Today my Creative Writing class held its kickoff for this year’s Children’s Books project.
This project involves a neighboring elementary school. We survey 25 first grade students with a series of questions, things like: What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What do you wonder about? What is your favorite toy, movie, character, etc.? My high school students then write children’s book specifically for an individual student’s interests. In the spring, after we publish them, we take them over to the other school and the high schoolers read the books they have written to the first graders.
It. Is. Magical.
Today we read the student profiles so we could start matching up writers to readers. It is always amusing.
One typical question we ask is: What is something you wonder about?
Some typical answers included: Afterlife. My life. How many days until my birthday? What is mom making for dinner?
But one first grader asked, “How do you get pregnant?”
I immediately told my high school creative writers that even in normal times I would not let them do a children’s book about this topic. In this climate, I really, really wouldn’t let them.
But in the back of my head, for a split second, my fearful Lizard Brain thought, could I get in trouble for reading the question aloud to my 9th through 12th graders? I had not “vetted” the first graders answers. Oh, no! Did that first grader ask an inappropriate question?
I quickly decided that the question was charming and harmless – as long as we didn’t write a book about it for her. But her question was innocent, and harmless. And not forced on her by any progressive educator. Kids are curious.
I guess it just made me think about how sad it is, this culture that people have created. Another teacher recently sent me a letter that a Florida elementary school had sent home, informing parents that their children could no longer bring books from home to school for fear they might be inappropriate.
We have made all books suspects. We have made open discussion a cause for anxiety.
A first grader asks an honest question on a questionnaire, and my first thought is, “Could I get in trouble for this?”
In some ways, I’m amazed we are allowed to continue such a project without someone vetting our books. When that starts, I’ll stop the project. And that will be sad.
Obviously, some books are not appropriate for all ages, and honest people can disagree about that. But this is not the atmosphere we should have in the land of the free and the home of the first amendment.