to think Coram Boy is not a suitable book for year 7s

[vegetaria]

My 11 year old had night mares last night and is afraid to go to sleep tonight.

For anyone who doesn't know it is about a man who buys unwanted children in the UK in the 1700s, and sells them into slavery if they are above 5, or kills them by burying them alive if they are younger, and it describes several scenes of babies being buried alive and other harrowing events

Its the class book at the moment

The person burying the child alive had been paid to find a good home for the child by a mother who recognised that they couldn't afford another mouth to feed long-term.

They were scammers who murdered the little ones and kept the money.

Many, many people made their living this way, it's the reason that the OP's child is distressed.

So, you're saying that children that don't struggle with this book don't care for or love the babies in their lives?!

We're saying that discussions can be held with your son to make him understand the book better. At 11 he should be able to emotionally separate a baby with an illness from a baby being killed by a human.

Honestly if reading about baby's dying has upset him because of his baby cousin, you really 100% need to be talking to him about this. It is not the book that has upset him. Literature is powerful because it allows you to confront emotions that are already there.

Avoiding things and emotions that upset you is not emotionally healthy. Have you forgotten this part of your psychological training?

of course we talk about his cousin, all the time, and no, I am not going to force him to dwell on the awful images in this book

Absolutely. If something disturbs a child that much.

I also wonder how posters are sure they are ‘making their children more resilient’ rather than just desensitising them? Or are they the same thing, but the terms have a different bias? - genuine question

look at yourselves!

you think it is ok to force 11 year olds to read descriptions of babies being tortured and murdered.

Clearly this is VERY not OK, and clearly you need to be very seriously questioning yourself if you think that it is.

Few Mumsnet threads have made me roll my eyes as hard as this one has. It has given me a headache.

Nasty -reporting

This bullshitty thread has annoyed me so much I'm going to have to hide it, but the author is not CONDONING any of that stuff just as studying things in school is not forcing them to read it. Banning people from reading it (properly reading it, with others, in an academic environment) who wanted to as you claim to have done is stupid anti-intellectual bollocks that is what has got us into the global mess we're in now. People need to think about things so they can see how they happen. Yes at 11, as Hitler knew when he created the Hitler Youth.

It is up to you to help your child manage his emotions and by all means enlist the help of his teachers. Do not blame a book that describes upsetting events for the emotions and do not believe by burning the book you have stopped the events happening. Quite the opposite.

I've read through this with an open mouth. That the OP, a teacher, doesn't understand that there will be outliers (for want of a better word) in terms of content material being appropriate for age groups...meaning she thinks all children should miss out on content which is thought provoking, educational and interesting for the majority? My kids learned an enormous amount from Coram Boy. It's got dark content but we're trying to raise young people with backbones to enable them to function as adults in future with compassion and understanding of the less than perfect as well as the shiny good stuff.

Interesting too that while the DC was very upset, silently crying and not wanting to go to school OP was non stop updating on this thread. Which couldn't at all have waited til the DC wasn't there.

wow.

I remember being incredibly upset by Lord of the Flies when I was in school, so much so that I cried about it at home. I could still appreciate that it was a bloody brilliant book, and I actually consider it a really formative part of my childhood. You are doing no favours to your child at all by refusing to discuss it with them, and I think you’re allowing your sad situation at home to colour your view. Of course it’s a sad book to read! But you discuss it, and you show your child that they can come to you when distressed, and that it’s okay and normal for them to feel sad about sad things! This is how kids learn to cope with their feelings

Interesting too that while the DC was very upset, silently crying and not wanting to go to school OP was non stop updating on this thread. Which couldn't at all have waited til the DC wasn't there.

Indeed. You’ve got to get your priorities right.

Lecturing people on the internet about children and trauma is much more important.

Anyone else on this thread ordering this book as it sounds so intriguing? 😏

I think many of us are also considering a counter protest to the OP’s book banning campaign.

It's a wonderful book.

Me! I'd never heard of it but have just ordered a copy.

I loved it when I was about 12 - also Jamila Gavin's written some other really brilliant books that I'd recommend. I reread her Wheel of Surya trilogy over and over as a child.

I have never read this book but OP your response to this seems enormously over the top.

I’ve already done it. It’s ready and waiting on my Kindle for when I’ve finished my current book.

I would be really interested to know what texts OP would suggest that might be suitable for Year 7 and are guaranteed not to upset any child in the class? I’m sure English teachers all over the country who have been using Coram Boy for years ( it was published in 2000) would be interested to know too.

@StarTrek6 and Coram Boy is fiction - albeit historical fiction. And LOF is an exploration of the horrors of WWII and its aftermath.

@vegetaria - and have you read the book?

@Shelby2010 - there was a theatre version years ago. Either the National or the RSC - I forget which. A children’s show. It was amazing.

Me!!