Author Archives: dogtrax

And so ends The Hunger Games series. (or at least, until the movies keep rolling out). I finished up Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins in a marathon reading session the other day, inspired by the face pace of the action and also a desire to be, well, done with the series. Overall, I very much enjoyed the political intrigue, the twists and turns of the plot, and the narrative voice of a conflicted Katniss Everdeen. There’s rarely a dull moment in the series, which makes it a great adventure story … for older readers.

I could not shake off the anxiety that so many of my sixth graders have read this series. More than the other two, Mockingjay is incredibly violent — a firebombing of little children, skin falling of bones, heads being gnawed off by “mutts,” and too many graphic scenes to really relay here. I’m not a prude when it comes to using violence in stories I read, and the violence is part of the narrative landscape of these books, but I don’t think it is appropriate reading for 11 and 12 year olds. (Of course, if you have read other Collins’ novels, you know this is the norm for her — she uses violence to make a larger point, and couches its use through the act of resistance or outrage by her protagonists.)

The other day, I was chatting with one of my students. She has read all of the books and most of the ancillary “resource” books that have come on the tail of the movie’s success. The parody book has been in her hands for a few days now (The Hunger Pains). She’s a thoughtful, quiet student. I told her I was halfway through the third book and liked it better than the second book (Catching Fire), and she nodded but disagreed with my assessment.

“I didn’t like that one (Mockingjay) nearly as much as the others.”

“Why not?”

“It was all about war, and not about the games.”

What I didn’t say was, that was the point, right? The games are a version of war, just sanctioned by the Panem state. But I think the focus of the rebel attacks on the Capitol is what she was referring to. It’s incredibly brutal reading, even painful at times.

So, in the end, I am not sure what to make of my Hunger Games experience. I am glad I read the series, considering how many of my students are or have read all three books (including a book club sponsored by our librarian), and I did enjoy the story as an adult reader. But I am thinking now of the book campaign by Scholastic around The Hunger Games, and how much of the spring, the book club fliers features the trilogy. Now that I have read the books and taken in the violence, I wonder about my role as a teacher in handing out those fliers and encouraging my students to read the trilogy. I guess we trust Scholastic a bit too much to determine appropriate audience for the books in the fliers. Or am I being too much of a prude?

I feel conflicted right now.

Peace (in the game that is more than a game),
Kevin

My wife saw my copy of Talking Back to Facebook by James P. Steyer on the table, not far from where our teenage son was using his Facebook app to do an update, and immediately took it from me and began reading it. We’ve been sharing it back and forth (I finished it first! I l know, it wasn’t a race but still …) and I’ve been leaving it around for my son to look at. He’s conveniently ignored it. But we haven’t.

(If you want to see my updates as I was reading the book, you can check out the Goodreads site).

Steyer, the CEO of CommonSense Media, comes out strong with worries about the ways the social media revolution is affecting our children, and uses Facebook’s status as King of the Hill to urge parents and politicians to pay attention, and to take action. While a bit strident at times (which will come as no surprise to anyone who follows the CommonSense Media site regularly, as I do), Steyer does a nice job of providing a valid framework for concerns over the ways that technology is impacting our young people’s childhoods. He does acknowledge the many benefits of social networking and technology, but mostly, this book zeroes in why we need to be aware of what is happening in online spaces like Facebook.

He notes that Facebook, despite its policy of not allowing children under 13 years of age to join, does very little to stop it (and I can support that view, given the number of my sixth graders on the network). He also says that Facebook’s continued use of resetting privacy features for users means that more and more children are sharing information that is best kept private. He urges parents to be more vigilant, and notes that when a new parent snaps that first image of their newborn baby and posts it online, they are unwittingly creating the first “digital footprint” of their child, without much forethought as to what that means.

What I like is that Steyer, while giving solid advice to parents, also calls Facebook, Google and others onto the floor, arguing strongly that leaders of those corporations have a moral obligation to protect our children, and they have not yet lived up to that obligation. Instead, he notes, companies see our children as “point of data” that can be manipulated and sold for profit. Steyer says the government needs to do more oversight, but that it also falls to parents to be more vigilant on behalf of our children.

Overall, this book is a worthy summer read, whether you are a parent or a teacher, or just know a young person who is on Facebook. We need to pay attention. As for my wife and I, and our son, we’re going to be having a more indepth conversation about the time he spends on his mobile devices, and figure out more ways to reduce that time. We’re gearing up for an argument, but hope to keep our stance strong and positive. In the end, we’re parents, not friends.

Peace (in talking back to talking back to Facebook),
Kevin