The Hunger Games to stay in the classroom
You may remember back in September when we reported on a mother in New Hampshire who asked for The Hunger Games to be removed from a middle school because of its violent subject matter. Well this week, a committee of librarians, teachers and parents from Mountain View Middle School in Goffstown ruled that The Hunger Games book would stay on the curriculum.
The Goffstown News reports that the Goffstown Superintendent of Schools, Stacy Buckley informed the School Board that The Hunger Games had been deemed appropriate for the seventh-graders who read and discussed the book in class.
“They felt it was a vital book, that they did not want to ban the book,” Buckley said of the committee’s decision. “They believed that the majority of seventh- and eighth-grade students can comprehend the anti-violent message the book presents.”
This matter first came up on September 20 when Tracy Lassale, the mother of a seventh-grade student, complained the book gave her daughter consistent nightmares. She also denounced the book for its alleged lack of morality and suggested its violent subject matter could lead to school violence.
In the following weeks, Ms Lassale’s concerns became a hot topic of discussion, both on this site and other Hunger Games fan sites. Most fans pointed out that The Hunger Games is anti-violent, while others said it is probably more suited to older children.
The Mountain View Middle School committe decided that the book was appropriate for seventh-graders and noted that the in-class discussions that accompanied the reading of “Hunger Games” were sufficient to explain the book’s dark themes and nonviolent message to students.
It’s important to note though that while The Hunger Games will stay on the school’s curriculum and in the school’s library, it will not be forced on any student, with students in the fifth and sixth grades at the Mountain View Middle School needing to get parental permission to check The Hunger Games from the school library.
So, now that the situation has been resolved, let us know what you think.
great one
Go Hunger Games!!!
I am a teacher and we are using the first book in the series in our curriculum next year!!!!
My whole 6th grade class wants to read the books because of the book talks my friends and I have given. My teacher read it and LOVED it.
Violent?
The Hunger Games is appropriate for peoples in 5 & 6 classes at school cause to tell you the truth, this book(s) is nothing compared to the real wars that have happened. I believe the Hunger Games are suitable for 5 & 6 grades let alone 7 & 8 grades aswell.
My little cousin read it before i had the chance and she didnt have nightmares, she couldnt put the book down with all the suspense. & believe me she gets scared of the most silliest things :L.
I wish we could read the Hunger Games for school. Im actually going to recommend it to my teacher for future generations
The Hunger Games is defiantly suitable for 7 and 8 graders. My 6 grade class usually hates the books my teacher reads out loud to us, but when we read the Hunger Games, everyone was obsessed. We kept on begging her to read more, and some even wanted to stay in for recess to find out what was going to happen next. Great book. Defiantly on the top of my reading list.
To good a book to take out! I’m going into fifth grade and love it!
The best book ever… there is a huge hunger games poster in the 6 grade hall at my school I practicly screamed when I saw it
Who would want to take this book out of the curriculum? I want my teacher to put it in! I’ve read it so many times that my mom bought me a copy. I think it will help stop school violence and discrimation, not bring it up fifteen levels! I keep reading the series over and over until I can quote parts, but I don’t see me or my friends killing anyone. (The only time we get at each others throuts is during a Peeta vs Gale debate)
I think this is a very good book, for High school students, and even middle school, with parent permission. I absolutely would NOT recommend it for elementary school students. My 5th grade son was reading this and the second book as a class assignment. On the second book he was bringing it home and reading it aloud to me. While some of the violence bothered me, I agree with the fact that our children see that in everyday life and we just need to talk to them about it, but when I found myself having to explain prostitution to my 5th grader, I was not happy. Needless to say, my son is no longer reading it with the rest of the class and I worry that other parents don’t realize the full content of the book. I also found out that there is no process in place in schools to confirm that all content in the books are age appropriate. Teacher discretion, that’s it.
I’m in six grade and I read all three books in class, with 32 other kids. We all love the book and so does our teacher.
My parents know about the violence and everything else that is ever mentioned in the book ( It’s all I talk about). They aren’t complaining that I am reading the trilogy. Since I am always talking about it, even my little sister ( 5th grade) knows every detail that is mentioned. I haven’t heard one complaint from a parent or teacher that I know.
Kids should be able to decide for them self if they want to read the Hunger Games. I would hate my parents for eternity if they said I wasn’t allowed to read The Hunger Games. I would hate any adult actually. Just saying. =)
I’m going into eightth grade and in may, my 29 year old teacher read it during class, after giving us instructions, shed run back to her desk and read. She usually greets us at the door or is writing on the board when we walk in but she was sitting all anticipated with her head in her hands and the book wide open on her desk
i hope i get to read this book next year i want to find a book store so i can but all the books
I think that the Mom should have read the whole book first instead of just the blurb, I mean really in elementary we read the boy in stripped pyjamas and that was worse than the Hunger Games, mainly cos you knew it really happend.
The hunger games is one of the best books i have ever read. I hate to read, but the hunger games is the only book i read last year. so if anybody hates the hunger games well that is your loss.