Reading Controversial Classics to Children - Huckleberry Fin

aidelmaidel

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 3:45 pm

HindaRochel wrote:

I think it is better when they are young as you can read it and talk with them about the issues before they've been introduced to less desirable ideas. Maybe it depends on how it is done. I think you talk to them about it as you read it, and explain, this isn't a word we use. Better hear it from me and understand "This is a bad word" than hear it on the street and get the shocked expression or angry response, which often just makes a child do it more (not because they are thinking that way but because they like the reaction)

So you read and you explain---this is how people talked then, but it isn't a nice word to use and people will be very angry with you if you try and use it. They might not even want to be your friend...."

I hate to tell you, in my neighborhood, but a walk down the avenue and my kids hear the "n" word used all the time (and I don't mean the Yidden are using it).

My kids don't really know that it's a derogatory word yet, if only because my dh and I certainly never utter it. I would hope they haven't heard a yid utter it yet. I am not denying that Yidden unfortunately use it - I can think of at least 2 people I know who do say it and derogatorily (and I've called them out on it).

I don't think my kids would use it to get a reaction out of people. I just think they're clueless.

suzyq

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 3:53 pm

I'm a little late on this, and much has already been said, but I basically agree with Fox. While I very much disagree with editing on an organizational level, I think it's very different to "edit" your bedtime story for your 6-year-old. I would never use the N word, in front of my children, while reading, or otherwise. Never. I find it abhorrent. But that doesn't mean that I endorse changing what was written in the historical context of its time and nor banning it being taught age appropriately in a classroom.

I think this basically comes down to good parenting and knowing what your children can handle. And being open enough with them when the time comes to be able to have a conversation about why it's ok for Mark Twain to use such a word in a book and why it's not ok to say it today.

Chana Miriam S

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 4:53 pm

Funny but true. A relative of mine was killed I. The Dambusters Raid (rcaf attached to raf) and this is a story that has been made into films in the past. A new version has been cooking foe a while and according to a family member who is the archivist of our family history, there were issues because one unit had a black dog named nxger and the writers were flu
Mmoxed as to how to handle it. It WAS the dog's name. It is histori cally accurate- but how could you use that name today?!?!

zipporah

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 5:10 pm

chanamiriam wrote:

This is totally true!! DH loves Pink Floyd's "The Wall" One of the main characters in the movie is watching a movie about this incident called The Dambusters. I had never watched "The Wall" so one evening we popped some corn and pop the rental DVD in and DH starts explaining it to me. At one point, we see the little dog and we hear "Come here "N" ol' boy"

We look at each other and we just CRACK up! We had to rewind a million times. Turns out the American version is redubbed with the dog's name as Trigger. DH had no idea.

Not as weird as when our pediatrician called our DD mulatto... but it was pretty entertaining.

bubby

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 7:06 pm

zipporah wrote:

And what age were your students, Bubby? The age where a parent would be reading them a bedtime story? OP was talking about reading stories at night to her children. And the "N' word is on the level of the "C" word. You'd read a book with the "C" word in it to your child for a bedtime story without editing it?

WOW!!! You must be a very angry person. I have no idea what the "C" word is. Clueless, maybe? Confrontational? And if a parent actually EXPLAINS & TEACHES a child why a certain word is used, what's wrong with that? But of course, that presumes parents can be bothered to talk to & educate their own children.

bubby

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 7:07 pm

suzyq wrote:

This sounds very familiar!!! Smile

zipporah

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 7:37 pm

bubby wrote:

zipporah wrote:

That's just not nice.

I asked a question about the ages of your students because many of the people who teach Huck Finn in schools are teaching high school. The title is regarding reading to children. The age is relevant.

I don't think that an impartial reading of this conversation would show me to be confrontational (outside of the simple fact that there is some confrontation involved in disagreement by its nature) or clueless. And as one of the few people (only?) involved in this discussion who is out as being Black, your response is not conducive to ongoing discussion.

There wasn't a hint of an actual attack until your post. I would like an apology.

zipporah

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 8:26 pm

Reality wrote:

I love Huck Finn but I can't imagine reading the full text to little kids. Forget the N word I can't imagine a 6 year old following the storyline. Twain goes off on many tangents that a little kid would get lost following what is happening.

What about reading an abridged version that is geared for kids?

Suggested. Example of the general argument against:

chocoholic wrote:

Classics are disappearing faster and faster because they are being censored left and right out of PC-ness. If you read those books without the N-word etc you miss the context. Those books teach you and your children what went wrong and what we did wrong so we can learn from it so it won't ever happen again. Without the N-word and other PC sensoring the important stuff is missing and the book becomes meaningless.

tzipp

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 9:21 pm

zipporah wrote:

bubby wrote:

zipporah wrote:

Some people read to their kids who are well into their preteen/early teen years. It has been shown to be very productive, I will hrow another vote in for books on tape too.

Reality

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 10:24 pm

zipporah wrote:

Reality wrote:

Suggested. Example of the general argument against:

chocoholic wrote:

I don't think it is PC to take the N word out of an abridged version that is meant for kids. Let us remember that Huck Finn is an adult book & they would be taking out other things that are also inappropriate for children. For example, the Royal Nonesuch when the King prances around on stage naked etc.. It is PC to remove the N word from a full & complete printing of the book.

I don't know my daughter is 6 but the hardest chapter book that I have read as a bed time story is The Box Car Kids. And I am a true-blue classics LOVER. The "Assignment" section at the library is my best friend!! I think aidel maidel can find wonderful classics that are geared for young children to read at bedtime.

sequoia

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 10:46 pm

Let's separate the flies from the cutlets.

One issue is censoring classics. Now, censorship is a word that is often misunderstood. When Bowdler published abridged versions of Shakespeare, he wasn't censoring Shakespeare. Only the government, or some equivalent authority, can do that. He was putting out there a book that parents might feel more comfortable reading to their children.

In that sense there is obviously no censorship going on in the US, or any other civilized country, because anyone is free to write and publish whatever they want. By the same token, they are also free to abridge or otherwise edit books to make them more appropriate for target audiences.

The other issue is what is good bedtime reading for children. Here, you have to take many factors into consideration, including child's age (don't read Huck Finn to a six-year-old!), attention span, maturity level, interests (are they more into fairy tales, realistic YA novels, adventure stories?), and other factors.

But this has nothing to do with the practice of publishing sanitized versions of classics, and everything to do with your particular child.

Reality

Thu, Jan 13 2011, 10:49 pm

sequoia wrote:

What I was trying to say but you said it better!!

HindaRochel

Fri, Jan 14 2011, 1:22 am

aidelmaidel wrote:

HindaRochel wrote:

That kind of proves my point. To not raise the issue means they hear about it from other sources and are clueless. To teach them about it, and I think a story like Huck Finn works, but that isn't mandatory, allows them to understand the wrongness of the word and not repeat it accidentally.

But again, this does mean talking and not just reading the story. It is interactive reading which, btw, I think is better for the child anyway.