Monday, February 23, 2009
Freedom
Agreeing with Tammie, having a young son myself, I also understand the importance of reading. Although you want to monitor what they read, you don't want to stifle the selection process. I choose to be nearby to discuss challenging issues together. Hopefully, through guided instruction he will learn to question topics to search for validity and morality. Knowledge is Power!
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I also agree that we need to monitor what our children read. We can do this at school, as well as at home. I don't mean to ban books, but to guide children to age appropriate books on a wide variety of topics. It is important to choose books that are thought provoking and lead to discussions. The children will be more apt to select books outside of their usual interests and will be able to become critical readers on their own in time.
ReplyDeleteWhile researching "Dr. Seuss" tonight I came across the following article:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/101926/politics_in_childrens_literature_ogden_pg4.html?cat=37
I thought it tied in nicely with our discussion here and it reminded me of how seemingly "simple" books can be used to teach societal issues.
Here's a question:
If a student repeatedly checks out books about weapons or researches such things on the computer, would you feel compelled to discuss this with the student? If so, would you act on it? I know that an interest in this does not mean there is any intention of doing anything, but with what happened at Columbine and then last year at Northern Illinois University (my Alma Mater), it would be difficult not to discuss.
Another question:
When we use Collection Selection tools and filters on school computers, are we in a way censoring what students can have access to?