Thursday, May 18, 2017
Are Some YA Novels Too Much?
I've been an avid Young Adult Lit reader all my life. I immersed myself within that section of the book store the second my mom gave me the OK as a young child and years later I still love the quick, easy, yet very compelling read that a YA novel gives. While hundreds upon hundreds of Young Adult Novels offer solid plot lines with admirable characters, good lessons, and happy endings, I've found that there are some YA novels that land on the other end of that spectrum. Because of that I come back to a very often repeated question when reading these type of books: are some young adult novels too much?
By 'too much' I mean too suggestive, too provocative, too negative, too depressing, too revealing. I have 8 weeks of student teaching coming up with an 8th grade E/LA teacher and now that I have a specific age in my head in terms of planning, lots of the books raise questions in terms of 'appropriateness'.
There are two different sides I hold it terms of this dilemma. My first, slightly stronger side, is the teacher and adult in me. My second side is the YA-crazed adolescent I used to be. I've read so many YA novels I don't think I could recall every single one if I tried but I do remember the ones that were more risqué then not. While they didn't make any life changing impacts upon me and my development, they opened my eyes to the world of many controversial topics such as cutting, suicide, sex, rape, abuse, STD's, drug and alcohol abuse, and crime. Topics I absolutely think my parents would want to know about if they were coming up in my reading, as would many parents. Who am I to say how a book will effect one student vs. another? What if I gave a student By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead and it inspired them deeper into their strategy for suicide rather than giving them an inspiration to find a way out of their depression? What if I gave a 13 year old Go Ask Alice and it furthered her curiosity into drugs and self harm? These are truly some of my biggest fears as a teacher and educator.
As a teacher is it my place to make available these types of books on my free-reading shelves? That can't be answered with a simple yes or no. If I did decide to keep a larger range of material in my classroom I think my first step in securing the safety of my young readers is to require parental consent when a book may raise moral question or touch on controversial topics. Asking them to check the book out themselves, read the synopsis, check reviews, and decide whether thats something they are OK with letting their child read would be my first step. Along with parental consent, having a small conversation with the student upon giving them the book to let them know about the controversial topics within is a good idea. Also, making it known to the student that you are there to discuss with them and answer any questions they might have is required to keep an open line of communication.
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I think every educator has fears from different things we teach the students. When people go to be educators, they can chose from two things...Be great and love what they do, or fulfill education expectations and go home. When you decide to do something, decide to be great at it. From the sounds of your post, you are a great educator, you have great thoughts about students and situations that may arise from books. Having small conversations with a student or a group of students, has such a huge impact on their success in your classroom. When you show interest and faith in them and their academics, they will likely be more open to you. Open lines of discussion are so important. You hit that on the head!! :)
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ReplyDeleteAlexandrea HansonMay 18, 2017 at 7:57 PM
Deciding what to put on the shelves may be one of the hardest decisions we face as ELA teachers. I believe these books should require parental consent and should be placed on a separate shelf, only accessible to those whose parents are aware they are reading them. It is a great way to spark conversation, but I often question, as an educator, how much of this conversation is appropriate for ME and how much should be left to the parents. Great post, Annie! I think you are asking the question we have all been thinking!
I agree with your parental consent idea. I think that is a big part of the book picking process. You want the parents on your side, not against you. By giving them a heads up allows them to let you know their thoughts on it. I think I have mentioned this book before, but Fearless would be an excellent book. There are many themes within it, isolation, abuse, power, manipulation, courage, differences, society statuses and so many more. There are no graphic images like sexual abuse or harsh beatings, but there are abuses such as starvation, punishments, and a young girl dies to save 999 more girls. I think it would fit that age range very nicely. I agree what you are saying about content and age levels. A teacher had us read A Child Called It in 6th grade. Do no, I repeat, do not have a 6th grader read that book. I didn't understand most of what was happening, and when I did, the teacher found me bawling my eyes out in the girl bathroom. I think this book would also be appropriate for an 8th grader as well as The Giver.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, I actually disagree. I have a unique situation though. I read that book in 5th grade and it made me feel more normal. You see, my mother beat my sisters and I regularly. Baseball bats, tools, fists etc. But I was never locked in a basement, and she never burned me on a stove. When I read this story I thought, I am glad I am not the only one. I also thought, look how successful he is now. Now, I was not living a normal life by any means which could be part of the problem in how I saw the book. But for me at the time, it meant hope as strange as that sounds. I just like to inspire an outside of the box way of thinking. I hope I didn't offend your opinions on the book, A Child Called It.
DeleteAnnie, I love how passionate you are about making a difference and about how what you choose to do as an educator affects your students. I do like the idea of parental consent. However, I love a great respectful debate. I was curios if Public Libraries require parental consent for YAL?
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ReplyDeleteAnnie, I agree that there are some YAL books out there that need parental approval before we put them in our rooms.I think that teachers and librarians in general need to pick and choose the ones that we think are appropriate for our students. I do think that getting the parents involved in these choices would only be necessary if absolutely needed.I love this discussion because I think that this is something that we have all been wondering about during this class. It is a fine line when dealing with what we should allow or not allow our students to have access to when reading.
ReplyDeleteI understand the dilemma of whether a book should be placed in our classroom libraries or not. I work in an elementary library right now and I have spent a year learning about student choice and the freedom to read. Students need to read. They need to read books that interest them and are relevant in their lives. I think about myself as a teenager. I skipped right of YAL and went right to adult fiction. I believe that students need to be given the choice to choose their own books. If there is a YAL title you are unsure of I would suggest asking your school librarian if they feel it is appropriate for your classroom library. They go through the schooling to help you with those decisions. I understand that as adults we may view a book as too suggestive or inappropriate for young adults, but we are seeing these books through the eyes of adults. There are many things young adults face that we would consider inappropriate simply because we are older and wiser.
ReplyDeleteI love that you mention asking the librarian! That is something I hadn't thought of when planning my classroom library, but what a great idea!
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