Curriculum Highlights for Children

I have a theory about my generation. I think that, to the extent that it exists, a lot of our general fucked-upedness can be traced back to sadistic "children's" books that we were forced to read in school.

I had to read Bridge to Terabithia at least two, and possibly as many as four, years in a row. For the uninitiated, Bridge to Terabithia is about two children who become friends, and then one of them dies. To my mind, for no apparent reason.

Also part of the curriculum was Where the Red Fern Grows. This is a charming tale of a poor young boy who saves up his money to buy two dogs, who become his best friends, until one of them dies in a savage lion attack and the other subsequently dies of a broken heart. I remember sobbing late into the night because of that one. I think I was 11.

Then there was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which contained descriptions of lynch mobs and burning people to death.

And who could forget Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, the TRUE story of a little Japanese girl who died of leukemia resulting from exposure to the atomic bombs of World War II.

Now, I understand, and agree, that children need to learn about the sadder, uglier aspects of life, but I am hard pressed to remember even one book from my elementary or junior high school curriculum that didn't deal with death or destruction. Just one. I'm sure there were some, but my memory of them has been completely clouded over by my memories of the many, many, many death books. In my opinion, this quantity of bawl-your-eyes-out sadness in a child's curriculum is totally unnecessary. Not only that, but I remember thinking on some occasions that it seemed like the authors of critically-acclaimed children's works couldn't think of any better way to end the story, so they went for the sensational death of a major character, not unlike the writers of soap operas or television movies. But what did I know--these were famous writers, and I was just a little girl!

Naturally, on my own, I read non-totally-death-oriented classics that were educational and dealt with mature themes, such as Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, or Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Of course, many schools don't want to include these books as part of their curriculum, as they are controversial because they depict preteen and teenage girls getting their periods and teenage boys becoming embarrassed when they get erections in class (not that any junior-high-school-aged boys and girls would be familiar with either phenomenon in real life or anything). But, of course, children dying, vicious, fatal lion attacks, and lynch mobs are considered totally appropriate content. Now, tell me, don't you think that's just a little bit fucked up?