Below is an excerpt from article I found about the importance of young adult literature and helping teens cope with difficult issues. Read the article and comment. Do you agree with the author? Why or why not?
by Janet Alsup
As I write this article, the television news blares details about the latest school shooting in the United States, this time in California. Another adolescent boy managed to kill two fellow students and injure 11 others before he was taken into custody. By now, this scene is eerily familiar. We have seen similar pictures from Colorado, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Arkansas, and we have heard about numerous other potential shootings that have been stopped in the nick of time.
This latest school shooting brings to our attention yet again that something is wrong in our schools and perhaps within the psyches of our teenagers. The perpetrators of these shootings share certain characteristics: they are adolescent white boys from suburban, middle-class families who, for whatever reason, were bullied, teased, and ostracized by schoolmates until they finally "cracked." What is perhaps most important is that they rarely talked to anyone about their feelings of isolation and emotional pain. Peers describe them as loners, without many friends, and uninvolved in extracurricular activities.
If we can identify these characteristics and create profiles of these violent teens, why can't we change their behavior before they act out? Teachers and administrators, parents, and university teacher educators have asked themselves this question many times, but there appears to be no simple answer. So we keep asking: Why can't we help these students? How can we help them?
English and reading teachers, like teachers of every discipline, have their own strategies for easing students through this time of "storm and stress," and their tool is often books. A recent novel by Todd Strasser, Give a Boy a Gun (2002), tells the story of a school shooting at fictional Middletown High. The two young, male perpetrators end up dying (one shoots himself and another is beaten to death by fellow students who finally overtake him), but only after shooting a fellow student and the school principal. Strasser narrates the events through a series of quotes from various characters who were witnesses to the shooting. He also includes several footnoted descriptions of real school shootings since the mid-1970s along with saddening statistics about gun deaths and the prevalence of teasing in U.S. schools. In this book Strasser makes a definite and powerful point about the seriousness of teen violence. However, I do not want to imply that asking students to read and respond to a book such as Strasser's can stop school shootings from occurring. Although this is a wonderful thought, it would be far too idealistic. There are clearly other issues that must be addressed in order to stop the problem, including the trivializing of peer teasing and the resulting humiliation that often leads to depression and anger. But what I do want to suggest is that reading literature can be an ethical as well as an intellectual process, and as such it can assist adolescents in coping with their tumultuous lives.
I believe that school shootings are just about the worst thing that could possibly ever happen. I agree with the author of this article that we need to find some way to get through to these kids to keep these shootings from happening. Literature can help kids through their tough times because they can see how other teens their age cope with these problems and could even help them learn how to deal with what's going on, in a non-violent way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author on some points, and on others not so much. School shootings are horrible in any situation, but I don't really think having kids read books is going to keep them from occurring. Many kids play video games and the violence there carries over. It would be nice to say that reading would change peoples views, but it simply wont.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what the author is saying. I think that reading literature can help teens cope with certain situations going on in their lives in a non- violent way. I think it's because there are so many different books out there that cover a wide range of topics. Everything from suicide to drug abuse to divorce has had someone write a story about it. A good portion of stories like those are about teenagers dealing with the same thing, I think it helps teens because they can see themselves through the character of a book.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree with the author, because when kids have no one else to turn to and don't want to talk about their feelings they could always read a book. Yes, most kids who are dealing with mental and emotional problems aren't typically going to want to read a book to solve their issues, but there is always one out of that group who will. They may find comfort in reading and if they find an issue that deals with the same thing they are going through, then they are more than likely going to listen to what it has to say. It's best to take the chance on that one kid and save the lives of future victims than not at all.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, if someone is upset, what makes you think that they will want to read a book? When I'm upset the last thing I want to do is read a book, I'd rather just go to sleep, or work on something. Reading takes a lot of concentration if you actually want to get something out of the book you are reading, reading just keeps me distracted from a thought, then when im done, I think about it again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author in that school shootings can be avoided. I think that if students are more involved, appreciated, and loved students would be less likely to be bullied and threatened. I also think that literature can help tremendously. If a student who is dealing with bullying and has thoughts of shooting people, if they read a book and find out that they aren't the only one dealing with this, that they aren't alone, they may change their mind and decide that a school shooting isn't the answer.
ReplyDeleteA school shooting has to be one of the most damaging thing that can happen to a student because it happens in a place they think they are safe. If a student is pushed to the point were they hate their school enough to actually bring a gun and shoot fellow students then there is something seriously wrong with that schools social structure. People should be able to feel safe and have fun with friends while in school, not get bullied and taken advantage of. I agree with the author that literature might be able to help a student cope with these problems because of instead of turning to violence as a solution a book could show him that other people have dealt with these problems and worked through them to go on and have good lives in school. A book could be the thing that turns a student to a guidance councilor instead of a gun store.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how a person can go into a school and start shooting their classmates. But I do agree with the author about the kids being able to cope better if they are in extra curricular activities. I'm not really sure about the reading part but if a violent kid plays a sport they can release their aggression when they are playing the sport instead of trying to kill people at the school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author. Reading can help you get your mind off of whatever is upsetting you and help you relax. I know that when I read a story it calms me down because I picture myself as one of the characters in the book, and it's like the real world doesn't exist while I'm reading. Reading can also help you see that maybe your situation isn't that bad, that it could be far worse, and that you should be thankful that your life isn't as bad as some of the characters in your book.
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ReplyDelete^^^condensed previous comments into one
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the kind of kid that would shoot up a school, I think of two types of kids.
One is quiet, broody, intelligent but resentful. Demotivated.
The other is frustrated and hot tempered, impatient and unfortunate.
Books can only help the first kind of kid, because that kid has the amount of introspection needed to understand.
The second kind of kid needs professional help, not the kind that the school can offer.
Another factor is that
just because it's in a book, doesn't mean that it's real.
When you REALLY look at a work of fiction, you have to realize that this story comes from ONE person's mind. It isn't real. It's just angst, which is something that society indulges itself in. An actual school shooting would involve the lives and minds of many.
Personally, if I were angry enough to shoot up a school, I wouldn't look to a book for answers. Least especially if it's just some little novel written by ONE person expressing some pathetic angst.
What I mean to say is that a school shooting is SOOO much larger than a book. No book can possibly express what it might mean to kill, nor can that book really truly express what it means to be hurt. It's a book. It's fiction.
While that book may be written by someone who has been through that kind of experience/pain, that book is still on an impersonal level. That book wouldn't be enough to stop ME, (hypothetically speaking,) so why would it stop anyone else?
The idea of shooting up a school is different when you think in numbers.
I agree with some points of the author but not all, just like Kalie. I also believe that school shootings are the worst and most tragic in any case. And I know that kids or high schoolers just by reading books will not stop this tragic shootings from happening, in all reality I do not think we will ever truly be able to stop shootings. I'm definitely not taking up for kids that are responsible for shootings, but I mean behind every action there is a reason. In the ideal world we would be able to stop this, but we have to realistic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author. School shootings are horrible and should be the last thing students fear when going to school. Students should be going school to learn because all American citizens are provided with a free education untill college. What the author said about the teachers, it is partly true. I think it is out of teacher's hands now, which is scary to think about. There is not much that teachers can do. I have seen this, sadly, in my own school. The point is, that high schools are definitely not the same as they were in the past. Schools use to be a place to be with your friends and learn but now its a place to somewhat learn and be with your friends and protect yourself from harm, if you can. Its becoming a huge problem.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with the author. I think that reading books about teens dealing with difficult situations that high school kids often encounter can help, but I don't think that it can solve the problem. Unfortunately, I don't think that this problem can ever be stopped. There will always be people who get teased and bullied. High schoolers are evil. I think all of us know someone who has been teased and I think that all of us have also teased or bullied someone else. The only way to stop something like a school shooting from happening is for someone to notice the people who are bullied and who might feel depressed and alone, and talk to them. One person can change someone's day by just acknowledging them and treating them with respect and being their friend. Sadly, this will probably not happen for a lot of people, but I feel that it is the only way to stop such horrible things from happening.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the author of this article, I believe that reading can provide a sense of relief and escape from bad things. There are books for every type of struggle whether it be drugs, alcohol, violence, or sex. If there is a struggle there is a book that's gonna be about how someone overcame it and what they did to overcome it. I also agree that saying that reading can keep school shootings from happening. That's a foolish thing to say, but I do believe that it can help a student being bullied to be more calm and think more rationally about what's gonna happen if they do. I also think that they'll need a psych to help them but a simple book can be part of that process of recovering and getting past the bad things in life.
ReplyDeleteI am half an half on this issue. I think that books help many teens cope with many issues such as death and love and all of that, but I'm not so sure about school shootings. If some teen is about to cause a school shooting I don't think he would be the type to read about doing so or not first. With all of the students built up anger, the last thing on his mind would be to calm down rationally and read. I would like to think that could be possible, but it seems very unlikely to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author that something definitely needs to be done to help prevent these teens from turning their harmful thoughts into actions. But, when a teen is already so down and depressed and everything just keeps getting worse and going downhill everyday from them, then do you really think they are going to want to read a book and that will stop them? Umm probably not considering these tormented teens are so frustrated and stressed. They need to read a book like Strasser's before they are on the verge of acting out.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to start working on ways to help these kids who are being bullied cope with there emotions so they don't crack and start a school shooting. I believe that if people followed the golden rule " treat others how you would want to be treated" then we would not have this problem. But I also understand we live in a cruel world and people are always going to be picked on. I believe we need to get kids to talk about there feelings more and try to get them more involved in activities. I believe this will help this problem. I don't think reading a book will stop someone from doing a school shooting but I do believe it is eduating them on the facts and putting things into a situation. I personally would read the book just to be more educated on the subject and to help me better understand these kids better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author, we should try to do something to keep kids and teens from thinking of anything that has to do with possibly bringing a gun to school or even a bomb. Literature can be a big influence on the minds of the readers. A lot of the times books can help relate those that are having problems in school or at home or any kind of situation that may put those kind of thoughts in their minds, and if reading books that will push the issue away then yes I completely agree.
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