As I read over the meagre offerings on the shelf, I am reminded once again why students don't like reading. Each book is a reminder of purple prose and over-enthusiastic keepers of the terror "history." Why Plato? Why Chaucer? Why Brontë at all? Moreover, the Christian offering is yet more threadbare, for all its vulgar display. I can see which books have Christian messages from the spine alone. Redeemed, and from what? And again, the Valley of a pseudo-romantic ripoff, one with no tension or development. Another Justin Case.
No wonder the self-developed reader is there only kind! There is no nourishment on these shelves. Where are the S E Hintons and Harper Lees--a brilliant flash in a dark place? Where are the Tolkiens and Rowlings--a relationship rendered over time and wood pulp? Where are the Brooks and Roberts and Greens and all the host of young adult fiction authors--all true to the craft, all pure in their form, all idealistic on their worldview?
At this juncture, I would accept A Wrinkle In Time, and that book insults my childhood aspirations of greatness.
Everything is ash. Everything is fire.
Monday, February 24, 2014
2.24b
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Have you ever read Bodie Theone?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read them since like seventh or eighth grade, but I remember liking them then.
I haven't even heard tell of.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about?
I gave a student Blankets to read today, by Craig Thompson. He's mature and very cool. But Delight seems to think I should have more carefully weighed a book with nudity in it.
As we read Julius Caesar.
After they read Romeo and Juliet.
I don't think I like Adventists, sometimes.
I have said this before, and I'll say it again: I'd rather have students read challenging material under my supervision, with the option for them to ask questions, than find it on their own.
ReplyDeleteBecause they will. Or, at least, I did.
Anyhow, yeah. I agree with you, and also I haven't read this book but would like to.
I've read so many books lately that I wish I could get you to read. I don't know that you'd like any of them, but I would enjoy your thoughts. Also, I watched *Pompeii* today (don't ask), and the volcano won.
Bodie Theone is a Christian author who wrote like three complementary series on World Wars I and II and their aftermath. There's the Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles and the Shiloh Legacy and I just looked her and her husband up and apparently they have written a ton more.
I can't vouch for the other stuff, but I loved the Zion ones as a preteen, and they also helped me ace my high school history. I liked them because they were Christian without being vapid. I should read them again and see whether they've aged well.
Well, it's like Lewis said, we should be having clergymen write Christian books, we need Christians to write good books. My parents taught me right from wrong, and when I wanted to read something they (read: Mom) didn't necessarily want me to read, all my mom said was, "I know you know truth; I just ask you not to influence your siblings while they're this young." And I respected that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think it's all Adventists. And not necessarily all Christians, either. Besides, students are going to find things to read if they want to read. If it's forbidden, even more so. I know I did. Then again, I don't remember any books other than the Goosebumps books being forbidden to me (and I didn't want to read them anyway). And it extends beyond reading.
Also, like Janelle said, I'd rather have someone be a guide than to have the kid stumbling around in the dark alone. Having a no-questions atmosphere makes it difficult to mold thinkers and not mere reflectors of other men's thinking. (Yes, I paraphrased off that quote on purpose.)
*should be having LESS clergymen write Christian books
DeleteI forgot the crucial word in that sentence.
@Ashlee: I was wondering.
ReplyDeleteToday at lunch, we talked about Blankets. In that story, two young people make a permanent decision about themselves and their identities as protestant Christians, and I ask him what he thought about it.
He said they were too young and certainly too unstable to be making such weighty decisions about their lives and their relationship. I tend to agree with him. He also said that if they were older or more stable, they wouldn't have melted the way they did.
So he didn't agree with the mantra of the Adventists that the only solution is to not ever sin/just keep being godly.
But he also handled a very adult situation very well. How do you evaluate a life-changing decision made in adolescence? Is it okay to make those decisions? What do you do once they are made regardless?
I am glad I gave him the book now.
I then gave him American Born Chinese, which he thought about less, but enjoyed as much.
I think next week I shall try Scott McCloud's book on comics theory.
Well, I'd say it's the mantra of some Adventists. I don't think it's a correct mantra, because humans can't be godly on their own. But the attitude does exist, other than my quibble that it's not every single Adventist.
ReplyDeleteI think people decide to live with the consequences they decide they can live with, whether they're fourteen or forty. But you can always re-evaluate decisions and see if that's where you still want to be, or if that decision got you where you wanted to go. That's the nice thing about free will, but also the terrible thing. We can choose what to do, but we live with the consequences of our choices. However, those consequences can lead us to make new decisions. (Basically, I'm still learning too.)
I never got to read American Born Chinese, but McCloud's book on comics was probably the first graphic novel I read. (Thanks, by the way.) It was thought-provoking.
I am glad he has you around to recommend good books.
ReplyDeleteI don't think one can ask non-Christians to act along Christian guidelines; the universe of the book must needs affect the characters and their philosophies, yes?
And of course the idea of avoiding consequences is not enough in preventing sin. At least, I don't think so.
Sorry, that high horse was right there ....
Anyhow. Everyone has chances to make life-altering choices from the time reason is formed. I didn't heal from some of the things I decided before I even went to school until this year.
The point is, I guess, God is love. And love covers multitudes of sinners and multitudes of sin. All we can do is put their hands in Jesus's and let Him heal them.
That has become my mantra. I have nothing else to offer you. They never quite do what or how I think they should, but they are also capable and strong in a way that always surprises me.
So if "Avoid having an unwanted baby/disease" isn't enough to prevent premarital sex, what should be our tack?
ReplyDeleteWell, hmm. there's a lot of information available about condoms and birth control, and both unplanned pregnancies and STIs have lost a lot of their stigma.
ReplyDeleteSex offers intimacy; if you preach against it, it has the allure of the forbidden; many see it as a rite of passage that marks growing up. That's a lot to fight against, no?
But I think many young people have reservations of their own about sex, as well.
In truth, though, there is no way you can take over their choices, and honestly, no way you should. Right?
What I have tried to do as a teacher is create a safe space for my students. I have tried to make sure they know they can come and ask me questions and talk to me about what they are experiencing.
I address these issues with them from time to time. I tell them my own experiences, the experiences of people I know. I lay out the facts and tell them some places they can go to get more, and I offer them my perspective as a Christian.
But I do not tell them what to do. I just try to inform them so that when they decide for themselves, they have a better idea of what they're getting into (or not getting into). I try to put their options into perspective, to present the good as well as the bad, to be as honest and transparent with them as I can.
I don't know whether that's the best option, but I think that's kind of what Jesus did, and my job is to introduce them to Him, not to dictate their life choices.
*There's
ReplyDeleteBut until the age of accountability, adults are responsible for their children's choices. At what age/developmental stage does that come? And for children with disabilities, at what point can the parent find solace in no longer needing to police their child's thoughts and actions?
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered that. I have a student with serious mental disabilities in one of my high school classes. He speaks no English and can't seem to understand what other Korean students say to him, either. He sometimes acts like he wants to be involved with class, but most of the time, he's reduced to writing, speaking, and understanding nothing but gibberish, and I have no idea how to be his teacher.
ReplyDeleteThat may not have been relevant. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that each student is different. Each person seems to need a different level of protection and accountability. Some students I teach can handle discussions about certain topics, and others definitely cannot. As their teacher, my job is to try to meet them at their level.
So I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that all twelve-year-olds should get a course on sex, if that's what you're asking. Some of them probably need it. Some may have already experienced aspects of it and need safety to talk about what that means.
At what point did you begin to feel accountable for your own actions? At what point did you notice your parents and teachers beginning to withdraw the weight of their expectations for your behavior and replacing it with the burden of (semi-)autonomy?
I noticed that with my sister and me, my parents changed their rules and expectations to fit our needs. They ever encouraged my sister to step away from dating, for example, even as they encouraged me to try it. They offered me more financial and career advice earlier than they offered it to my sister. I can pinpoint the very moment when I realized that they were comfortable with the adult I had become and were willing to step back and trust my judgment.
I have noticed that I do modify my teaching styles and interactions with my students based on the things I perceive they need, as well. I had always hoped that a benefit of increasing available educational opportunities and technologies would be to allow for more individualized approaches to personal development.
I do not have such a moment. I do remember her letting us buy our own clothes.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they do.
ReplyDelete