MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Seriousness Ender's Game in the K-5 Library

cearbhallain · 05-13-2010, 04:40 PM

There will probably be SPOILERS!

So, my fifth grader checked out Ender's Game from the school library yesterday. I allow my son free range in the public and home library but I was somewhat shocked that someone thought that EG was a book suitable for children in general. Actually, it's many someones, as it has been assigned an Accelerated Reader level of 5.5, which means that the people responsible for facilitating that particular bit of educational misconduct think that the book is age-appropriate for an 11-year old.

I only recently read Ender's Game myself, so I'm pretty fresh on the events and concepts included in the narrative. I liked it when I read it and thought to keep it around for my son to read in a couple of years. I know he's going to like it, but the non-trivial amount of moral ambiguity contained in the story, combined with some very disturbing violence gave me pause. I know I'm not alone in feeling unsettled by children reading this book, heck it's in the "not really for kids" list at tv tropes

I'm pretty liberal in terms of the amount of violence in entertainment that I think is appropriate for children. Paul Verhooven has provided me with a sort of scale I can use to illustrate what I mean.

Starship Troopers (aka War With the Bugs) has been staple for viewing for both of my kids since they were pre-schoolers. It's very violent and extremely visceral. It's also an excellent satire and while people die horribly the story is an obvious cartoon (don't tell my dad I said that; he thinks it's a faithful adaptation of a book by his favoritist author ever).

At the other end of the scale is Robocop. Excruciatingly violent in a very real way. It's also an excellent satire, but its real-world setting and events make it too intense for a child to process. A child watching ST might absorb some of the themes of the film subliminally while enjoying a big entertaining movie. A child watching Robocop is being bludgeoned with incomprehensible and meaningless (to them) violence. I actually think Robocop is an "important" movie, but I'm not letting my kids watch it until I'm sure they can handle it - in fact I think I'd give it an NC-17 if it were up to me.

I personally feel that a story about a child who logically, and arguably correctly, puzzles out the the solution to a pack of bullies is to stomp their leader (accidentally to death) and is then trained and tricked into committing genocide might be a little much for a fifth grader to process. I could be wrong, what do you think?

05-13-2010, 04:40 PM	#1
cearbhallain Groupie Posts: 183 Karma: 1053258 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fort Vancouver Device: nook	Ender's Game in the K-5 Library - Really? There will probably be SPOILERS! So, my fifth grader checked out Ender's Game from the school library yesterday. I allow my son free range in the public and home library but I was somewhat shocked that someone thought that EG was a book suitable for children in general. Actually, it's many someones, as it has been assigned an Accelerated Reader level of 5.5, which means that the people responsible for facilitating that particular bit of educational misconduct think that the book is age-appropriate for an 11-year old. I only recently read Ender's Game myself, so I'm pretty fresh on the events and concepts included in the narrative. I liked it when I read it and thought to keep it around for my son to read in a couple of years. I know he's going to like it, but the non-trivial amount of moral ambiguity contained in the story, combined with some very disturbing violence gave me pause. I know I'm not alone in feeling unsettled by children reading this book, heck it's in the "not really for kids" list at tv tropes I'm pretty liberal in terms of the amount of violence in entertainment that I think is appropriate for children. Paul Verhooven has provided me with a sort of scale I can use to illustrate what I mean. Starship Troopers (aka War With the Bugs) has been staple for viewing for both of my kids since they were pre-schoolers. It's very violent and extremely visceral. It's also an excellent satire and while people die horribly the story is an obvious cartoon (don't tell my dad I said that; he thinks it's a faithful adaptation of a book by his favoritist author ever). At the other end of the scale is Robocop. Excruciatingly violent in a very real way. It's also an excellent satire, but its real-world setting and events make it too intense for a child to process. A child watching ST might absorb some of the themes of the film subliminally while enjoying a big entertaining movie. A child watching Robocop is being bludgeoned with incomprehensible and meaningless (to them) violence. I actually think Robocop is an "important" movie, but I'm not letting my kids watch it until I'm sure they can handle it - in fact I think I'd give it an NC-17 if it were up to me. I personally feel that a story about a child who logically, and arguably correctly, puzzles out the the solution to a pack of bullies is to stomp their leader (accidentally to death) and is then trained and tricked into committing genocide might be a little much for a fifth grader to process. I could be wrong, what do you think?