• Rose Thorne(She/Her)@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    My high school had a rule about the “difficulty” of books you could read. You weren’t supposed to read too high “above your grade”. I assumed this rule was something with the school library and their Accelerated Reader program.

    Nope! Tried to give me ISS because I was reading “Screwjack”, which I brought from home. It wasn’t even in class! I was a fucking junior. A high school junior should be able to handle Hunter S. Thompson.

    According to them it was “college level” and therefore I shouldn’t be reading it. My father raised absolute hell in that office. Don’t think they tried enforcing that rule again.

    They also tried bitching about girls tops until a group of very pissed off redneck fathers had questions about how they were touching the students to measure the width.

    • Admetus@sopuli.xyz
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      2 years ago

      I get the fact that reading too high above your grade means you may be way over your head in vocabulary and grammar, but it’s not entirely applicable to everyone. I read Pride and Prejudice and one friend said I sounded posh from the language I accidentally started using. So if a high schooler or junior high schooler can handle it, why not?

      • iByteABit [he/him]@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        If a kid is truly over their head with a book, it won’t be long until they get bored and quit, unless they’re just trying to impress someone and aren’t interested in the book itself.

        Kids should be allowed to unlimited learning and curiosity, this spark you have as a child is very powerful if you let it happen and nurture it instead of trying to fit all students in an iron cast thinking that you know what’s best for them.

        • hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 years ago

          Also reading a book with words you don’t understand can teach you new words and concepts. So this is basically just a school not letting their students learn.