My ds is 10. He went to the library today with my au pair and I have just seen teh books lying on the cofee table in the lounge.
He has come back with 3 pretty graphic and descritpive upsetting books on the holocaust. When I say graphic I mean that there are descriptions of gassings, of the procedures before and after and in depth accounts of what went on and the antisemitims and burnings alive etc.
2 of the books seems a bit less graphic but overall they are not books I would want a 10 year old to read.
AS some background - we are orthodox jewish and ds has seen a film in the summer - Boy in teh Striped PJs which sparked his interest. He knows scant details about the holocaust - we lost relatives to it and he knows that the Germans hated the Jews and killed millions of them. He does not however know the details and the extent of what went on and the years of persectuion and what actually happened.
He has asked me questions since the summer whihc I have done my best to answer honestly but whilst sparing him the details .
Obviously I have not satsifed his curiosity as he has got books out of hte libraray on it.
ASide from my au pair's appalling lack of judgement ( she is a mother herself so I would expect her to be able to cast her eye over ds' choices to make sure she thought them appropriate and at least call me if she thought they weren't ) I am unsure what to do.
If i tell him I don't want him to read the books this wil only make him more curious and he may try to do this again or get hold of material in secret.
On the oter hand he is a deeply sensitive and intelligent boy and I just know this is far too much too young for him to handle nad the images and pain and stories in those books choked me up never mind a 10 yr old.
What would you do please? I need to know by tomorow morning when ds wakes up as he will probalby reach for the books ( he goes through books like water and always reads before and after school).