[blparent] sensoring: reading, etc

[Brandy W]

I must say you are only 1 of a few I agree with on this subject and Thabnk 
you!


"When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping 
them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things 
we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in 
our lives."
- Fred Rogers

Brandy Wojcik
Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team Leader
www.playtoachieve.com
(512) 689-5045

Looking for team members nation wide!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jan wright" <jan.wrightfamily5 at gmail.com>
To: "blparent" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:14 AM
Subject: [blparent] sensoring: reading, etc


> Very long rant: be forewarned.
> Ok, i am admitting up front:
> there are certain subjects that I am definitely conservative on and
> there are other subjects that I am quite liberal on.
> I just read the posts about sensoring -- (I know I'm behind)
> About this subject, i admit that i am conservative.
> With my first four: i did not let them play violent video games. i
> remember having an argument with other parents when they let their
> 6-8yo watch "Rush Hour," with Jackie Chan. i remember having a
> discussion with teachers when they let their class read "counterfeit
> son," which i found objectionable.
> Certainly the darker side of life exists. But: at this innocent age,
> why highlight it in such a manner. when they don't have to go through
> it, why allow them to experience it through a book? ... ... especially
> when that book is not a biographical account, but a fictional account
> -- not a biographical account of triumph, but something that has been
> made up in someone's head...
> / For me: I want my children to 'be children' for as long as they need
> to. There is something about exposure that makes children have the
> knowledge without the emotional experience to process such events. I
> read Ishmael Beah's account of being a boy soldier at the age of 6-10.
> (the book  was called "A long way gone," and Ismael Beah is from
> Sierra Leonne and now works for Human Watch).  this experience scarred
> the boys for life. Why would i want my 10yo to experience such things
> through a book?
> I don't think that there is anything wrong with childhood innocence.
> Of course, we don't want our children to be too naive about somethings
> that could be potential dangers. But, i'd rather tell my children what
> they need to know, instead of reading it in a book that might put a
> spin on it that I don't agree with. of course, parents get to decide
> when this exposure should happen. When your five year old asks: "Where
> did I come from," most parents don't say, "let me tell you about sex."
> they offer a truthful version, yet, they leave out many of the
> details. When we see a homeless person on the street, we shouldn't
> ignore the child's question: but we don't have to hear all of their
> (possibly) drug adicted  story of criminal elements and such. i am not
> sure that it really benefits the child to know all of the gory
> details. I'd rather focus on what to do about it.
> This is what i think that many books lack.  Their point is to shock
> and awe and at  9-12 , I don't want my children being shocked and awed
> by the groosome things of the world. i would rather them be shocked by
> an astonishing fact. It did not bother me  that, at 12, my daughter
> was not boy crazy or trying to have a boyfriend. i knew that it would
> come soon enough and did not feel that she needed to be exposed to
> adult content to encourage such things.
> .... My sons, neither, for that matter.
> But, my niece at 10 is already boy crazy and knows quite a bit about sex.
> My nephew, at 12, knows how to break into a house, how one might go
> about killing someone else and which types of guns are used for the
> best results in such matters.
> He has read a book about a guy who has commited suicide and why/how he did 
> it.
> What purpose does this serve him at 12?
> i am not saying that we need to shelter our children from real issues
> that plague Americans. But, there is a way to do this without throwing
> them in the deep end and saying: "sink like a baby or swim like a
> man."
> There is nothing wrong with innocence, it doesn't have to mean
> complacency. and, does it really damage the child to wait three or
> four more years before being exposed to such things???  My children
> knew that AIDS (for example) was quite harmful and even at 10-12, they
> knew how one might contract the disease. But, I would not have allowed
> them to read a very rivitting acount of sex, drugs etc from someone
> who had AIDS for them to learn that it was a horrible  disease.  I'm
> not personally saying this about any parents on this list. But, I feel
> that many parents that i know are on a quest to grow up their child as
> quickly as possible.
> We seem to want to hurry them along through the childhood stages, so
> they can become little adults instead of children. We get angry when
> they are developing too slow and we are proud when they develop ahead
> of schedule. "my child knows..." "My child can..."
> Maybe it is a desire for them to be independent and less dependent on
> their parents. Maybe it is a desire for our children to be "the best,"
> and we deem that the "best" is getting somewhere or doing something
> before their peers.
> Whoops, getting off my soapbox!
> Bridgit, the books that we use to think were for High Schoolers, are
> now for junior High Readers. i don't understand it. "to kill a
> Mockingbird," or "native son," which use to be High School reading is
> now for 6-7th graders. i don't think that it should be. If i go any
> further, i'll start talking about "society's desire for
> entertainment," which is becoming more astonishing every day. and,
> Yes, i do feel that in some ways, we are becoming desensitized to the
> effects of such real damaging experiences.  What use to entertain our
> parents at this age, certainly will not suffice for us. We seem to
> always think that newer, bolder and more telling is better.
> But, i am telling you that I am conservative on this point.
> when i read a novel, i don't need to know "blow by blow," or "Thrust
> by thrust," (in the bedroom) to get the gist of what is happening.
> I am not fond of many authors putting a bit more and more erotica in
> their books. i find it demeans the act, itself and the emotions behind
> it. I feel like i am watching porn.
> Did I say that i was conservative ???
> (smile)
> just my own opinion on the subject.
> Rant over.
>
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