Inappropriate Books from Home

Greetings,

This week I want to revisit the issue that some schools (OK, MOST schools) have. The problem of students bringing books from home that aren’t appropriate for your SDA school. I would advise that you have a discussion with your class about what kinds of books would be appropriate and what kinds might not. Let them discuss the issue. When you are satisfied that they probably know appropriate from inappropriate, then guide the class to make a rule/policy/guideline for your class.

So what if a student does bring a book that isn’t appropriate? What do you do?

First, how can you tell if a book isn’t appropriate?
1. Check the cover. Look for things like dragons, witches, vampires, or other worldly appearance. You can pretty much guarantee that the book is not appropriate. But, keep in mind that there may be some books out there that are really OK, but the cover is not.
2. Ask the student if the book is appropriate, but ask in a non-confrontational way. “Hey, I just got a glimpse of the cover of your book and wondered about it. From the cover it looks like it might not be something to bring to school to read. What is it about?” Let the student tell you about the book. You may be surprised.
3. If the book is indeed not something you want to be at school, this is a perfect teachable moment. The student may not have really understood what inappropriate means. But if he or she is testing you, you have not been confrontational. Remind them about the class/school policy, and offer to hold the book until school is out so they can take it home.
4. If you aren’t sure about the book, go to www.amazon.com or http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ and find more information there.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Common Sense Media site, I urge you to take a few minutes to go to the site and see how it works. Type in a book, movie, game, or other media and see how the site rates your choice. I read about a family who used the site to help decide what movie to see. The children wanted to see a particular movie, and the parents thought it was a little too old for them. The parents said, “Let’s see what age level Common Sense Media says the movie is. If they say it is for children your age, then we will see it, but if they say it is for children older, we will see another movie.” I liked that idea to help settle a dispute. It wasn’t just their parents saying a movie was too old for them, but many other parents saying the same thing.

If you have any questions you would like for me to address in this blog, please send them along to me. A few of you have emailed questions to me and I have answered your emails individually , but am always happy to find a question that might be something that others might like to know.

I hope you have a great week. Check out my blog where I post these weekly emails. Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com

Audrey