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nevermind, guess I can... Blogger's touchy tonight?


Nope, I can't. It worked that once and then deleted this reply several times, so I give up... here's my reply to the comments from my violence post, if Blogger doesn't muck the whole thing up...

Anyway, excellent points.  I understand violence is a fact of life and needs to be a part of teaching children/students -- can't tell them not to touch the stove without teaching what burning is, right? But I think the line gets crossed, usually unnecessarily, too often and exposes and inures readers to the very thing we want them to avoid.

I haven't looked at my entire list of reviewed books, but the recent Tangerine, which I liked, had unsavory elements that probably did not need to be a part of the book. I won't avoid books like Charlotte's Web on my "violence boycott" but I would pass on Tangerine... and don't get me started on video games!

Violence Overload

I am giving up violence.

Or at least attempting to severely curtail my personal exposure to anything and everything violent, which obviously must include books.  On my original "Inspired..." blog*  I am writing about this quest to eliminate violence in my life, and will probably have some duplicate posts here when relevant to Juvenile/YA literature.

 Is it even possible to participate in and discuss childrens' books without violence (not that we get violent discussing books, but the books contain violence) -- even dear Wilbur is threatened with an axe, and death is certainly an integral part of much quality literature.  How much should we limit a student's exposure to violence, at home or in the classroom, especially if Goosebumps is all he/she will read?

I use the tags violence (51 books), war (12), and action/adventure (44) on this blog, and the "violence" covers a wide range, from battles and fist fights to implied danger.  I just wanted to mark the book in some way that would let me know there is something of a physical, harmful nature in the story.  Hunting is considered violence, as is bullying.  Even a heroic tale or a slapstick comedy may get labeled with the tag.

The world is violent.  Some students' lives are violent on a daily basis.  Pop culture is certainly violent, sometimes overwhelmingly so, which is why I am trying to recognize ways I can avoid as much violence as I can and find alternatives for my children and students, if at all possible.

As always, I welcome comments and suggestions.





*Violence is hard to get away from -- I was going to say "I have hijacked my other blog..."