Posted on 03/16/2005 10:57:14 PM PST by Marie
Today my 13 year old daughter came home from school telling me about this “disturbing” book she’s reading with the class. The name rang a distant bell in my head, but I couldn’t put my head on it. I went to the store and she got online to do a bit of research for herself on the book.
When I came home she was walking out of the bathroom, holding her stomach, crying. I asked her what was wrong and she couldn’t talk for a bit. Finally she yelled, “They’re going to kill a baby later in the book!”
I asked her what she wanted to do about it and she said that she was going to refuse to read the book on the grounds that it’s an unacceptable topic. If they insist that she read the book, she wants to go back to homeschool.
I told her, “If someone comes at you with a knife or a bat, you have the right to protect your body. Of course you have the right to protect your mind, heart and soul as well. You don’t have to tolerate the intolerable. You don’t have to withstand an assault on your soul. Once garbage like this is in your mind, it’s almost impossible to forget. You’re polluted. You make your stand and Dad and I will back you up all the way. You don’t have to read this book even if it means that we get back to homeschool sooner than we planned.”
Well, she’s no longer upset and shaking. Now she’s furious. She spent a good deal of her evening composing a respectful, but firm letter to her teacher. We’ll see what will happen tomorrow.
How in the heck is a parent supposed to teach their child a respect for authority when authority behaves so disrespectfully?? You can’t respect someone you don’t trust and she no longer has trust for the adults in her school. As far as I concerned, this falls in the “time and place for everything” category, and right now this is a time to tell the “authority” figures to shove off.
Honestly, I just can’t believe that this book’s still creeping around our schools.
Never heard of the book/author. It's about interdependence...now I get it.
bump
My daughter said that they're reading it in Literature class, 8th grade. I suppose that it's purpose is to "expand" and "enlighten". I'll wait to see how things go tomorrow. My girl wants to offer to read an alternative book. If they're willing to work with her, I'll be fine. If not, I'll pull her out on Friday. I'm really not in the mood to argue with idiots this week.
Could you tell us more about the book?
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a378cd83e5125.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a378cd83e5125.htm
We are crossing posts. You are a mind reader.
Here's the part that my daughter read that set her over the edge.
His father turned and opened the cupboard. He took out a syringe and a small bottle. Very carefully he inserted the needle into the bottle and began to fill the syringe.... [Then he directed] the needle into the top of newchild's forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed, and wailed faintly.
"Why's he--"
"Shhh," the Giver said sharply.
His father... pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty....
As Jonas continued to watch, the newchild no longer crying moved his arms and legs in a a jerking motion. Then he went limp. His head fell to the side, his eyes half open. Then he was still...
His father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton that lay waiting on the floor, set it on the bed, and lifted the limp body into it.... He opened a small door in the wall... It seemed to be the same sort of chute into which trash was deposited at school.
His father loaded the carton containing the body into the chute and gave it a shove. "Bye-bye, little guy," Jonas heard his father say before he left the room.
Now this book may be decrying the death of a newborn or it may be promoting it. Either way, she doesn't want this in her head, she doesn't want to honor the book or the author by reading it and she is right.
My son and husband would agree with you! ;-)
Thanks for the excerpt (gaack.)
I absolutely agree with you. And your point about mental images being recorded is true. That's why it's so important to respect ourselves (and teach our children to do so) by not reading, watching or listening to crap that will be in our minds for a long, long time.
Your daughter is fortunate to have a mother who sees this and cares. The more kids are homeschooled, the better.
I read this book in sixth grade when I was attending a Catholic school. If I remember correctly, the book, when read in full, is actually anti-collectivist, along the lines of Brave New World or 1984, although much simpler. It simply demonstrates the tyranny of a communist style society.
So what other books are you going to keep from her? 1984, Brave New World, Shakespeare, The Bible? Did you read your child the story of Isaac? being tied up by his father, about to be sacrificed to God?
You are doing the a good job, the book (from what I've read about it on FR) is supposed to be offensive to good Christians, it doesn't read like it's supporting this "world" any more than a brave New World.
Lois Lowry has good books.
I bet the scene in this book is exaggerated.
Exactly. Attacking a good children's author like Lois Lowry? Geez.
Well put. I follow that precept in my own life.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/giver/summary.html
This is a good plot overview (it gives away the ending if any are concerned with that). If you take a closer look at the book you may find it can teach your daughter about the benefits of individuality.
I am 21 almost 22 years old and I can't imagine reading anything like that even in college. Nobody needs that kind of mental image... especially not young children.
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