Female athletes were invited to talk to the class about their own limited opportunities to play sports as children. For example, while teachers may see certain horror films as purely violent, students may have a more complex understanding of them and the cultural references they invoke. They may see humorous moments and even be able to mock the genre in ways that adults wouldn't. Newkirk, who has been interviewing 4th and 5th graders at four southern New Hampshire schools for a book on this subject, says he watches Teletubbies on TV and has no idea what's going on. We see ourselves as special, protecting our own forms of literacy and protecting literature.
Kids sense the disapproval.
You want them to acknowledge your world, but you also have to acknowledge theirs. That's not to say everything is fair game in the classroom, but teachers should have good reasons for not allowing something in, he says. Such discussions can also improve students' writing, he adds. Teachers who know popular culture know students' reference points and have a bridge to their world when discussing traditional texts. Obviously, teachers can't ignore the violence and sexual degradation in, say, the horror genre.