Hunger Games Field Trip Gives Parents Indigestion
“The Hunger Games” might be the most widely anticipated film
based on a young-adult novel series since “Harry Potter,” but
does that make it an appropriate field trip for sixth
graders?
The bestselling trilogy explores life in a futuristic
totalitarian regime, where children – armed with arrows, swords,
knives and mutant killer bees — are forced to fight to the death
in public spectacles.
Students at Hamilton International Middle School in Wallingford,
Wash. read author Suzanne Collins’ book in class, and had been
planning to see the film. That’s until parents called
administrators to complain,
according to the Seattle Times.
Principal Christopher Carter told the reporter the film was
appropriate because it related to content areas the students were
studying, but he decided to cancel the outing after hearing from
concerned families. Carter said the trip that “has become a
distraction in our school community.”
Schools in Washington State are hardly the only ones dealing with
“Hunger Games” mania. In New York City this week,
hundreds of students cut class to stay out all night and win
a chance to attend a public appearance of its stars.
Parents and educators contemplating the relative value of
the
book trilogy need to weigh its literary and educational
merits against the risks that come with exposing a youthful
audience to potentially graphic depictions of kids killing kids.
However, there is anecdotal evidence from at least two states –
Texas and Michigan – that the trilogy isn’t just getting students
to read, it’s also getting them to write.
As the Amarillo Globe-News reported, an eighth grade
reading teacher in Wolfforth, Texas assigned the book to her 134
students in late 2010, and
also had them write letters to the film’s director – Gary
Ross –and suggest what key plot points they wanted to see
preserved when the book jumped to the big screen. In an interview
with
Entertainment Weekly in January 2011, Ross made a point of
praising the quality of the students’ insights.
In Michigan, students at Gobles Middle School recently
wrote letters to the editor of the Grand Rapids Press
to counter comments by a parent who said the books were too
violent for younger readers. The students disagreed, arguing the
video games they play contain much more gore (which might
actually be a whole other problem) and that the trilogy’s
underlying messages were valuable.
“”The Hunger Games” to me, is teaching us a lesson, and that
lesson is to be active learners about politics because we will be
voting in the next four years, and we would not want a government
that becomes too powerful,” wrote student Brooke Hurley.
While the film is rated PG-13, the books are particularly popular
among preteens. But there’s a difference between reading a book
that describes violence, and seeing the images on film,
especially when the audience is children.
“It’s a gut experience as opposed to a head experience,’’ Michael
Rich, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center on Media
and Child Health,
told the Boston Globe. “A movie is very direct. You are
seeing it, you are hearing it, as compared with translating it
from black ink on a page into something in your own mind.’’
A bazillion years ago, my sixth-grade teacher sent a letter home
to parents warning them that a controversial mini-series was set
to air on television, and that they should carefully consider
whether to let their children watch it. The miniseries was
“The Day
After,” depicting the fallout of a nuclear war with
Russia.
I wanted to see it, and after some negotiations (including that
they might revoke their permission mid-viewing if they felt the
material was too intense) my parents agreed to let me watch with
them. The televised images of mushroom clouds, firestorms, death
and destruction were indeed scary, but I didn’t have nightmares.
However, I had more than a few bad dreams over “Lord
of the Flies,” which we were reading in class that same
year.
Perhaps, then, the answer is that while some students in a
particular grade might be ready for the“Hunger Games” megaplex
experience, others are not.
Similarly, it’s possible even the books are too much for some
young readers, Dr. Eric Rossen, director of standards for
the National Association of
School Psychologists, told me in an interview Thursday.
Films can be easier to evaluate for appropriateness in the
classroom than books, Rossen said. Educators must consider
factors such as whether the text relates to the curriculum,
whether the content has strong language, violence or sexual
content or potentially controversial religious themes, Rossen
said. School guidelines typically require parents be notified if
the subject matter is potentially upsetting, and educators need
to stick to those rules, Rossen said.
“With movies there’s an applied ratings scale which can help
teachers make their decisions,” Rossen said. “Books don’t
necessarily come with that, so it might take a little more
oversight.”
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Contact Emily Richmond. Follow her on Twitter @EWAEmily.
Comments
Post new comment