Does anyone else think that the work my DD is doing at school is a bit close to the mark!

[pinkbubble]

Not sure whether this should be in this section or Secondary section or Am I being Unreasonable section! So I apologise now if I'm wrong!

So here goes -

DD is in Year 9 and in English she is studying the book "STONE COLD". Now I do not know anything about this book apart from what is written in her English exercise book. Teacher apparantly asked them to write all the slang words from the text in this book, she wrote things like bastard and arse were among a few more other choice words.

Now what I'm thinking is - I know in a perfect world DD will not hear these words, but as a responsible mother, I and my DH have do not use words like these, so am I being unreasonable not to want my DD who is 13yr not to be writing such words down!

When I spoke to DH about it, he didnt seem that surprised, and said that he had studied books similar to that whilst he was at Secondary School.

All I can say that is - I must have led a very reserved life, to which my answer is I'm glad!

I remember reading Billy Liar at school, probably aged 11/12. It had the word "bloody" in it. We were all beside ourselves with excitement waiting for it to come up, each hoping we'd be the one that got to read it out loud.... Times move on and the bad words get worse. You're obviously bringing your DD up to know what you believe are appropriate words and what aren't,so trust her. She will be hearing far worse than that in the playground. You can't protect her for ever, just let her know what you believe is acceptable and what not. And as someone else has already said, you're in for a real shock if she goes on to read classics....

my mother ws horrified when we studied Room at the Top - for the bad example it set .

I teach my kids the slang words for different parts of the body but make it clear they are not to be used. I don't approve of them reading books with bad language. There is other "good" literature that doesn't contain it and I still believe bad language is the resort of the illerate. Therefore IMHO it has no role in schools.

However remembering how embarassed I was by my mother's complaint I wouldn't say anything to the school.

Thanks for that, I was beginning to think I was being really prudish, as much as I know it goes on in the world and to some DC its normal living, I do want to protect DD, and yes I know I cant protect her forever, but bless her she is only 13!

Did you mean "illiterate" Tatt? My, you must have used some really bad language in your time!!!

MB, we are using Heinemann - loosely in my case. It can be very dull - definitely needs to be pepped up a bit.

Pinkbubble, have you ever tried rereading some of the things YOU were reading at 13/14? I am currently rereading Flowers in the Attic, that I last read at about 13. TBH, an awful lot of it went right over my head at the time. Some 13 year olds are going to "get" it and some arent.

If its any help, I was in full shagging mode at 14 yo and I have grown into a fully functioning, none messed up, successful 30 something. And my love of reading decent books has helped me every step of the way

it's well known I can't type. However I CAN read and write - and I don't swear often. I have no objection to my children reading good literature that describes any of the "big themes" but it is possible to do that without the quantity of bad language that are in some modern books.

At that age the books I most remember reading are Lord of the Rings and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. There are some big themes in those for you - friendship, betrayal, the fight between good and evil, the role of conscience and the rights of the "elite". I know I read Lady Chatterly and a book that my SIL had that was full of bad language - but they made far less impression.

Shakespeare wrote for a variety of aduiences and included scenes for the illiterate - but his work contains far more variety than the swear words included in much modern "literature".

Unless I'm having some sort of false memory event Shakespeare was very fond of swear words?

I studied Aristophanes in translation aged 14 - an eye opener ! Chaucer, Shakespeare, Marlow, Ben Jonson, Defoe .... all imply the same tbh but the language is slightly more veiled.

I'm an English teacher and I've taught Stone Cold - agree with everything the other teachers have said about the book's themes and also the discussion it provokes about the use of language.

On a couple of occasions, one character actually refers to his pet as the 'fugging cat'... which some kids pick up on but some don't! That too can lead to interesting debates about why swearing is used by people and to what effect. It takes the out of it, imo. It's just one aspect of loads that Stone Cold explores.

Wait til she studies Of Mice and Men and Carol Ann Duffy (as someone already said)! One poem brought up a discussion about necrophilia with my Year 10s! I have to say though they were very mature about it and we had a laugh - I told them to be careful what they told their parents about what we were studying in case they came at me with pitchforks and copies of the Daily Mail.