Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Problematic Book Collection I got in trouble because of the books I have in my 2nd grade classroom library. I have been an elementary school teacher for 10 years. Recently, I completed my master's degree in education. In the master's program, I learned about the importance of teaching children about different people, different cultures, and different perspectives. Although I am not a big fan of gays and lesbians, I learned to accept them as another group of people in the society that need recognition as anyone else does. So, I decided to include in my classroom library books that included families with two moms or two dads. I have had books with single-parent families, interracial families, families with a mother and a father. So, I thought by including books depicting gay and lesbian families, I was being more inclusive and representing all family types in the society. I believe children should learn that there are families out there that are not like the families they have been seeing and children should learn to respect such families. However, I learned recently that not everyone agrees with me. I have been criticized openly by some of my colleagues. More recently, some parents sent angry letters to me and to the school principal describing their displeasure with my book collection. More specifically, they think I am trying to teach their children to become gays and lesbians. How am I going to handle all these pressures? What would you do? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I think that it is important that we teach children/our students to be accepting and understanding of others no matter what the circumstances may be. The fact is, we have students walk into our classrooms and schools that come from all walks of life. I would agree with your school administration in that 2nd grade is just too early to have things like that accessible in a classroom book collection.                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I agree, it is still too early for students to learn about things like sexuality and different preferences even though you are encouraging students to learn about different families. Rated On: October 16, 2014 12:47 am Rated By: taMaSe                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: yes it might be too early to be teaching this children such things. Rated On: October 17, 2014 12:39 am Rated By: PezaLe                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I think these books should be represented in the classroom, although you can not do it without the blessing of your principal. Rated On: November 3, 2015 8:29 pm Rated By: yDyjuB                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: Diverse and inclusive books are not a bad thing that kids can be too young to have access to. The younger the better! Rated On: March 2, 2016 10:24 pm Rated By: daPaJa                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: Second grade is too early to teach children to be accepting of others? I disagree. Rated On: October 3, 2016 5:08 pm Rated By: yVuRaR                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I do not think it is too early to expose different family types to second graders. A family is a family. Rated On: October 17, 2016 3:33 am Rated By: Raven B                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I disagree with this solution. Rated On: February 26, 2018 12:13 am Rated By: DuTepy                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I disagree that it is too early, children are exposed to different situations and ideas at a variety of ages and creating a sense of balance around uncomfortable topics can help breed tolerance. Rated On: February 26, 2018 1:51 am Rated By: medega                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: It is never too early to teach students that everyone is different and to be accepting of everyone Rated On: February 25, 2019 2:35 am Rated By: eNesuS                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I would not do this. Rated On: October 18, 2019 9:03 pm Rated By: Lauren Toner