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Old 01-16-2023, 10:39 AM
 
Location: State of Transition
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lair8 View Post
Depends on context, but generally, material that is graphic but educational is fine.


It's okay for literature to be about controversial topics. Literature is art, and it's okay for art to make us feel uncomfortable.
What about the inspiring, uplifting potential that art has? Why are there never any selections that reflect that?
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Old 01-16-2023, 10:41 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
What about the inspiring, uplifting potential that art has? Why are there never any selections that reflect that?
There are. We covered a lot of art in school, Mona Lisa, Rembrandt, etc, etc. We read uplifting books, as well as ones that were tragic. Where are you growing up that you only see one kind of art portrayed?
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Old 01-16-2023, 12:14 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
There are. We covered a lot of art in school, Mona Lisa, Rembrandt, etc, etc. We read uplifting books, as well as ones that were tragic. Where are you growing up that you only see one kind of art portrayed?
I was responding to this:
Quote:
Literature is art, and it's okay for art to make us feel uncomfortable.
We weren't given uplifting books in high school. What uplifting novels did you read in HS or college? What uplifting books have you assigned for HS students? I'm just curious as to what's out there.
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Old 01-16-2023, 01:01 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
I was responding to this:
We weren't given uplifting books in high school. What uplifting novels did you read in HS or college? What uplifting books have you assigned for HS students? I'm just curious as to what's out there.
Well, I thought the Color Purple was uplifting and inspiring, as was the Call of the Wild, and you can even go way back, to The Canterbury Tales and Don Quixote, which are intended to be comedic. I also loved, loved, loved Gone With the Wind, which was listed under the novels you got an automatic "A" for doing a book report on (most likely due to the length, over 1000 pages) and ended up reading it probably half a dozen more times over the years. I don't know that I
d call it uplifting, but I found it and incredibly exciting journey.

But even the novels that have tragedy in them have lessons in them, whether Animal Farm or Mandingo. I would hate to think these books would stop being used in school. I don't even understand at all why Toni Morrison book are on the list of books so many right wing parents want banned. I think it's an assault on intelligence, frankly. Dumb down the voters.
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Old 01-17-2023, 12:40 PM
bu2
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgkeith View Post
Not sure about the meaning of the question but will take a crack at it. I would think that what is taught in school should reasonably match the average expected emotional development for that age group. Yes, it's OK for kids to be upset about what they have learned in school at times, but it depends on what is taught, and to what grade/age group. Also depends on state guidelines for curriculum.
I agree with this. Some things are still not age appropriate. Some things are over the line societally (ie pornography-depending on how you define it).

But in real life you will see things that disturb you. HS students shouldn't be protected from that any more than age appropriate.
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Old 01-17-2023, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
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I graduated high school in 1978 and I am trying to think of a time when I was "upset" by subject matter. I can't think of any (I am a heterosexual male and kind-of on the spectrum, so maybe not the most sensitive person).

Perhaps the most upsetting stuff was the film and pictures of concentration camp victims, both living and dead, that we were shown in history classes. I do remember reading about the "No Irish Need Apply" signs (I have an Irish-sounding name), but that seemed so remote as to be almost fantasy.

I suppose we were simply trained to be more resilient. Most of our parents, after all, survived the Great Depression and World War II and passed that resilience on to us. What have we survived? Threats of movies about nuclear war? Threats of the flu?
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Old 01-17-2023, 02:10 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtab4994 View Post
I graduated high school in 1978 and I am trying to think of a time when I was "upset" by subject matter. I can't think of any (I am a heterosexual male and kind-of on the spectrum, so maybe not the most sensitive person).

Perhaps the most upsetting stuff was the film and pictures of concentration camp victims, both living and dead, that we were shown in history classes. I do remember reading about the "No Irish Need Apply" signs (I have an Irish-sounding name), but that seemed so remote as to be almost fantasy.

I suppose we were simply trained to be more resilient. Most of our parents, after all, survived the Great Depression and World War II and passed that resilience on to us. What have we survived? Threats of movies about nuclear war? Threats of the flu?
Are we resilient? I wonder about that sometimes. A few days without internet or power and we'd see how resilient we are, lol.
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Old 01-17-2023, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
7,967 posts, read 7,319,767 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
Are we resilient? I wonder about that sometimes. A few days without internet or power and we'd see how resilient we are, lol.
I think we'd get cranky, but we'd survive. I bet we'd even thrive. Even my kids when they went to Scout camp without a phone, TV, or video games for a week, they thrived.
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Old 01-17-2023, 03:18 PM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,788,991 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citylove101 View Post
Is that OK?
It's more than ok. It's critical. If learning history isn't upsetting, you're not learning reality (or you don't have feelings).

Other subjects can be similar. Biology, humanities, etc.
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Old 01-17-2023, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Sunnybrook Farm
4,314 posts, read 2,490,031 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
The way Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn are taught, is to put the language in historical context. So students know, "this is how some people spoke back then, but we don't talk like that now, because it's not nice".

This is not a difficult issue. Teachers have been presenting the Mark Twain material for generations.
If the teacher can get over her initial reaction to the way African Americans are initially presented in Huckleberry Finn (and let's face it, just because they're teaching high school English doesn't mean they actually understand the material), actually READING the book will reveal that it is a strong ANTI slavery, ANTI racist story. Jim, the runaway slave, is probably the most honorable adult figure in the whole story, even despite the indignities visited on him, first by his position in society and then by the way Tom and Huck treat him as a plaything. And yet, for Huck who needs a REAL father, Jim is the one who steps up to be that father figure.
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