although it's similar to the one in 'Forever' that my year went wild for in year 7.

I'm assuming the people talking about rape in N&C haven't read the book? Because there isn't a rape. The adults assume that it must have been because the girl and boy were different races.

CaptainAmelia

Having been a high-street bookseller specialising in the teenage fiction department for several years, this is definitely an issue I've come across a lot, and I believe you're approaching it from exactly the right angle. Just because a 10yo child has the reading age of a 16yo does not mean that the content of much older books is even close to appropriate. 'Noughts & Crosses' is classified very firmly in the Young Adult Fiction department, because of its heavy adult themes. There are hundred and hundreds of amazing books in the 9-12 fiction section to explore - They've got so much time to be an adult and read ~adult~ books, it's such a shame to see so many ~younger~ books be ignored!

zeeksquirrel

chickenpants wrote: »

Perhaps I worded my post wrongly. It was not in any way about the teacher getting into trouble but more out of politeness to the teacher and finding out the reasons for why the book is being use directly from the source. If you are not happy with the response then by all means go to the head.These days people seem to post on Facebook where it all gets whipped up into frenzy, rather than actually speaking to the teachers themselves.

Yes- so often parents go straight to the head teacher without discussing with the teacher concerned or head straight to Facebook. You have to question their motives.

adea

ashley wrote: »

Does your child watch any soaps? If then I don't see the problem as she has already been exposed to the issues. Also by studying the book in school a good teacher will offer opportunities for the pupils to discuss and give opinions on these issues. I would say that is better than passive exposure via the television. Why not discuss he book with your child. Letting her know hat violence and rape are never acceptable.

Thanks for the reply. No she doesn't watch any soaps, purely because we don't watch them, not for censorship reasons but because her dad and I are not interested in them.
She rarely watches television, she prefers to be on her computer playing Minecraft and chatting with friends.
When she does watch TV and has the choice of what she would like to watch, she'll put on Disney channel and watch Jessie, Austin and Ally.

adea

zeeksquirrel wrote: »

Yes- so often parents go straight to the head teacher without discussing with the teacher concerned or head straight to Facebook. You have to question their motives.

I expressed my concerns Facebook so it would reach other parents of her classmates, as the parents don't drop the children at school and stay in the playground.
We did go to the school to speak to the teacher but she had left for the day and the office staff asked if we wanted to speak to the deputy head but were unable to do so as she was in a meeting. We were then told the school was aware of the complaints and the matter was to be discussed.
Two days after this, we received the letter saying the children would be issued a new book (there was more than that in the letter but didn't want to waffle on)
One parent I spoke to was unaware of the content of the book until she read my post, her daughter had been off I'll so hadn't read any of it, and was unhappy with the choice.

adea

I spoke with a couple more parents after we had the letter and one said her eldest daughter who is 17, had previously read the book in secondary school, said she didn't think it appropriate for her sister to read and explained the content. The Mum agreed and rang the school.
As I have previously stated, it is a good book and very well written ( I read it in a day and a half) and would recommend it, just not for primary school age , in my opinion.