Popscholar

School in June can feel kind of like daycare.  Most of us inevitably wind up with some lag time between the end of the last "real" unit and the start of exams.  For someone like me, this can be a dangerous thing.

Since I feel a strong obligation to expose kids to "art," be it in the form of a novel or otherwise, I usually opt to show a good film or two. 

Unfortunately what I deem "good" and what my department head deems "good" are often very far off.  As a result, I fight with myself a lot; I essentially have to do a cost/benefit analysis regarding the potential upset of the status quo.  Is it worth catching hell for showing a movie that might really resonate with kids?  Or is it better to play it safe?

If you'd talked to me just after my supervisor ripped me a new asshole, I'd answer the latter.  But, for some reason, last week I was feeling brave.  Or possibly stupid.

The result was my decision to show the honors juniors The Squid and the Whale, cum-smeared locker and all.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the kids responded so enthusiastically.  They couldn't wait to talk about the characters and the symbolism and the themes.  In fact, I barely had to facilitate discussion when the film was over.

The fact is, though, that sometimes students and parents don't agree when it comes to acceptability.  

I'll be crossing my fingers whenever I check my voicemail for a few more days, just in case.