Theday.co.uk

[SerenityNowwwww]

We used to use this when DS was little. Sorry we don’t so that I could cancel it.

They do worksheets in topical/news events and get kids to discuss/think. This one on the recent JKR affair is mind boggling in its bias and utter nonsense. It’s written as if it is a generally agreed fact that she has written hateful comments and is on the wrong, plus this gem:

WORD WATCH
People who menstruate
Rowling implied that we used to call people who have periods “women”, which excludes trans women. In response, Daniel Radcliffe wrote: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”Daniel Radcliffe Played Harry Potter

theday.co.uk/stories/potterheads-cancel-rowling-after-trans-tweet

For punishment the person who wrote this should be forced to sit through the entire Ring cycle at Bayreuth.

Yes!

The Day is widely used in schools. This particular article is in the section especially written for less able secondary students. So actually it's even worse that it's so biased and misleading.
I subscribe to TD , and wrote them a furious email about this. It's used so much in my school that I can't cancel. I'm ashamed to say that I am also cautious about outing myself too loudly - I need my job, and I have at least some chance of guerrilla action where I am now.

I hope the Baroness sends this to Gavin Williamson as another example of propaganda under the guise of education. The time has come to rein in this freeforall.

I've emailed them

I understand you provide educational materials to children

Even setting aside the biased tone of the above article the factual errors are excruciatingly embarrassing

But can we still enjoy the books themselves? Some of the greatest artistic achievements have been created by deeply unpleasant people, from Wagner’s Fifth Symphony to Picasso’s Guernica

Wagner’s Fifth Symphony
One of the most famous pieces of classical music was written by German composer Richard Wagner, celebrated by the Nazis for his anti-semitic and racist views

Wagner wrote 2 symphonies, only one of which was completed. In many years of attendance at classical concerts I've never seen the completed one on a programme. It is generally taken to be not very good and not deserving of public performance

Richard Wagner is, as almost any one you care to ask could tell you , famous for writing operas including The Ring Cycle based on Norse mythology.

"The Fifth Symphony " with no other descriptor usually means Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

This is disgraceful ignorance in what is supposed to be a teaching resource. If I were a parent I would be very wary of using your material when it contains such embarrassing inaccuracies

I hope her lawyers are picking off this nonsense. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an American resource but a U.K. one. I suspect there are ‘links’ between people there and the usually suspect lobby groups. The roots run deep.

People who menstruate Rowling implied that we used to call people who have periods “women”, which excludes trans women. In response, Daniel Radcliffe wrote: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”^

Surely wee Daniel and whichever idiot wrote this have got the wrong end of the stick?

If one were to accept the argument against Rowling her language did not exclude trans women any more than it excluded post menopausal women or pre-pubertal girls, none of whom have periods. What she said excluded trans men, some of whom have periods.

I’ve read a few articles on there- and even ones dealing with genocode or wars in the ME were more balanced and thoughtful.

I get that Wagner was deeply unpleasant but Picasso?

Well quite, Dido. Unfortunately for poor Daniel, the statement his publicist wrote for him exposed the fact that the only trans people anyone really cares about are the one who are born male. Sadly he isn't bright enough to realise that.

Picasso was a womaniser incapable of being faithful to any one woman. Women were either muses or doormats. Not a particularly nice attitude but no worse than say Hemingway or likely many other "great men" of the arts world in the 20th century.

I've never read anything to suggest Picasso was violent or that he refused to acknowledge or support his children. It seems a rather arbitrary choice.

A far better example would be Roman Polanski. Polanski is a brilliant film maker but can his art be separated from what he did?

Picasso never did anything as bad as Polanski.

As a retired teacher, I'm appalled by this 'resource'. It's about as biased and directly influential of children's thinking as it's possible to get.

Is there any recommended wording for writing to the DfE objecting to their promoting use of this biased and poor quality resource in schools?

Picasso never did anything as bad as Polanski.

And has JK Rowling done anything bad at all? How would comparing her to Polanski be appropriate?

@Pigeonfaces

Is there any recommended wording for writing to the DfE objecting to their promoting use of this biased and poor quality resource in schools?

There was a letter from a parent to their kids school on the link above and that was pretty good.

OldCrone

Picasso never did anything as bad as Polanski

And has JK Rowling done anything bad at all? How would comparing her to Polanski be appropriate?

Oh fgs, a poster queried the arbitrary choice of Picasso. If one were looking for examples for discussion on whether can art transcend the person Polanski is a far better example than Picasso.

If one were looking for examples for discussion on whether can art transcend the person Polanski is a far better example than Picasso.

But that's not really the point here, is it?

Discussing whether art can transcend the person, in the context of what JK Rowling has said, is making the assumption that she has done something wrong.

What they should really be discussing here is whether what she said was wrong, not making the assumption that it was, and then comparing her to various misogynists and racists.

Exactly OldCrone. The position this appalling written witch hunt has taken is to ask the reader whether or not jkr's books are still worth reading or if they should be burned on the pyre (along with their author).

The idea that stating that ONLY WOMEN MENSTRUATE is a terrible thing to write or even think is just assumed.

I have read the statement from the guy who set it up and his bio. If he signed off this crappy bit of propaganda, he's not the journalist he should be.

Discussing whether art can transcend the person, in the context of what JK Rowling has said, is making the assumption that she has done something wrong

I wasn't discussing that point. I was referring only to the point some one raised about Picasso.

Now of they’d said Gill - but explaining that the the kiddies would have been interesting...

I thought of Gill although not sure how one would explain incest and bestiality except to a mature teenage class.

I don't know what age group this is aimed at but I'd guess KS2. I think Gill might give KS3 nightmares.

Ds was looking at this in about year 6