Catcher in the Rye...is this still controversial?

[slo]

Just as an FYI, the whole point of the Hunger Games is to show that the violence is NOT a good thing, and that sometimes governments and people in authority force us to do things that aren't right, and also control us with fear, violence, and hate.

Basically, the entire point of the books is to teach kids that those things aren't right.

(I'm not trying to argue... just not sure if you knew the underlying themes of the novels)

I'm not taking your post as argumentative at all

The book is very graphic (more than the movie), and for someone like my DD that isn't exposed to that kind of material would have difficulty reading this. The movie is PG-13 (the book would be too if rated) which means 12 and under shouldn't be seeing it/reading it. So to have it at the middle school level where the majority of the kids are 12 and under makes no sense to me. Now, if she has a teacher that would be really willing to teach what the book wants to convey, than that may be different. But when my kids come home and tell me how they are watching Disney movies and their teachers are texting half the day, I don't have a lot of faith in things being taught at the fullest extent.

I know I'm in the minority with this thinking.
Now, if my 11yr old said to me, "Mom, I want to watch The Hunger Games" I wouldn't say "NO" and that's it.
Her and I would watch it together, because I've seen it and know what's in it.
I will not allow her to watch a PG-13 movie without me seeing it first.
She's expressed an interest in watching The Fault in our Stars and I told her I need to see it first before I'll allow it. She accepts that, because that's the way it's always been.

 

[mamacatnv]

We have recently had a censorship issue with a book in our high school curriculum. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was on the list as one of the books that the Freshman English teachers could choose to use as one of the required books for the class. Parents always have the option to opt their child out of any reading material they disagree with and an alternate selection will be provided. However with Perks, ONE (and only ONE) parent complained that he did not want his child to read the book and he demanded that the book be removed (not just opt his kid out, remove it for everyone). The committee said no. He appealed directly to the superintendant, who promptly removed the book from the list of books that could be required and put it on the books that would be 'available in the library as optional'. Yep. One parent complaint. Of course the parent was someone who is on the Board of Ed here in town, so I think the superintendent was afraid of him. Not cool.

I don't think that a high school freshman needs to be shielded. Now that the book is out of the curriculum, the discussions that could take place are also gone. Sure, the kids could still read it, but without the class discussion part, and I think that's a valuable thing being lost.

Ohhhhhh this would make me spitting mad - I'd be in the Superintendant's face in a quick minute. This action is unacceptable. His argument is going to be that its still available to a student who is interested, my argument would be that it is no longer an option for a teacher to assign - completely unacceptable.

I also find this book overrated, but it's still very much a part of many high school reading lists.

Yes. Parents DO still opt out of books like this. Every year, I have parents who opt their kids out of reading THE GIVER. The teacher has to sent this letter home.

Sheesh, my son read Giver in 6th grade, DD sometime in middle school

Thanks @ZephyrHawk !!

My 16yr old is not a big reader, and doesn't have many required readings at school, so I'm not to familiar with many of these books.

On the topic of censorship, I am one of those parents that treats their kids like a snowflake in regards to what they see, read and listen to.
For example:
*I was stunned to see the amount of kids 12 and under at Furious 7 the other night.
There is no way that I would allow my 11yr old DD to see it - to much violence.
*I was also stunned to see 12 and under girls at the last 2 Twilight movies - to much sexual stuff
*It upsets me that our middle school is making the kids read The Hunger Games.
I still haven't allowed my 11yr old see it (nor does she want to). It's kids killing kids - how is this good for a required reading . We preach no violence, lock all the school doors, have a police officer there all the time, but yet it's ok for the kids to read about violence in school - I don't get it
*It always stunned me when my 16yr old was younger and her friends would talk about watching the CSI shows - those are pretty graphic - my kids weren't allowed

I could go on and on...
In today's standards, my kids have been/still are pretty sheltered.
I guess I figure they have 18 years to be a kid and hopefully 72+ years to be an adult.
I want them to have as innocent of a childhood as possible and then they can read, watch and listen to whatever they want for the rest of their life.

I'm not saying I'm right.
I'm just saying I'm right for us

*disclaimer....this is in no way judging how other parents do things.

Parents have every right to censor their own kids, that is part of being a parent.
Schools and administrators should never censor based on a parent, ever, that is what gets them into trouble.

I personally censor very little, my kids can read what they want, pretty much watch what they want, play the games they want and listen to the music of their choice.
I believe in "Age appropriate" to some degree but I follow very few "rules" or "guidelines"
I am a voracious reader and have been since I was very young - I read anything that interested me. My father supported my reading habits, my mother on the other hand tried to censor every thing we read, saw and heard. We either went around her, ignored her or got sneaky. I had certain book covers I would use for my books if they were not Mother approved. I didn't want my kids to grow up with those kinds of restrictions.

 

[Vicki926]

My daughter read The Catcher in the Rye a couple months ago(she's a freshman) the only thing I'm annoyed about was the fact that they were also supposed to read To Kill a Mockingbird this year, but when running out of time her teacher chose Catcher over Mockingbird.
Who picks Catcher in the Rye over To Kill a Mockingbird??!!

I read Catcher in the Rye in HS and no note went home, none for my daughter it's year, either.

 

[Hrhpd]

The number one way to get kids to read a book is to ban it.

Isn't that the truth!

I remember when my kids were in middle school, one of their friends was forbidden to read the Harry Potter series because the parents were afraid of the content. She would come to our house and sit in a corner to read it.

Needless to say, she managed to read what she wanted despite what her parents were trying to censor. I found that this was a very popular trait of the children who had severe limitations on them. They would just find a way to get around the bans.

Ban something and you make it 100% more enticing to a child.

 

[JanaDee]

Just as an FYI, the whole point of the Hunger Games is to show that the violence is NOT a good thing, and that sometimes governments and people in authority force us to do things that aren't right, and also control us with fear, violence, and hate.

Basically, the entire point of the books is to teach kids that those things aren't right.

(I'm not trying to argue... just not sure if you knew the underlying themes of the novels)

DD has read all of the Hunger Games books and seen all 3 of the movies. I have not read any of the books, but saw Catching Fire and honestly, I couldn't handle the movie from a psychological standpoint as a mother. I had to leave the theater to compose myself.

 

[JanaDee]

My daughter read The Catcher in the Rye a couple months ago(she's a freshman) the only thing I'm annoyed about was the fact that they were also supposed to read To Kill a Mockingbird this year, but when running out of time her teacher chose Catcher over Mockingbird.
Who picks Catcher in the Rye over To Kill a Mockingbird??!!

I read Catcher in the Rye in HS and no note went home, none for my daughter it's year, either.

I agree with you, who chooses Catcher in the Rye over To Kill A Mockingbird??

 

[sunshinehighway]

I guess I'm in the minority but I really liked the book. I hated most of the required reading in school (Wuthering Heights & Ethan Frome, I'm looking at you).
Catcher in the Rye spoke to my whiney, angst ridden, teen self.
Plus I thought it was fun to have to read a book with swearing for a school assignment.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We read excerpts out loud in English class. I had the honor to being the first to say the F word during class in front of a teacher and not get into trouble for it. But Sonya P. got to say the S word before me.

"Fat" and "Stupid"? Because that's what the F & S words frequently are when 1st graders tattle at our school LOL

 

[acebatonfan]

I guess I'm in the minority but I really liked the book. I hated most of the required reading in school (Wuthering Heights & Ethan Frome, I'm looking at you).
Catcher in the Rye spoke to my whiney, angst ridden, teen self.
Plus I thought it was fun to have to read a book with swearing for a school assignment.

I feel the exact same way. I ended up reading The Catcher in the Rye as part of the American Literature course my high school had us all take. I ended up liking it at lot more than The Great Gatsby (though I preferred the two Arthur Miller plays we read over either of these two books).

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I remember reading this book in high school. Maybe I read it wrong or am looking too much into things, but I felt the book was pretty sexist.

Mind you, I could be biased on that viewpoint because the entire reason we read the book was because our teacher was sexist and racist.

I don't want any books being banned. Ever. I'm an avid reader and have read tons of controversial stuff.

But I found this to be my least favourite book during my high school career. I'm pretty sure I read a lot of books that are probably on a ban list somewhere, during high school. 1984, The Scarlet Letter, etc.

The Scarlet Letter? Oh, how I WISH there could have been a ban on that book at my HS

Edit: same teacher who LOVED that book was oh so convinced I'd just love The Chocolate Wars. Wrong again.

 

[LBIJim]

I never read To Kill A Mockingbird; other English classes did. I actually enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye, and gasp, The Scarlet Letter.

Freshman year was a mix of various authors.
Sophomore year international
Junior year all American
Senior year all British

"Fat" and "Stupid"? Because that's what the F & S words frequently are when 1st graders tattle at our school LOL

You got it.....Catcher in the Rye definitely had the words "fat" and "stupid" in it. Probably "fat and stupid" too.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I also find this book overrated, but it's still very much a part of many high school reading lists.

Yes. Parents DO still opt out of books like this. Every year, I have parents who opt their kids out of reading THE GIVER. The teacher has to sent this letter home.

On the flip side, our parents never even knew what we were reading unless they looked at our syllabus.
The Divine Comedy
The Scarlet Letter
The Crucible
Etc... These are more controversial imo.

 

[scoutie]

Sheesh, my son read Giver in 6th grade, DD sometime in middle school

That's when my students read it. I teach middle school.

 

[Kbee]

On the flip side, our parents never even knew what we were reading unless they looked at our syllabus.
The Divine Comedy
The Scarlet Letter
The Crucible
Etc... These are more controversial imo.

We read The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible in HS. I wasn't much of a fan of TSL but I loved The Crucible. Best year was Senior year when the teacher assigned Stephen King books.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

The number one way to get kids to read a book is to ban it.

It's true. My mom never policed my reading. But there were a couple of books about which she said, "You absolutely have to read this...when you're a bit older." Well, heck woman! What did you expect me to do after a commendation like that?! I later realized that all the books she said that about had graphic sex scenes in common (Mists of Avalon, IT, Clan of the Cave Bear). Didn't bother me any, and she was right. They were all very good. There's something about reading by flashlight under your bed covers that endears a book to you forever.

 

[topolino]

I am absolutely blown away by the fact that so many of you don't like Catcher in the Rye. Have you read it since high school? If not, I urge you do re-read it sooner rather than later, as it's a masterpiece of contemporary American literature. And to the poster who mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird: yes, that is also an excellent novel, but Catcher is 100 times better, in my opinion.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We read The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible in HS. I wasn't much of a fan of TSL but I loved The Crucible. Best year was Senior year when the teacher assigned Stephen King books.

My English teacher introduced me to Chuck Palahniuk. Can't say I'd happy if someone recommended to my kids at this point on my parenting journey but he is one of my favorite authors to this day.
(She privately recommended it to me, not the class.)

 

[Oodalally13]

In jr high we read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. Then the whole grade took a field trip to a nearby holocaust museum and got to hear a survivor tell her story. We also watched maaaany Alfred Hitchcock movies and analyzed them, had vicious scrabble tournaments, solved logic puzzles, and learned to write at a level I would never use again. Even my college papers weren't as rigorous as those jh ones.

 

[cristen72]

Maybe I'm just a huge bookworm but I've read and enjoyed every book mentioned in this thread. And I love Catcher in the Rye. I actually make a point to read it once a year.

 

[Vicki926]

I am absolutely blown away by the fact that so many of you don't like Catcher in the Rye. Have you read it since high school? If not, I urge you do re-read it sooner rather than later, as it's a masterpiece of contemporary American literature. And to the poster who mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird: yes, that is also an excellent novel, but Catcher is 100 times better, in my opinion.

I liked Catcher in the Rye when I read it, as did my daughter..but i still think a To Kill a Mockingbird was SO much better. That was my favorite out of all the books I had to read in school.
Loved The Crucible, loved Scarlet Letter.
Hated 1984, Animal Farm and The Great Gatsby.