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.

[MTPurse]

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 :

We read this in juniors so must have been 10 too! Michael Rosen and Roger McGough were the stars of the day then.

I guess it's supposed to introduce the children to black humour and sarcasm in a setting they can understand and at an age where they may just be beginning to understand double meanings etc

No I wouldn't be happy for my 10 year old to learn that poem.

And I agree with PutDown, in light of school killings that has taken place, as well as all the Isis shootings recently, it's in very poor taste.

I would ask the school to choose another poem for your son.

I am surprised, normally I find myself on the more relaxed side about this kind of thing but I did feel that it was a little sinister for a teacher to be teaching this material, ie making light of a teacher walking in and massacring his students.

I wonder though, a lot of posters did this in school themselves years ago so have fond memories of it - where as I have no previous attachment to it and yes, it does make me think of the fact that actual massacres occur in schools all the time right now. It doesn't feel like an appropriate joke for the teacher to be sharing with students in context of current events, whereas years ago it could have been considered light humor. I am sure I will be called a misery guts but that's just my first instinct on the matter.

DC did a lot of war poetry in Y2, some of which was quite graphic - and I was (mostly) OK with that. But I think this is absolutely dreadful. I would be suggesting an alternative.

Gattabianca - learning poetry by heart is specified in the new National Curriculum- by Year 2 they should be 'continuing to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart'.

I think that's completely unacceptable. I personally don't find any humour in poetry about teachers killing their students. There's something quite chilling about that particular poem. It's the way such brutality is written about so casually. I would be complaining about it. I wouldn't dream of giving that to a year 5 class and would definitely complain if given to my own year 5 child.

There are plenty of funny non-violent poems out there. Putting a gun to a child's temple and firing is 'cartoon violence'? Are people just becoming desensitised to this stuff?

I think it's horrid. I'd have been really upset by it at that age, and I'm sure DS (Yr 4) would be disturbed by it too.

I'd assume the 'point' of the poem was to point out how ghastly and stupid it is to use extreme physical violence/warfare to 'teach someone a lesson'.

Perhaps a good talking point for high school, but not remotely humorous, and to my mind inappropriate for Yr 5.

We had this poem in school. It was about 1985 and we were about 14. Not a single eyebrow was raised, the point of reading it was supposed to be about the grotesque I think - outlandish, unrealistic

Of course that was before the school horrors in the US that seem to be quite frequent now.

I don't know what I think about it. Interesting how times change though, this was a very conservative school

I think it's very sad and says a lot about the society we have become when people find this poem inappropriate for school children to read. Objecting to that poem is underestimating their intelligence and pandering to the lowest common denominator.

We are in France but the DC attend school in English. After the terror attacks of last year, I would be appalled if my children were asked to read or learn this off by heart, they are already traumatized.

Safeguarding? Seriously?

Honestly, it's been taught in schools forever. Usually to y7 but I can imagine my year 5 dd thoroughly enjoying it. She came home with Beowulf the other day - which really IS scary.

"Putting a gun to a child's temple and firing is 'cartoon violence'? Are people just becoming desensitised to this stuff?"

No I think it's the other way around - it was clearly understood to be cartoonish at one point, like Tom and Jerry or Wile E and Road Runner. Sadly in recent times that isn't so clear any more

Suddenly - maybe Beyonce has helped to make me conscious of this recently - in particular if you are black I think this is a horrific poem to read. People in authority inflicting lethal violence on "unruly" children en masse is surely far more chilling given that it actually happens every day to black youth

Mumsnet is weird

It's only a poem. They see worse on tv and in the cinema.

Horrible one to learn and forever have in your head! Especially from a young age.

My Yr 6 DS would love this poem, but I must admit that it makes me feel uncomfortable. I would have mixed feelings if my son was told to learn it by heart, although I would probably be fine with them just reading it through in class.

IT's a joke about the secret dark fantasies of teachers, I suppose, which is inappropriate or not depending on your context and personal sensitivities

Roger McGough sounds fucking intelligent
Its bloody awful. Of all the wonderful pieces of literacy and poems that have ever been produced why choose this shit for someone to read.
Is this supposed to represent the sign of the times and be ultra hip and cool.
OP I would be speaking to the school as well. Its the biggest load of shit ive ever heard. I would expect higher standards at a school.

Not age appropriate.

It doesn't 'make violence humorous', it demonstrates the stupidity of 'teaching people a lesson' via violence, whether that be smacking children or dropping bombs. And other hypocrisies.

I daresay some 10 year olds will get it, but I can see it is stuff that would cause people to wince a bit.

Of courses Beowolf is scary. But the chances of your DC thinking it at all realistic are close to nil.

On the other hand, school shootings, terror shootings, ISIS all over the press pits a very different complexion on a satirical poem written before the concept of a "school shooting" existed.

And alliteration, personification and simile can be taught via many, many peons, ones that will not upset children.

I can't say that I agree with you, Crimson. Taboos have always existed, and they are always changing as social context changes. There will have been miserable topics of the day when you were at school which weren't joked about because it was in poor taste. Hopefully, in 50 years time, this poem will be considered a joking matter again, but right now I can understand why it isn't.

great poem but I would be straight into the school if dd brought that home! No too young!

"They see worse on tv and in the cinema."

What do you let your children watch?

I don't think it's a joke about the secret fantasies of teachers. If it was, that would be fucking disturbing.