Stupid school rule?

[upsideup]

DC's school recently introuduced an hour of silent reading per week, dd absolutely loved this (DS doesn't but it has encouraged him to read more). Untill now they have been taking in a book from home, DD10 who spends hours reading for pleasure anyway takes in the book shes reading at home. I dont choose her books and I am also not strict about what she reads, was already aware that some of the books she enjoys were targeted at an age range slightly above hers.
We have had a letter home saying that dd's book this week was rated as 14+ so is not suitable to be read at school and I should send her in with a book suitable for her age so under 10's as teachers are not going to be closely monitoring what books the children are reading. That is ridiculous right?
She had not told us this all week as shes worried shes in trouble with the teacher but her book was taken off her and she was given a random book from the libary by the teacher which is not the sort of thing she likes and was too 'babyish' for her so she spent the whole lesson doing nothing.
To be clear the books she is reading are young teen fiction books, not gory or sexual true crime books, theres maybe mentions of kissing or mild swearing but nothing harmful or frightening for a 10 year old to hear, mine atleast and as its silent reading and not being read aloud surely its nobodies business what shes reading and it should be mine and her dads decision if its suitable or not for her, not the teachers?
We are going stuggle to find a book aimed at under 10s that she enjoys and I also have know idea how to find out what age rating a book has and surely its just a reccomendation to what age group may enjoy the book not a strict rule?
I can see the benefit of quietly reading at school and definately not one of the many parents who complained when the silent reading was introduced but what benefit is forcing her to read a book that she dosnt enjoy and is below her level? Shouldnt she be encouraged to challenge herself and have an enjoyment for reading not punished?

Do your schools do the same? AIBU to want to challenge this stupid rule?

@upsideup Other teaching staff have suggested why this rule is in place, but you don't agree with it with regards to your DD. Other suggestions of reading material have been made, but as you don't agree with the rule you don't actually want those suggestions. I think the best thing therefore is to talk it through with DD's teacher so you can hear direct from them the reasons and have your questions answered. Even then I think this boils down to you being unhappy over your judgement being called into question (and no parent likes that feeling).

I'm guessing that the reason they don't want teen fiction books aimed at ages 14+ in the classroom is because they don't want another parent coming in angry, because their child has borrowed a 14+ book from your dd, and they think the content is inappropriate for their child.

I think that, as @MaisyPops suggests, if you go in with the attitude of wanting to work with the teacher to find books that are both suitable for the classroom and that your dd will enjoy, you will get a satisfactory outcome. I also think that taking in a list of suggestions, maybe from the books suggested on here, of books that fall outside the under-10 age bracket, but that aren't the 14+ teen fiction type, would be helpful.

Has your dd tried the Bagthorpes books, by Helen Cresswell? As far as I am aware, they are for the right age group, and are very funny indeed.

A previous poster suggested The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey - I am not sure that is such a good idea, because it is part of a series, and doesn't make sense unless you read the rest, and the series does have some pretty adult themes in - it is written for adults.

Joan Aiken's books - Midnight is a Place, Nightbirds on Nantucket etc might be suitable. And if they are a bit outside the under 10 age range, I think the teacher would be a lot less likely to object to a classic like these books than to teen fiction.

Teen fiction is a minefield anyway. Some of it is unobjectionable, but some is incredibly violent and sexual and you can't tell just by looking at it. The book covers often look very 'young' but what is in it is mature content. The teacher would be risking her job to let a student bring in any YA fiction she wanted.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius
Most teachers are reasonable and would happily have a chat and find a resolution as long as questions/objections are reasonable.
The times school staff get a bit is when we get 'my kid my rules' parents in who only want to complain, stamp their feet and get their child an exemption from the rule which applies to all students.

Seems to me that if a book from the school library was selected for school reading it would be a non issue. Then read what you want at home.

Dd is yr7 and was bought 2 box sets for Xmas,
He School library have placed one in the yr11 section, and one in the yr9 section, meaning if she forgets her books she is not able to access the same ones in the School library.
Since she would rather poke her eyes than read young teen fiction, She argued suitability of her choice with the school librarian and evidenced her signed reading record, and was "allowed" to borrow them on that basis.

Stick to the rules in school or request a discussion and reasonable flexibility.

My impression is that the rule lacks clarity. Are books suggested as being suitable for the 9-13 age range acceptable? Most of us would think so, and there is a wealth of suitable material out there, which even the most voracious of readers won't have been able to read all. Are books to be read by 10 year olds to be restricted to 10 and under, in which case, a significant number will be too babyish. It seems to me that this is what should be discussed.

You’ve been given reasons as to why your dd isn’t able to read the books you deem appropriate. You either accept them, try to find a compromise or home school your child and teach her as you see fit. Right now you’re arguing against teachers on this site and you’re starting to sound like “that parent”. To be arguing still about something, which is easily resolved says to me you really don’t have a clue how hard your dds teacher will be working for her.

My daughter started her periods while in primary and was banned from bringing in "Are you there God, it's me, Margaret?" because there was a blanket ban on Judy Blume. I agree schools can be over zealous in the policing of primary school reading. There was nothing in the above mentioned book that wasn't pertinent to my daughter's current experience, which is exactly why I bought it for her. I will say though that the outlawing of the book ensured every girl (and a fair few boys) in the class were climbing over themselves to borrow my daughter's copy (or buying their own).

Sometimes common sense needs to be employed on both sides. I'd read the book above as a child so knew its theme and contents were suitable. Not sure I'd hand over a 14+ book to a primary school child without reading it first tbh.

I get where the schools are coming from in some respects. Regardless of how good a reader a child is there will be parts of a book that are not understood as they are meant to be understood. A 10 yo will not understand the subtleties and suggestions of relationships as well as a 15 yo. As an English teacher I see this all the time - children have read specific books at primary and when talking about them it is clear that they haven't 'got' some of the messages due to their age.
I wouldn't stop your daughter reading what she enjoys though - just get her an age appropriate book for school .... all the children's classics that she hasn't read - Black Beauty/Little Princess/Secret Garden/Anne of Hreen Gables/Little House on the Prairie etc

The letter states that only books targeting for 10 and under are suitable fo her age group. It reccomends commonsensemedia.org to check whether a book is 'suitable' for my child and according to dd that is all the teacher did type the title of her book to see it suggests 14+ and then decide its not suitable. The majority of the 'classics' suggests on this thread when searched on that website come up as 10+ anyway, so under the schools rule are not accepted.
The rule is not no modern teen books but not books targeted at an age group above the childs.

I can think of no better way to ruin a child's love of reading than forcing them to read books that are way younger than their own maturity and reading ability. Blanket rules like this make me see red.

I was an early and advanced reader and because of this I was allowed to bring in books from the public library and from home because I'd read everything in the school library. I read a complete series of mythologies rewritten for children, which gave me a head start when doing classics and Eng Lit, and stories from Shakespeare. I also loved animal books, and I think Tarka the Otter was the first book that made me cry. I second the suggestion of Alan Garner, and for a hilarious classic, Three Men in a Boat (first book that made me laugh out loud).

I just checked out commonsensemedia.org and noticed that it appears to be a US site. I tried to find Mervyn Peake's "Titus Groan" books which I read in primary, but the search function didn't pick them up. Then I spotted that it had Pullman's "La Belle Sauvage" recommended for 14+. I bought it for my not-quite-11 niece for Christmas and she loved it (as did I). I can only assume it's rated that high because of some swearing, because the material itself is, imo, no more "adult" than his Northern Lights trilogy which my niece devoured when she was 9.

I suppose you'll have to go along with the school's policy (although I'm starting to get why some people home school) but I think she sounds more than capable of making her own choices of what to read out of school.

I've just been plugging books into that website ( it's very annoying to use as it keeps "correcting" to something completely different to what I typed in) and it does seem to err on the side of caution.

A Kestrel for a Knave and Watership Down are out, Last of the Mohicans is 17+.
There's loads of good books that aren't even on there though.
Titus Groan and Tarka the Otter as mentioned by PP.
The Diddakoi
Flambards
Billy Liar
Shardik
Puck of Pooks Hill
The Eagle of the Ninth
She could read one of those and be OK as the web site doesn't believe they exist!
The book she's reading sounds fine to me, compared to the "themes" of some of the classics. Animal cruelty, domestic abuse, child neglect, murder, substance abuse, forced marriage.......

Would you be happy for your child to be exposed to a lighter version of fifty shades of grey? My daugther wanted to read a 14+ book that was simply a slighty down tunned fifty shades of grey...

It's also noticeable that googling a book ( or searching on that website) tends to offer up a film, way before the actual book.
Reading is one of life's great joys ( in my opinion anyway) and putting kids off at primary school isn't a good thing.

Dd is yr7 and was bought 2 box sets for Xmas,
He School library have placed one in the yr11 section, and one in the yr9 section, meaning if she forgets her books she is not able to access the same ones in the School library.

I find this strange. My secondary school didn't section books by age. It was all alphabetical and any year could take out any book. Only the films were age-restricted.

alpineibex
By year is unusual.
When i was in school the library was all a free for all but then we never had any edgy books and it was all a bit dated. School libraries have got much better since then.

What's been more common in my schools has either been a separate section of teen books for y9 upwards (due to content) anf then general fiction or all books in together but some books are flagged as teen with either a different colour dot on it or ping up in check out.

To the people saying that some teen fiction is fine do you expect teachers to be familiar with every book in the genre? Some of it is incredibly adult in nature and not allowing it at all for everyone is much easier than creating a ‘but x was allowed to bring this book in’ situation.

Exactly blue some are probably fine, some aren't and are totally inappropriate.

I don't personally see what the problem is if she keeps the book to herself. However I'm also not aware of what goes on in that teachers class. Maybe a dc like my dd has been asking the teacher if she can read Carrie in school despite what mum said if ops dd is also reading older books. Maybe some other dc wants to bring in 50 shades and share it round at break. Who knows.

Whatever the reasoning, it's really not something to get worked up over. I also agree with maisie as to the approach.

Even if the teacher is adamant only books for under 10 are allowed, it's not difficult to work around. There's what, maybe 18hrs of under 10 reading material to find? Hardly an issue.

Yabu. As an English teacher I get this a lot. At home it's your choice, but at school teachers have the right to decide when they deem something to not be appropriate. I would not like my younger pupils reading books with swearing in. Even in silent resding session, pupils see what each other are reading, and they are often encouraged to discuss and recommend books. Parents are very quick to complain about the content of what other pupils are reading as it can influence their dd and ds' s own reading. Furthermore, teachers are very busy and will not have the time to read and vet every questionable book. I appreciate this rule is frustrating but the teachers are just trying to do their best for the children they teach - it's a minefield and they're never going to make every parent happy sadly. In fact, the frequency of parental complaints is often cited as a major reason why there is currently a teaching recruitment crisis and so many teachers are leaving the profession...

@alpineibex.
agreed. I find it strange too.
Once they reach yr9 they can access more books, and the again at yr11 they can access young adult. Who knows why.
Maybe some parent got precious snowflakey about what books their child was choosing?

Oddly, I put in the particular book that school has in the yr11 section into commonsencemedia.com and it shows as 12+

What's been more common in my schools has either been a separate section of teen books for y9 upwards (due to content) anf then general fiction or all books in together but some books are flagged as teen with either a different colour dot on it or ping up in check out.

@MaisyPops I'm confused, you say by year is unusual, but then example what is common is a restriction to certain materials being yr9+ or flagging up on check out as not appropriate. How is that different? They're still restricted/censored by age however the layout.

Or did you mean usual rather than unusual?

Teachers are acting 'in loco parentis'. If a teacher of ten years olds doesn't want books unsuitable for ten year olds in her classroom then any parent is being unreasonable if they demand their precious child is allowed to ignore that decision.

No wonder teachers get pissed off at parents.

My child shouldn't have to wear shoes at school when he is allowed to wear trainers at home.
My child shouldn't have to practise times tables at school as he had already learnt them at home.
My child should be allowed to use their mobile at school as we allow her to use it at home.

My child should be allowed to wear skinny black jeans at school as they look better on her than trousers.
My child shouldn't have to read x book when they have already read it at home.
My child should be allowed turkey twizzlers for lunch every day as she is allowed them at home.

My child shouldn't have to learn about evolution as its boring her and should be allowed to learn creationism instead as its more exciting.

Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me

My child shouldn't have to learn about evolution as its boring her and should be allowed to learn creationism instead as its more exciting.

That is an argument that no creationist parent will ever use.

Frusso
It's unusual to have a library where books are in sections by year e.g. y7 books, y8 books, y9 books, y10 books etc

But it is pretty common to mark some books as being teen/young adult due to content and generally y9/10 is the cut off for those books. (But you wouldn't get y9 books/y10 books/ y11 books if that makes sense).