The Rob & Kat Mykals Weigh In – Hunger Games Required Scholastic Reading for 6th Graders

A couple of Evansville parents were protesting outside of Washington Middle School recently along with their 6th grade daughter. Why? Because the 6th grade is reading The Hunger Games as part of the curriculum. The Rob & Kat weigh in with their thoughts.

The Rob's Take:

I've never read "The Hunger Games." I've seen the movie and honestly fell asleep during it, so I may not be the most qualified person to comment on this. However, I feel like "The Hunger Games" would be a better fit for out-of-school reading. I'm not sure "The Hunger Games" has a lot of educational or beneficial content that the reader can take away from it, outside of the fact the students may enjoy ot because of its pop-culture impact.

I admit, getting to students to WANT to read can be beneficial, but that "want" needs to be independent of school to actually qualify as a want. Having not read the book in question, I HOPE the school system wouldn't provide an inappropraite book for students that age to read (I'm usually pretty liberal on book-burning topics), but I believe a better book to read could be assigned.

Kat's Take:

This may not be the popular opinion, but personally, I don't see anything wrong with The Hunger Games as required reading. If by being a pop-culture phenom, it sparks intrigue and interest on the part of the students, and actually makes them want to read it, is it really that bad? Do you remember Lord of the Flies by Nobel-Prize winning author, William Golding? What about Animal Farm from George Orwell? These are both recommended for middle school - high school level reading and are considered literary staples.

In a time when getting kids to put down their cell phones or their video games, is it really so wrong for them to read a book at school that might actually interest them? This mom doesn't think so.

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