I've always found it strange how the media and masses react whenever a sensitive subject is explored in a public manner (via TV or print). There's often this kind of "protect the children" reaction, as if the mere mention of the subject will pervert the youth. To me, this strategy always seems akin to saying: "Don't put ideas in people's heads, keep them as stupid and uninformed as possible."
And yet... This is veering off topic somewhat, but I just remembered an incident that happened when I was teaching French last term. I had chosen an extract from a book for my students to read and discuss in class (most of them were around 18-20 years old). The book itself was generally bright and whimsical, but the extract in question happened to center around a 12-year-old girl's disgust with her upper-class life, and her decision, after careful consideration, to kill herself in dramatic fashion on her birthday.
I hesitated for a long time on whether I should give my students this text, which essentially glorified suicide (even though she ends up not going through with it). And in the end, I decided not to. Because I was teaching French, not literature, which meant that it wasn't the ideal place to start a debate on teen suicide; I was also afraid that the language barrier (this was an intermediate-level class) would complicate things even further, and skew any discussion we might have.
But, despite the above reasons, what really happened was that I chickened out at the prospect of raising controversy in my classroom. I didn't want to take the risk. And even though I would probably make the same decision if I had to do it again, I still feel like I sold out a little.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-05-14 01:54 pm (UTC)I've always found it strange how the media and masses react whenever a sensitive subject is explored in a public manner (via TV or print). There's often this kind of "protect the children" reaction, as if the mere mention of the subject will pervert the youth. To me, this strategy always seems akin to saying: "Don't put ideas in people's heads, keep them as stupid and uninformed as possible."
And yet... This is veering off topic somewhat, but I just remembered an incident that happened when I was teaching French last term. I had chosen an extract from a book for my students to read and discuss in class (most of them were around 18-20 years old). The book itself was generally bright and whimsical, but the extract in question happened to center around a 12-year-old girl's disgust with her upper-class life, and her decision, after careful consideration, to kill herself in dramatic fashion on her birthday.
I hesitated for a long time on whether I should give my students this text, which essentially glorified suicide (even though she ends up not going through with it). And in the end, I decided not to. Because I was teaching French, not literature, which meant that it wasn't the ideal place to start a debate on teen suicide; I was also afraid that the language barrier (this was an intermediate-level class) would complicate things even further, and skew any discussion we might have.
But, despite the above reasons, what really happened was that I chickened out at the prospect of raising controversy in my classroom. I didn't want to take the risk. And even though I would probably make the same decision if I had to do it again, I still feel like I sold out a little.