To think this is stupid in an English lesson in year 7?

[justmeandmeandonlyme]

My daughter who is 11 years old in year 7 has told me she has been watching hunger games in her English lesson. She said she was nearly crying because of the people dying in it ( I have watched the full series Of hunger games Myself) and she thought it was real.. she is only 11 bad doesn’t watch things like that at home. But am I being unreasonable to think this is not even remotely educational in an english lesson??? I just don’t see how watching a film like that is going to teach kids anything apart from how to sit and cry at a film?

I agree with you. I am not going to show this to my home educated 12 year old DD. She will think she can spend all day every day watching the Christmas Channel, which has started again!

I think if you are going to critique an English lesson perhaps your SPaG should be spot on?

You could call and ask for the lesson plan which will contain the objectives.

If it was the 12A version, I don't see what the problem is?

I'd be more concerned that you're 11y/o can't differentiate between reality and a fiction film.

I think schools are picking books that teens will engage in. A series helps encourage further reading.

Romeo and Juliet, Of mice and Men (books we did in the 80's) had deaths. Every Disney has deaths, so if she's going through the stage of being upset, which most pre/teen girls do, then it was unavoidable.

I'm really surprised that she thought it was real, though. Perhaps start to drop Sociological discussions in when you can.

The Hunger Games is a good example of story setting, world building, character building etc. If English lessons are teaching them to write stories and to analyse how stories are written, it's probably easier to watch a film at that age than dissect a book.

I'd also worry about your daughter thinking it was real life. She must have heard of the books, surely? And the film series?

I think if you are going to critique an English lesson perhaps your SPaG should be spot on?

There's always a twattish reply on these sort of threads. Would you like an award for your sheer brilliance TomatoSoup?

OP, yanbu. I can't understand why no-one thought this through.

Ignore the twatty posts.

No, I don't think it's suitable for a Year 7 class. What parents choose to let them watch at home, when the know their child & their child can turn it off is one thing, forcing kids to watch it in a classroom setting isn't on.

Whatever 'Learning objectives' there are, can be achieved in other ways & other films.

I'd be pissed off because the 12 yo would hate it & be upset by it & it's unnecessary.

I don't think it's appropriate for year 7 at all. 12A is saying it's suitable for children 12 and over so shouldn't be being shown to children younger than that

She thought it was real? Really? That is a concern.
I doubt they were watching a film for no reason. And part of English should be to consider challenging texts. At GCSE she may face Macbeth (child murder etc) or Lord of the Flies

I don’t need to worry that my child can’t tell the difference from fiction and reality. She doesn’t sit watching tv and watching these types of things. She’s not heard of the hunger games or anything like that. You have to remember my child only just left primary school and just started year 7.

Slow handclap for TomatoSoup.
Fucking grammar police.

And why is it concerning that she ‘thought’ it was real... she ‘thought’ it was real but soon realised it wasn’t. I’m not concerned about that because I know it’s because she just so innocent and I’ve not sat her in front of the tv to watch violent films her whole life. I just don’t think it’s educational..

Disclaimer : I'm am English teacher but not in the UK

I teach English literature to Y8

We're doing Dystopian Fiction this term and we'll be looking at The Hunger Games as a modern example, along with The Maze Runner.
We'll also be looking at classic dystopian fiction like Animal Farm and Brave New World.

I might show some clips from the movies, that would be appropriate. I wouldn't show the whole film this early in term. (I don't have the time TBH)

YANBU; however, I think you need to be having a talk about the difference between reality and fiction with her. She’s going to study some challenging stuff over the next few years, and needs to be ready.

My son is in y6 and he's read book one of The Hunger Games, though he's not seen the films (I won't let him watch them until he's read all the books, not because they're violent - as others have said, they're 12s). I don't think they're particularly inappropriate.

I checked with my friend who's head of English at a secondary school before my son started reading, and he said they were fine and that they were so straightforward I didn't need to read them first (my son also wants to read Philip Pullman and my friend recommended I read those first so we can discuss them).

Has your daughter read the book? What else is she studying? We've been to lots of secondary schools recently on open days and lots of y7s are studying Frankenstein and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, which are both fairly grim.

12A is saying it's suitable for children 12 and over so shouldn't be being shown to children younger than that

That's not what 12A means, it means any age can see it as long as they're with an adult. 12 is just for 12 and over.

Ds read it at 10 or 11, loved it. It was in the school library and on the reason list.

Does the school have good English GCSE & A-Level results? If so, I would try to remember that there is probably a method in the apparent (to you) madness. The point being that if the school has a good, proven, English department then I would trust them on this. If the English department is failing (low achievement, exam results etc.) then I would question their methods, yes.

DS2 has watched films in English, History and (oddly for me) maths over the years. His school received a higher than average amount of level 9s in both English & Maths this summer, so clearly know what they’re doing.

I read THG with ds as he was so desperate for me to discuss it with him but dear Lord it was soooooooo boring. I can't believe the histrionics about it. What were you reading at 11? I was into Stephen King, Agatha Christie and anything vaguely gruesome.

Both mine read the first book in the trilogy as a school text in yr6, and watched all the movies in the same year, so it wouldn’t occur to me to have a problem with it.

Did they actually watch the whole thing or just extracts to inform reading comprehension?

I'm confused

you don't think it's educational? Why not? It's well written, well structured, well paced, allegorical....etc etc

If your daughter thought that a film being shown in school (based on a book) was real, she is very very young for her age.

Perhaps you have been overprotecting her a bit.

actually, becoming attached to characters is a lesson in life, not just well crafted drama.

I like HG.

Nothing wrong with a film as an end of (half) term treat.

But i can quite see why it might distress a child just out of prinary.

she thought it was real.

Wondering if the Hunger Games is suitable for English classes for 11 year olds is the very last of your worries if this is the case for your child.

The teachers must have announced what they were about to put on the screen. There would have been something as basic as ,"We are going to watch a clip from a tv series based on the highly successful novels of Suzanne Collins."

If your daughter is incapable of understanding what a fictional tv series is, or a novel, there is something very wrong. If she understood completely (which is more likely) and is lying to you claiming she thought it was real, there is something very wrong.