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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My Ds has brought this poem home from school and been told to learn it. Please come and give me your thoughts on wether I should speak to the school.

476 replies

MTPurse · 11/02/2016 20:26

As the title says, Ds has came home from school today with a Poem to learn, He has to learn it to be read out between a group of them(apparently he was chosen to read it as he is good at drama/being dramatic).

This is all I know, I have no other info on what it is about and why he has to learn it yet

Now I am not into poetry at all so maybe I just don't 'get it' but I really think this is completely unsuitable for Children due to the context. I am not a strict parent at all but Guns , Knives, Swords and Violence have no part in my family life and I will not allow my ds to play cod and stuff like that, in fact we have had numerous arguments about this.

Personally, I get the humour in it and think it would be fine on a staffroom wall but aibu to think it is not suitable for children?

Here is the poem:

The Lesson

Chaos ruled OK in the classroom
as bravely the teacher walked in
the nooligans ignored him
his voice was lost in the din

'The theme for today is violence
and homework will be set
I'm going to teach you a lesson
one that you'll never forget'

He picked on a boy who was shouting
and throttled him then and there
then garrotted the girl behind him
(the one with grotty hair)

Then sword in hand he hacked his way
between the chattering rows
'First come, first severed' he declared
'fingers, feet or toes'

He threw the sword at a latecomer
it struck with deadly aim
then pulling out a shotgun
he continued with his game

The first blast cleared the backrow
(where those who skive hang out)
they collapsed like rubber dinghies
when the plug's pulled out

'Please may I leave the room sir? '
a trembling vandal enquired
'Of course you may' said teacher
put the gun to his temple and fired

The Head popped a head round the doorway
to see why a din was being made
nodded understandingly
then tossed in a grenade

And when the ammo was well spent
with blood on every chair
Silence shuffled forward
with its hands up in the air

The teacher surveyed the carnage
the dying and the dead
He waggled a finger severely
'Now let that be a lesson' he said

Roger McGough :

OP posts:
MrsOlaf78 · 13/02/2016 22:32

MammaTJ your daughter is clearly intelligent!

Sunnybitch · 13/02/2016 22:34

So any child that would find it disturbing isn't Hmm

MrsOlaf78 · 13/02/2016 22:42

You can find it disturbing, you're supposed to find it disturbing but at the same time appreciate the use of irony.

TwoLeftSocks · 13/02/2016 22:46

My Yr5 isn't very good at irony yet.

MrsOlaf78 · 13/02/2016 22:47

Yes I think it's much more suited to secondary school.

TwoLeftSocks · 13/02/2016 22:48

Definitely

bolleauxnouveau · 13/02/2016 22:49

'he put the gun to his temple and fired'

When we're trying to tell children that GTA is not appropriate for yr5, isn't that a mixed message.

My children now have a lockdown drill as well as fire practice in case a lunatic comes into the school (though of course that's not how it's phrased to them.)

Sunnybitch · 13/02/2016 22:49

But we're not talking about adults we're talking about children and weather this poet is well known or whatever, some children will find this very disturbing and it will affect them and not in a good way as poetry should

MrsOlaf78 · 13/02/2016 22:56

It's more suited to secondary pupils who see and talk about far worse things than this.

Sunnybitch · 13/02/2016 22:58

I agree...

LadyHonoriaDedlock · 13/02/2016 23:52

Might have been ironic/cutting edge/vaguely amusing back in the day, but too close to reality now. (100 years later) CBA to read the full thread though.

MrsOlaf78 · 14/02/2016 00:24

How can it be too close to reality? That doesn't even make sense!

LadyHonoriaDedlock · 14/02/2016 01:08

Um...because people are murdered with guns? Maybe even people known by the children who have to learn this doggerel? It's just common sense and being sensitive really. No teacher I know would set this.

houseHuntinginmanchester · 14/02/2016 01:13

That is an awful poem. All I could think of was the slaughter of the schoolchildren in Peshawar, Pakistan, with blood on every chair and smeared from wall to wall. Sad

Primaryteach87 · 14/02/2016 01:15

I probably would be too cowardly to actually teach this but can really, really imagine 10year old boys LOVING it and totally getting into poetry as a result.

I see your point about the violence too. I'm torn. I would guess it was meant to be fun and exciting not some sort of veiled threat!

What does your son think? Does he think it's funny?

crazycatguy · 14/02/2016 01:21

I did this poem when I was about your dc's age. Our class loved the humour and it introduced us to many quirks and technicalities of the English language. It is absolutely not a safeguarding issue. If it was, Shakespeare would be off the curriculum too on the same basis.

There were 29 kids in that class. None of us have murdered anyone, far less a teacher.

Alasalas · 14/02/2016 03:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PippaHotamus · 14/02/2016 07:52

Pippa there is a lot of technical devices in it but the simple rhyme and rhythm is deliberately used (and subverted) because it mimics the style of poetry usually taught in schools

Eh? There is a lot of technical devices in it? If you say so Smile

and I'm sorry, but the second bit of that makes no sense to me either. The style of poetry usually taught in schools? What is that exactly?

allegretto · 14/02/2016 07:55

I think it's a great poem and remember doing it at school and no, LadyHonoriaDeadlock, that wasn't 100 years ago! Should be a good starting point for a discussion too.

Helmetbymidnight · 14/02/2016 08:00

I'm sorry, Dunblanemum

The fact that posters are continuing to insist that this poem is obviously brilliant satire and that every child with any wit will see that it's ironic - even today - is a bit...odd really.

allegretto · 14/02/2016 08:04

Dunblanemum - I am sorry that you find it upsetting and of course, I can't begin to imagine what you have been through but I have always seen it as an anti-violence poem.

UnDeuxTroisCatsSank · 14/02/2016 08:07

Those saying that they read it as children and did not turn out to be a murderer are so, so wide of the mark.

I have two sensitive children who spent many nights too scared to go to sleep by themselves after the terror attacks in Paris (we live in Paris.) they know because it has been raised in school that a couple of years ago, a man on a motorbike shot children in the head in Toulouse.

I want my children to leant war poetry, I want my children to learn Shakespeare. I want them to be exposed to challenging themes in literature, to understand irony, satire, poetic devices.

I don't want them to read this poem which is likely to have them scared shitless as they miss the irony and ready only a poem about teachers killing children in the classroom.

That does not make them thick (to the poster who made the point a few posts up about a child who "got" the poem being clearly intelligent). It makes them young, sensitive and - at primary age - not ready for a poem like this.

allegretto · 14/02/2016 08:09

Do your children read/watch Horrible Histories? They are pretty violent too but you don't see many people complaining about them. Being scared of terrorism is in a completely different category imo.

AtSea1979 · 14/02/2016 08:10

Awful. I would complain.

AtSea1979 · 14/02/2016 08:11

No my 10 yo DS doesn't watch horrible histories as he finds it disturbing.