This may have already been discussed in GD but I'll post it anyway.  Would you let you kids read this?  My kids want a copy if I can find it.



Author Weaves Violence Into Kid's Book

ADELAIDE, Australia - As children's books go, this one is a bit of a departure: depictions of children running across a busy road with their eyes shut and a boy setting fire to his head.

"The Bad Book," by Andy Griffiths, has also captured the attention of South Australian lawmaker Vickie Chapman, who wants it withdrawn from primary school libraries in the state.

"This book is completely unacceptable . . . and I urge all teachers and principals to ensure their school does not own a copy," Chapman said Thursday. "It also could encourage children to participate in some life-threatening behavior."

On his web site, Griffiths defended his book, saying it is a "hilarious and irreverent collection of cautionary tales and violent demonstrations that serves as a warning to children and their parents everywhere."

But Chapman questioned what type of message it was sending to children.

"On one page of the book a child says to his mother: 'Mummy can I run across this very busy six-lane highway with my eyes shut?' to which the mother replies: 'Well, I don't know'" she said.
"The child later runs across the road with a picture of him getting hit by a car.

"Another page of the book states: 'Little Willy took a match and set fire to his head. Said little Willy as it burnt, soon I will be dead.'"

Quoted: "Another page of the book states: 'Little Willy took a match and set fire to his head. Said little Willy as it burnt, soon I will be dead.'"

Reminds me of a stupid poem I remember for some reason:

Little Willie with a shout, Gouged the baby's eyeballs out; Stamped on them to
make them pop. Mother cried, "Now, William, stop!" .

No, and I would be ticked to find my child had access to it in the school library.  I wonder anyway about a library at an elementary school.  I review my son's books pretty carefully for all kinds of things, not just violence...  I can't imagine my grade school child having access to such a book or a librarian who would buy it...

<rant>As an aside, took my 2 yr old to the mall the other day.  For almost the first time... how do you explain a life size dummy of that Nightmare on Elm Street bad guy to a child that age?  Fortunately, I noticed the rotten monster before he saw it.  What's our society come to that we are so jaded to what we expose the public (primarily children) to?  Take a day to look at the commercials you watch on television and ask yourself if a child should really be watching this stuff or read the covers of women's magazines in your grocery store check out.  I have a family member who is starting her infant on television so he won't mind the noise.  EXCUSE ME!  Television is not MY society; it doesn't tell me what to wear; it doesn't tell me who is attractive; and it certainly isn't going to form or deform my child's moral structure.  I am not a prude, but I do think we should be more considerate of others in the public forum.  I don't want a boy who is just learning to read mouthing out..."'Ten,' What's that word, Mama? 'Sexy?' Ways to Please Your Man in Bed'  Mama, what's that about? Please a man?"</rant>

I completely agree, Daydreamer.  When my kids were younger I remember changing the channel during certain commercials, blocking the headlines on trash magazines in the checkout line or having to distract them from them and previewing every movie they wanted to watch.  It is even worse now then when my kids were young - with all the stuff that is allowed now such as the condom commercials, the erectile dysfunction and the viagra type comercials.  I don't envy parents of young children now.  I do know some who will expose their kids to everything and will let them pretty much watch anything on TV as long as it keeps the kids out of their hair - it really pisses me off!

I don't think I would want my kids reading a book like that alone. (from what little I have seen about it) But on the other hand it could be used as a learning tool.

'Mummy can I run across this very busy six-lane highway with my eyes shut?' to which the mother replies: 'Well, I don't know'" she said. "The child later runs across the road with a picture of him getting hit by a car.

The above shows there is a consequence for bad actions. If parents took time to read the book with their kids, discussing what they have read, it may be a good read.
Of course I just went thru the "fire" incident with LilGH and he still gets nervous around the microwave and he does not touch it at all and he still asks me "Mommy, fire all gone?" I would much rather he learned about fire some other way, but it tought him it is a scary thing.

How bazaar.  I think its a good gemmick though.  I remember when The Onion Fields and To Kill a Mocking Bird were banned at my school - I couldn't read them fast enough.

I have a rule of thumb, if I haven't read it, the kids can't read it.  [Unless it has a newberry seal on it.]  However with that said, as a kid I read a lot of stuff I would never allow my kids to read [I read everything my father brought home from the Library] I can't say I was ever negatively influenced by a book.  With the exception of after reading Jaws I picked up the phrase "Oh Prick!"  I had no idea what it meant.  When my Grandma told me I thought she was nuts - why would anyone say that?  I did however stop using the phrase.

Patty

I'd have to see the book.  What is the purpose of the book?  Is it just a sick book for shock value?  "Let's push the envelope and see what we can get away with"?  If that's the case, no thanks.  From the little that you posted, it looks like a freaky shock value book.  But if it is intended to teach hard lessons, then maybe.  

In general, I think it depends on the child.  Little kids - no, pre-teen to teen - maybe with supervision if it has any value as a teaching tool.

I have a friend who goes through the paper every day and pulls out the "stupid teen" stories for the day to discuss over dinner with her pre-teens.  You know the ones where 15 teens pile into a 2 seater and after a night of heavy drinking end up wrapped around a telephone pole.  She uses them as a real life example of what not to do and why.  She figures if she pounds it into her kid's heads while they are still young enough to listen and understand (before their brains go to mush with hormones ) it might make a difference for when they find themselves faced with similar decisions.

As an aside, remember the Garbage Pail Kids?  


man they had some nasty stuff.  

Here, found something on it:
www.andygriffiths.com.au/Resources_Defence_of_the_Bad_Book_05.html

A defence of ‘The Bad Book’ By Jo Oliver, Children’s Librarian Camden Public Library I have purchased a copy of Andy Griffiths’ ‘The Bad Book’ for the junior section of our public library. I have done so for the following reasons: It is funny It is accessible and age appropriate for primary school aged children Preventing children’s access to ‘badness’ in literature does not aid their moral development For those of you who are Christians as I am, or live with a belief in moral right and wrong I offer this defence of reading literature which portrays evil and ‘badness’ and allowing children access to such, age appropriate, literature. We live in a world with good and evil and have both possibilities in our nature. Many of the poems in ‘the bad book’, in addition to being amusing pose moral questions, invite the reader to think about good and evil in the world. Specifically, “Bad Daddy and the Big Swing’, “Bad Mummy and the Very Busy Six-lane Highway’, ‘Bad Baby’, ‘Bad Baby’s Christmas’, ‘Bad Mummy and the Big Cliff’, ‘Bad Mummy and the Very Hungry Lion’, all exaggerate the results of parents not giving boundaries to their children, a comment on laissez-faire parenting styles endemic to our society. ‘Bad Daddy says No’ exposes parental abuse of power as an opposite parenting tendency. ‘The Bad Little Boy, His Father and the Very Tall Mountain’ shows the result of not telling children the truth. ‘Greedy little Grace’ and ‘Peter, Peter , Junk food eater’ give a pointed look at the issue of childhood obesity. ‘Pirates, Trucks, Bombs, Sharks, Dinosaurs and Football’ is the best description of ‘boy play’ I have read and sounds like my backyard, with three boys, of an afternoon. ‘The Bad Old Duke of York’ sounds pretty much like most wars in which humans have been used as cannon fodder. ‘The Bad Builder’ reflects the absence of individual responsibility in our ‘me’ centred western society. ‘The Day Nothing Bad Happened’ would also be a first in the real history of mankind. ‘The Very, Very, Very Bad Story’ which ends the book describes the dilemma of our world and poses the most important question for humankind- ‘what can be done about badness?’ If we don’t let children grapple with this question we are cheating them of the chance to become moral and responsible adults, I challenge those who would wish to censor this book to consider what we really want for children. Do we want to feed our children on bland or saccharine sweet junk food for the mind? I have more problems with the self-obsessed and insipid Mary- Kate and Ashley or Disney turning the gentleman Winnie-the –Pooh into a fool. Let’s resist the ‘dumbing down’ of children’s literature. I believe children need literature which is strong, courageous and challenging as well as beautiful and inspiring. They need to be encouraged to think, feel and act. To enable them to develop discernment they need variety and choice. If this book is disturbing I do not believe that is wrong. Better to be disturbed than to encourage the complacency and selfishness that bland literature engenders. It is only by considering bad they will learn to know what is good. In the 17 th century Milton, author of ‘Paradise Lost’ wrote in defence of the free press - “ I cannot praise the fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed that never sallies out and sees her adversary, shirks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat;” Let us let children get hot and dusty as they grapple with questions of moral right and wrong and let us not fear what is ‘bad’ remembering “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5

From what this person is saying, sounds like the book should be marketed to the parents instead of putting the kids in the middle.  

Yea, I think I'd have to pass on this one......why would anyone write something like this for kids to read?  And what kind of school would allow it in their libraries in the first place?  We have 2 boys, one in 1st grade, one in pre-school, and you bet your ass I would flip a lid if I saw either one reading something like that.  Another reason why parents need to pay attention to what their kids read/watch, you just never know how they are going to react to things like that.

When my son was in the 3rd grade, he was having trouble catching on to reading.  I bought him a book called "what would Jesus do?"  He was so proud of that book, and he tried reading it more than any other book from school or home.  This class had a free day when you could bring a book from home to read in class during free time, (not out loud, this was personal free time).

Well, he chose to take that book.  When he got home he threw it across the room and said, "I hate that book, and I hate school!"  Apparently the teacher had taken the book away from him and lectured him in class about how it was against the rules to bring such material to school, and threatened him with suspension!  That was his first week at that school in a new state, so he was having to adjust to a lot. When the biotch teacher called to chew me out, I went off on her.  He has hated school ever since.  They even called a meeting at the school which included the teachers, the principal and a psychologist to discuss the evils I had allowed!  I told them they were all full off shit, and if they ever did anything to embarass my 8 year old again, they would really regret it more than inviting me to thier stupid meeting.

So a book that promotes violence and self mutilation, in school libraries? Let me find it, I will start the SHTF club.