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DEL.ICIO.USGive Me a Break
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“This book is negative. I read it. I don’t see the academic value in it. Everything presented to the kids should be positive or historical, not negative.”
This Missouri mom is one of several parents calling for the removal of “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry from a school district’s reading list. They say it is too morbid for middle school students. This book is 14th on the American Library Association’s most frequently challenged books. A query I sent out to metro Atlanta public schools suggests schools here steer clear of it, though several private schools do teach the book. “The Giver” is not part of the state curriculum, though guidelines say the state’s list is just a sampling of appropriate books.
If you haven’t read “The Giver,” you should. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it. It would be too bold a statement to declare it “the best book I ever read,” but it may be the most thought-provoking. (The book is typically taught in seventh or eighth grade, though my nephew who lives in New Jersey read it in sixth.)
The reason this story is making the rounds? The parents’ stance eerily mirrors The Giver’s utopian society.
A bigger issue is this mother’s belief that school’s shouldn’t present anything negative to students. This particular quote may be extreme, but I have heard similar sentiments before from parents who feel like their kids can’t handle anything bad or negative. With this as a directive, how could teachers teach?
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By Jennifer
January 31, 2005 10:03 AM | Link to this
I’ve read “The Giver,” and it is a fabulous book that deserves to be taught in school. The Missouri mom’s statement that everything taught to her children should be “positive or historical, not negative” makes about as much sense as Cobb’s issues with evolution. Obviously she doesn’t understand how inter-related the courses are.
When I taught, I saw parents get in such an uproar about this book or others because of their “content,” yet they had no problem with exposing their children to violent, sex-drenched television shows and movies. What hypocrisy!
The beauty of “The Giver” is that it, in a fictional way, exposes kids to similar complex themes that they will deal with when they study history—the holocaust, slavery, communism, the Crusades, government corruption and control of its citizens, and the list goes on and on. Books like “The Giver” give kids a non-threatening way to explore the complexities of society and government. Through the essays that students write about the book, they are given the opportunity to fully explore a theme, take a position, and use key scenes from the book to support or defend their ideas.
Kids are smarter and more capable to think for themselves than their parents often give them credit for. Sheltering them doesn’t work—eventually they do leave the nest. As a parent, I do believe I have the right, and the responsibility, to keep an eye on what my kids are being taught. But, unless the material is salacious, I don’t feel that I should be dictating the curriculum. Instead, if I feel an issue needs further study or more explanation than class time allows, it is MY job, as a parent, to take the time to do that. Ultimately, I am responsible for the education of my kids.
By Katie
January 31, 2005 11:45 AM | Link to this
I can not believe that someone be so ignorant as to think that “The Giver” does not have historical significance. This woman and her child are the very people who need to read “The Giver”. This book is about people who are taught that they must follow rules with out questioning and that things are exactly as they seem. Perhaps she is afraid that if her child is exposed to a novel in which one child dares to think for himself, her child will see the error of her facist ways. I am not saying that we should expose children to novels in which children rebel for rebellions sake, all I am saying is that books can not always be taken at face value. “The Giver” is anything but negative. It has much historical, political, and ethical resonance. These are all things children should be learning in school since there are obviously some parents out there that WILL NOT teach it at home.