sharing the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobes with our students

Do you think Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe should be banned in our K-5 Magnet Schoo

  • Absolutely Not! It is a classic that should be shared!

    Votes: 9 100.0%

  • No but it should be edited for violent content.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I am not sure maybe maybe not?

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yes! It is only appropriate with older children

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    9
N

narniateach

New member
I have been a long time fan of Narnia and the magical elements in the story. I am now grown up and coteach a 2/3 grade class in a progressive magnet school that brings together students from 7 towns and of all races and socioeconomic status. This year the students have named our learning community of 40 students Swirly World our mantra is "Plant a seed grow a dream" The students are creating their own world with all the elements of our real world. They are working to create 8 lands that will together become Swirly World. They will create the dances, music, land forms, biomes, manmade structures, characters and more. My teaching partner and I of course immediately thought of the chronicles as a great model of an imaginary land and added it to our book list. We began by reading aloud the The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and showing a piece at time the BBC video version. WELL our kids were out of their minds with excitement and our turn and talk read aloud time became as famous and exciting as the latest video game....TIMELESS CLASSIC for sure!!!! Needless to say the impact on our students ability to participate in rich and meaningful talk about the text, write about the characters and the deep emotions each has felt has been stunning. When they recently were asked to write to a formal writing prompt each student to the last included literary elements learned from this experience and the writing rivaled there much older peers! Why am I sharing this? Well one and I stress one of our very vocal parents has accused us of scarring her children for life with the violent elements in the lion, witch and the wardrobe. She called all the other parents and caused quite a stir. She will file a formal complaint and a group of teachers and adminstrators will need to read and discuss this book to decide whether it should be banned. :mad: :confused: We of course are shocked as her child has told us how much she loves the book and the movie and it is forever her favorite. I post this with the hope that those of you who love the book will understand the amazing educational impact this has had on our students. People underestimate the need of children to learn about important and real emotional events within the safety of fantasy. Much research has been done on this. We laughed and cried and cheered together as we experienced this story and each and every one of them expressed how they felt in ways that touched me deeply. We are now reading Voyage of the Dawn treader and watching the animated version of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe while sadly one of our children sits out and reads less rich text. We feel saddened that she is being forced to not participate in this meaningful text with her peers. :eek: We are anxious to hear your thoughts.
 
Are you certain that the parent who has complained is not merely using the violence as a guise? Saying that it is the violence when truly it is the symbolism that she is fearing. I'm scanning my memory, but the only true violence is the death of Aslan, the battle is not really described. I believe I first read the books between third and fourth grade, though a year older than your students, I think any fear I experienced was not for myself, but rather for the characters. I do not see how a parent could effectively use this claim, still I think the parent is truly fearing the symbolism. If LLW which is now this student's favorite book, continues to be she will read it later in life and understand what she does not notice now. I may be wrong, but I think that is the real reason why she wants the books banned.
DoLW
 
I'm guessing that DoLW is absolutely right. Narniateach, is your school particularly conservative or liberal? What about this parent?
 
The school is very progressive, we do not have any text books and teach through an arts infused integrated model. This parent has a history of finding a reason to be upset.
 
I agree I think the child experienced empathy for the characters and was deeply moved by the story. She wanted to talk more about her feelings with her mom. This is what bothered the mom most, although she is stuck on the death of aslan. Mom feels that hearing the story has damaged her child psychologically for life. (not likely) Strangely enough the mom shared some of the correlations between Aslan and the Christ story and told her child to share that with the class. We were again shocked by that. I agree that this child will read the story again and again and each time as it has been with myself and my teaching partner something new is found to think about.
 
I am in the process of training to teach, so your question interested me immensely.
However, I am very confused! You say the mom was offended at the violence surrounding the story of Aslan's death but told her daughter to relate it to Christ's death in the classroom? How was she to relate it? Saying it was similar, or different? Is the problem that she is also offended by the story of Christ? Or does she claim to be a Christian and think it offensive that the death of a lion could be equated to the death of Christ?
Also, you say you were shocked. How did you respond to the girl's bringing up the Christian story in your classroom? Did you discourage or encourage it? If the mother feels her daughter's religious freedom is being hampered, that may be part of the problem. (Even if she feels so, forbidding the discussion of the Chronicles of Narnia is hardly the answer!) Or, are you saying you were shocked because from what the girl says you deduced that the mother is a Christian, so you can't understand why she has a problem with the story of Aslan's sacrifice?
Please clear some things up for me, haha. I think that the Chronicles of Narnia, especially The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, are essential to a child's education, so keep sharing them with your students by all means.
 
I think my shock came from the mother sharing the correlation with the child when in my opinion that reference is an interpretation that would not naturally come up with this age level. It seemed that the mom shared it with the child so that it would upset or confuse the other children and would shock us. The child said "my mom told me to share this with the class!" If the christian connection had come up as part of our discussions we would have handled it appropriately, recognized it as a possible connection and moved on. I think the mother did some research and found this reference and it did upset her and she immediately assumed that perhaps we did not know. The christian reference is another of her pieces of evidence for why this story should not have been read. My interactions with this parent have been calm, professional and respectful of her opinion. However, my partner and I have let her know that we respectfully disagree with her opinion and that we felt attacked when she called many other parents and angrily tried to rally their support. The good news on that front is that many of the parents she called immediately drove into school to support us and to let the principal know that they did not agree with this other mom. After that the principal received numerous emails, and phone calls in support as well. One of our families received such and angry message (at 10:00 pm on a Friday night) from this mom that her children heard that she was ready to get a restraining order against her. :confused:
 
Okay, I think I understand now. That is a shame that the mother finds such a classic childrens' story offensive because it promotes what I consider to be a model of self-sacrifice. That she would find the possibility of equating it with the Christ story a further objection is very wrong.
From what you have said I think you have done a good job of keeping the story at a level that will not offend or restrict the faiths of any of the children, so her introducing this controversial issue as a reason not to use the book is a low action. I am glad to hear that most of the parents are taking your part in this. The mom you are talking about is obviously being unreasonable.
 
Thank you for your thoughtful replies to my post. As a teacher I want only to do what is best for my kids. I stand by my decision to read LWW and appreciate the support for my decision. :)
 
I think that even if you take out the allegory, LWW is a grand adventure story and it should be taught as that in secular schools.

If you ask me, that parent sounds a bit off her rocker....
 
I don't think it's possible to take out the allegory and keep the meaning of the story intact at all. If you removed the Stone Table sequence, for example, then Aslan's mighty return would seem completely out of place.

It's sad that THIS book series is being slammed because of "violence" when I'm betting that these parents might allow their children to read Harry Potter. This is Narnia, not Lord of the Rings. The violence isn't spelled out with gruesome detail.
 
I wish you could have heard the amazing conversations our students had in response to the story. They pulled out what was important and felt real emotional responses to the feelings of the characters. As a parent and a teacher I would much rather have my child experience these connections in a safe and loving environment where they are safe to explore the meaning of this important story. Instead of reading or watching a movie or story with important themes and ideas without that support. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to see the story through the eyes of the amazing students I teach. I am saddened that this one child was pulled away from such a rich a learning experience and from those that love and appreciate her voice. This mom certainly is missing the point.

I wonder what her real agenda is....
 
I was brought up with the Narnia books and loved them, and so many of my friends have read them to and we all have such fond memories of them. It would be a shame for the kids to be deprived of these beautifully written stories. Yes there are religious connections within the book but at face value its just a story that is about magic,trust and friendship surely that cant be wrong??? It annoys methat adults look at books such as narnia, Harry Potter and LOTR and try and find faultswith them. :)
 
When i said to take out the allegory, i meant just not to talk about it in schools, or discuss it from a totally secular stanpoint, which would be hard.
 
NarniaTeach,

Are you teaching in the U.S.?

I am using the Chronicles in my ESL classes with Korean children who are about the same age as your students. These children have a very conservative religious background, and (fortunately) the parents do not have any objections to the books.

A couple of parents wanted to feel comfortable that the books would not cause nightmares. I laughed privately, because these parents will allow their children (except one) to view explicit violence on TV.

But it has been the children who have made the connections between the characters of the Chronicles and their Christian faith. Children are so perceptive, a surprise that just keeps the teaching profession alive and exciting!

I've tried to keep up with the religion-state controversy in the U.S. Glad I don't have to deal with it anymore. Would there be any truth to my assumption that this mother is worried that you teachers are teaching religion that might be contrary to the church beliefs of the mother?

I guess I grew up in a very different America. I mean, if you really want to look at childrens' books and TV programs, you can pick out religious themes all over the place.

I would like to encourage you that you are not damaging this child psychologically in any way. I think the mother is doing a pretty good job of it already. It sounds like for every door you open the mother is coming in behind you slamming them shut. But take heart. You are but one teacher in a long line of many to come, and Mom isn't going to be able to keep all the doors shut for long.
 
What a wonderful and thoughtful response. You are so right about this mom and your idealism fuels mine which through this has been shaken.

thank you
 
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