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Originally Posted by mommyofmany  I think it'a wrong to discuss sexual asault and rape in a 9th grade classroom. That's my problem with it. I'm obviously not as free of a thinker as most here, and I believe such things shouldn't be discussed in school.
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Unfortunately, as high school teachers and administrators are aware, such things happen - if not in school (although sometimes, in fact, in school), in relation to it. The social structures constructed and enforced by and among students in high schools sometimes perpetuate sexual assault and silence concerning sexual assault. Class discussions of fiction about the problem are one way to get students to consider the problem and think about ethical behavior.
I would want my kid to participate in that discussion if it was going on - not because I want him to have his nose ground into horrifying reality, but because I want him to know that sexual assault and the aftermath of assault are problems in this culture, and to think about himself and his actions in relation to that fact.
I haven't read Speak, but if I were a teacher, I'd be looking at:
The actual assault - who commits it, and who directly or indirectly enables it.
The affect of the assault upon the victim.
The effect of the assault (and the victim's inability to talk about it or report it) on other people in that social sphere.
I had a couple friends confide similar events to me later, but no one ever spoke up again.
by Chris Lynch is about rape from the boy's perspective & doesn't think he did anything wrong. It's not as good as Speak, but still pretty good & a very interesting perspective.
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