Rape and adult themes in literature: Should high schoolers read them?

Of course high school students should be able to read these books. There are adult themes in many classic stories as well, like 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' which we read as a class. This argument seems like it would be made by the same people who are against any other sexual education than abstinence-only teaching. This is really unrealistic. Would you rather your child learned these truths of life the hard way?

This is just... Really unrealistic.

theres tons of rape and adult themes in the bible, ban that book, we'd all be better off.

The likelyhood is if you enjoy reading you have read a book with 'rape and/or adult themes' before high school. Middle school in my case.

If books aren't your thing, the equivalent exists on tv and on the internet aswell.

Besides, if the students are anything like the ones I went to school with, they're not even that interested in the book they are studying anyway! :P

It has been estimated that one in three women are raped or molested by the time they turn 18. If now is not the time for discussion I hope it's sooner rather than later, or too late for that matter.

Do some school districts require a "consent form" to be filled out by the student and presented to the parent should a book of a "controversial" nature be discussed and read in class?

Students should be able to read and discuss literature in the classroom, and should not be subjected to intervention. Even certain words that are not popular in the world today, should not be censored. They should be discussed in a objective and rational manner.

How can students read "The Diary of Anne Frank" and not discuss the holocaust? Or "The Invisible Man" and not discuss racism?

Students have the opportunity to learn from classic literature.

Can someone explain to me why people are so full of themselves? I mean really, banning the Kite Runner because it has a rape scene in it? I've read that book and it is an AMAZING book and the scene is VERY short.

It's just like people wanting to ban Harry Potter. Yes, because books like Kite Runner and Harry Potter are going to currupt our high school students fragile minds.

Let us be more concerned about what they are reading in school rather then what they see on TV or how the media portrays popular teenage females as blond, big boobs, skinny as a twig, wearing Hollister and Abecrombie and Fitch clothing, and a fake tan. No, that is okay for our teens to walk around looking like prostitutes at school but it's not okay for them to read about rape.

Hm.. think about that.

the thought of banning books is so wrong a book or literature should only be banned if is horribly written not for any of the above reasons people need to know about those things other wise they will never learn and will be unprepared if it happens to them young American need to grow up besides most of these things happen daily in high schools around country

Teens read a lot more sexual things than a rape scene.

I think the solution to this should be that the school board should have individual students ask their parents if they can read that book for their English curriculum. If the parent says no, then he or she won't and there's nothing to be mad about. Why punish everyone just because few parents don't agree?

You start banning one book, you open Pandora's box, don't want rape in your library?, gotta ban the Bible(Judges 21:10-24) and (Numbers 31:7-18).

The classics are full of sex, murder, rape. incest, torture, so forget all the controversial movies, just pick up a copy of Antigone.

they should read them, unless they feel better not learning about foreign experiences that could happen in the real world. Being shut off to possible paths in reality leaves them unprepared and uneducated about them.

If you want people to act like adults, you must treat them alike adults. Students are supposed to enter high school as an adolescent and leave as an adult, but they can't read a novel? That is silly.

hand them some copies of "A Clockwork Orange" that would be a great book to make students read

my school is still making us read the book. The book is not that bad.

The only people that will get upset about this is Christian Right Wingers. Which is odd because if the Bible was made into a movie it would be rated NC-17. It contains rap, sex, war, and many many more taboos. I mean read Song of Saloman and tell me that isn't racing. The real thing is context and how things are explained

MIller says, "I just wonder how Christians are going to be portrayed in that setting." And wonders if it might make kids question the one thing they never should... her Christian god.

Her concerns should have been dismissed based on their intention. Separation of church and state people!

Also, rape is part of war. Are we really protecting high school age kids by hiding that fact?

I am pretty sure that reading lord of the flies in school would have scarred me more than this book, and it will foster thought on deeper issues, they should not ban this book, it is very good.

YES. Plain and simple. What, they dont want kids to read real literature anymore? This article just makes me think our educational system takes everyone for morons who cant make decisions on their own and know right from wrong.

Also, keep "god" and religion out of public schools!

I don't think kids are all that naive these days, and how better to lead a discussion of difficult topics such as rape than through a good book?

Banning things has never solved anything. It just drives people to wanting it, desperately.

Lets Ban Hamlet

Murder
Psychosis
The occult
Schizophrenia
Suicide
Society & suicide
Lust
Power
Revenge
Disrespecting a corpse
and lots more murder

If high school is intended to prepare young minds for adulthood, they should not only be permitted but encouraged to examine the harsh realities of adulthood. Where else will the majority of students who don't go to college (according to US Census data) have a chance to examine these issues in a professionally moderated environment?

source:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_n...

The controversy around this book is kinda reminding me of the controversy I've heard about Mark Twain's book "Tom Sawyer."

I don't really get it though. Most teenagers who read have probably already read something with more graphic content. I had already gone through just about all of Dean Koontz's novels and was about 1/4 of the way through Stephen Kings when I was a junior. And those books weren't written for someone under the age of 18.

This is really dumb. You read Romeo and Juliet in the ninth grade and now they're suddenly worried about what's going to be exposed to high schoolers? please..

As a highschooler, I believe it is alright so long as the student understands that the book might contain graphic material. High school is supposed to begin preparation for the real world, and the real world isn't rated PG-13. A book is the safest place to learn about topics and opinions you will be dealing with all through life outside the bubble that is high school or your particular faith.

I read the book in question when I was 16 and it had a powerful, but in the end, positive impact on me. The author presents it in a purly artistic (non erotic) way.

Denying students the opportunity to further their education because teachers are afraid it might lead to uncomfortable discussions cuts both the teachers and the students short. In regards to the rape scene- sexual assault is a reality in the United States with persons under the age of 18 accounting for 67% of reported sexual assaults, banning the reading discussion of a book which discusses a young person being sexually assaulted is just avoiding the elephant in the room.

In a world where wars are waged over differences in beliefs, be they social, political or religious, denying students the opportunity to learn about others so as to better understand the world around them is a disservice not only to those individuals but to the country in which they become adults.

Shielding teenagers from themes in this novel does not keep these teenagers from possibly running into similar situations in their lives in the future.

I think schools should be giving teenagers tools that not only help them learn and educate themselves, but also social implements (dealing with psychological issues and their interactions with others) that will help them deal with different issues life may throw their way.

Sometimes reading books that deal with different social issues help give us a window into a different perspective. So, they not only learn about literary themes, but also get different points of views on issues they may have not been aware of.

Either way, they learn something they did not know before.

no we should be blinded and led to believe even more so that we live in a utopia. that there isn't a ghetto, an economy, AND REAL PEOPLE!!!

Being in highschool, i hate reading, but i mean, its good to know what out there in the world. and if Family guy isnt doing enough, im sure books will

The Kite Runner is one of the BEST books I've ever read and one of the best stories ever told about friendship and forgiveness. No book has ever made me feel so emotional as this book as well as the movie.

Males lack the books that females have. Females have the romance novels and other books that deal with emotion. Male counterparts do not exist in high quantity or quality and this book is that. The Kite Runner is the male book for friendship, forgiveness and that love that one has for a friend like a brother.

It should be a book a book that high schoolers SHOULD read.

And blocking people from reading something doesn't keep it from their hands. It makes it far more interesting....duh.

yes, ban books, great idea, stifle the spread of knowledge

idiots

In high school I remember being assigned literature that covered rape, murder, atheism, satanism, racism, ageism, war, illicit romance and sex, and incest. And that was just the Shakespeare plays!

man, people really think high school kids are that naive, hmm

If you shelter someone from "obscenity" they will be oblivious to it when they encounter it in real life.

I had to read Nevil Chute's, On the Beach. It was dreary cold war bitumin. I hated it. It wasn't an enjoyable book and I have no idea what I was supposed to take away from it. Every charachter in the book comits suicide and the novel deals with the slow death of the entire Australian nation after a global nucleur war. If the mesage were the last man than there are better works,
many many better works in poetry especialy and it would have saved the time reading that dreadful novel.

We should also control what they can see and watch and hear too. Because reading about another religion will make you a bad person, because reading about rape will make you commit a rape. Yeah.

Rather than ban "The Kite Runner" from school reading to the rape scene, the novel should be widely read throughout schools to provide insight into the Afghan existence and what led up to the country becoming a war-torn land. How is that not relevant to today's students?

They should not ban the books because high schoolers go through situations like that and more. Discussing them can only help.

Better that it is something they can talk about in school and with teachers, etc. in a safe setting.

Don't be fooled, teens aren't so innocent anymore, well some are but most... have seen way too much on TV or heard it in the hall.

I vote yes for the books.

Highschoolers are already exposed to explicit human behavior. It's like showing a preview to a person who already seen the movie, it won't make a difference whatsoever.

My high school actually made that book a part of their curriculum a few years ago. It's a beautiful book that really gave me an inside view to some of the culture and how the people viewed war (there are civilians in Afghanistan, too, ya know). It's definitely worth the read if you haven't already.

Let's answer this in the style of the McLaughlin Group...

Question: Rape and adult themes in literature: Should high schoolers read them?

Answer: Yes.

As a High School student myself, I am certainly at the maturity level to handle something of that nature. At Secondary schools, they do challenging books such as this one.

There is no way something like this should be questioned to be honest in my opinion. I can see someone get killed in a disgusting manner, yet I am not yet mature enough to deal with reading a rape scene.

It's time to open up some eyes.

of course they should. that stuff happens in the real world and raising children in a bubble does them no good.

Early education is largely just indoctrination and obedience training, so it makes sense that schools would keep up with modern taboos.

But should high school kids read books that have adult themes? You'd be a fool to say no, as they already deal with adult themes on a daily basis. And the Kite Runner specifically, isn't that bad.

But I love how parents don't give a fuck when their children read about or see horrifically violent things yet are up in arms over some sexual content.

No offense to good parents, but most parents don't give a fuck about their kids. Most parents treat their children like pets and education especially is hugely neglected.

A high schooler is an adult and can handle adult themes.
In some cases, literature can open the debate on controversial issues such as sexual abuse without the misleading, sensationalistic approach of media.

sheltering children only prolongs their ignorance of such subjects.

by discussing the issues, we are enlightening them and opening a common dialogue about the hurt and tragedy caused by horrific acts, and about properly handling adult situations.

The reason why this comes up is because it's more about CYA than anything else.

It's more about avoiding liability from lawsuits than about what's actually in the books.

They care more about some parent blaming them for the materials available than about education.

Yes, yes they should. I had to sign a permission slip in 8th grade to read Brave New World, and that book gave me a new perspective. It is important more now than ever not to shield our youth from reality.

Stories like this are reminders that our public school systems are motivated more by politics rather than a genuine need to educate our children.

I find it very interesting that, in our information saturated culture, school boards across the nation still believe they can somehow control the flow of ideas inside the classroom. The only thing all of this posturing over what is, or is not, "appropriate" or "positive" for students serves to accomplish is to tie the teacher's hands behind their backs with the bonds of pointless rhetoric and unnecessary prejudice.

In all seriousness though, debating controversial subject matter should absolutely be part of a school's curriculum, as long as it is done in the right manner.

Many parents get up in arms when it comes to reading controversial books in schools, but 9 out of 10 times the parents have never read the book for themselves. Case in point, Huck Finn by Mark Twain. Now, for those of us who have read the book, we know that Huck struggles with what he should do about his friend and run-away slave Jim. He knows that he is breaking the law by helping Jim escape, and he fears that he is going to Hell because he is aiding Jim. However, he can't bring himself to obey the law and turn Jim in because he is like a brother to Huck. Obviously, this book is a very important social commentary on racism and slavery, ultimately showing that slavery was wrong and inhuman. Now you might ask, why is this book banned in so many school systems? That would be because it has multiple uses of the N-word. So a book written to show the absurdity of slavery is banned because of the language used in it. Let's try stepping back and looking at the big picture people.

You can find rape and adult themes on television all day long, so why deny high schoolers the right to discuss these things in a academic environment? Sheltering high schoolers only makes them that much easier to pick on as college freshmen.

What would they have us read? Nancy Drew?

I just HATE the idea of kids not being exposed to things because of religion, censorship, or generally thinking that they "can't handle it". By the time you are in high school you have knowledge about sex, and a discussion of rape seems appropriate- there are ugly things in this world, and they need to be addressed. As mookster said, they are going to see more outrageous things on television, just turn on the news at ANY POINT IN TIME and see how much rape, murder, etc we constantly talk about!

My mother was my English teacher in highschool for two years, that would have just been awkward.

These are high schoolers, not morons. I think by now they should know what rape is, and that it's bad. Religion and God should not be used to hinder a student's education, whether that lesson is an easy one, or a hard one. Besides, there are people in this world today who have been sexually assaulted before they even reach high school! Get a grip, Jennifer Miller. If there is any concern, it should be to know if any students reading a book like that have been sexually abused in any way.

High schoolers already read "The Scarlet Letter" about adultery and "To Kill a Mockingbird" where a white trash inbred accuses a black man of raping her .... so what's the difference??

"whose side God would take in the novel"
LOL... god takes sides? which god would that be? oh wait, theres a god?

Is it ok for high schoolers to see adult themes on TV and in movies, but as soon as they are asked to discuss it we freak out?