I'll dissent with most of the pp - depending on the child, and assuming it's not a paper to be presented to the class, I would definitely allow this. I have a 9.5 year old son and he still doesn't have a full grasp of sex or pregnancy, but he does know what an abortion is. He isn't mature enough to do a research paper on this topic but I do know many of his peers who are. Plus I'm not a big believer in shielding kids, particularly when they want to know more/have questions. Heck I had to give a lovely explanation of sexual assault to him recently (thanks, Trump!). If she's curious about it, a decently mature kid, and you will be able to provide guidance and insight to her as she does this project than go for it.
I'm about as liberal hippy as they come and bring my kids to all kinds of protests. There isn't much they are shielded from. That said I probably wouldn't allow my 10 year old to do a paper on abortion primarily because of the deep dark well of the internet and the horrors and misinformation that's presented.
I'm picturing a sweet child googling abortion and being presented with the graphic, pictures that the anti-choice crowd uses to try and push their agenda. There's so much crazy and wrong information about this, I would wait until she's older, for actual research but continue to hold dialogue with her about it.
Wait...what? Abortion is not an appropriate topic for a 10 year old to write about.
WTH is going on with these schools??
I agree that such a controversial topic might not be appropriate for a class wide school assignment and discussion. However, how is that the school's fault!?
And I think it's good that the OP's daughter is interested in this topic. Shows maturity. We can't shield our kids from life issues forever and I assume the OP has discussed this topic with her in an age appropriate way.
I really don't see the topic as entirely off-limits if a parent is helping to guide the research. Who just lets their kid go wild on Google anyway? That's a weird argument. Now I would most likely ask to her select another topic because I'm lazy, but if she insisted, then I would help her to come up with a plan that I felt comfortable with. You can weed out the propaganda by simply telling her, "I'm weeding out the propaganda."
I'm about as liberal hippy as they come and bring my kids to all kinds of protests. There isn't much they are shielded from. That said I probably wouldn't allow my 10 year old to do a paper on abortion primarily because of the deep dark well of the internet and the horrors and misinformation that's presented.
I'm picturing a sweet child googling abortion and being presented with the graphic, pictures that the anti-choice crowd uses to try and push their agenda. There's so much crazy and wrong information about this, I would wait until she's older, for actual research but continue to hold dialogue with her about it.
Yeah the internet ruins everything.
I might actually take her to PP and ask them for pamphlets explaining the topic.
I would not let her poke around the bowels of the internet for info.
I think it's a good call in this day and age to not let her write the paper, and that is pretty sad honestly/
If she choose the topic I think she is likely ready to learn more on the topic. Would I love to have that convo, no. But this is her choice. I hope that it's written for a paper you just give to teacher and there was no discussion.
I didn't think about the internet being the main tool for searching info. I'm so old that I gathered all my information from magazine and newspaper articles. The school librarian also pulled in a few resources from inter-library loan.
Even with that, I ran into pictures of aborted fetuses etc., thanks to my super religious friend who found out what my topic was going to be and handed me pamphlets from her church.
I'd ask her why she wants to do a paper on it. If she's curious on the topic, I would totally go onto PP website and share some information and the reasoning behind abortion. I would not let her write a paper on the topic. Instead I would have her write a paper on women's rights in the US and progression in the last 100 years (voting, owning property, credit cards, reproductive rights, wage gap). It would be a good compromise and still include her original topic.
I really don't see the topic as entirely off-limits if a parent is helping to guide the research. Who just lets their kid go wild on Google anyway? That's a weird argument. Now I would most likely ask to her select another topic because I'm lazy, but if she insisted, then I would help her to come up with a plan that I felt comfortable with. You can weed out the propaganda by simply telling her, "I'm weeding out the propaganda."
It was part of my argument, because at least when I was in school writing research papers for the 5th grade. We did the research at school and worked on it at school. I guess if i could pick the articles she uses for her research, but then that doesn't allow for her to actually do research. IDK the internet is weird and there are so many crazy people about this topic.
Also I too am lazy. When my kids teachers told me this year I shouldn't help at all with homework I did a happy dance.
I really don't see the topic as entirely off-limits if a parent is helping to guide the research. Who just lets their kid go wild on Google anyway? That's a weird argument. Now I would most likely ask to her select another topic because I'm lazy, but if she insisted, then I would help her to come up with a plan that I felt comfortable with. You can weed out the propaganda by simply telling her, "I'm weeding out the propaganda."
It was part of my argument, because at least when I was in school writing research papers for the 5th grade. We did the research at school and worked on it at school. I guess if i could pick the articles she uses for her research, but then that doesn't allow for her to actually do research. IDK the internet is weird and there are so many crazy people about this topic.
Also I too am lazy. When my kids teachers told me this year I shouldn't help at all with homework I did a happy dance.
good points. It really does depend on the details of how this work is to be conducted and presented.
I would lean toward letting her do it, with lots of parental involvement. But I also wouldn't judge a parent at all for vetoing the topic. 10 is right in the gray area where it would be appropriate for some kids/families, and not for others.
Post by clairedunphy on Oct 26, 2016 16:05:52 GMT -5
I wasn't even sure about the mechanics of sex or baby making in 5th grade. There is so much behind abortion that I don't know if a 5th grader would have the basic understanding of science and relationships, nor the emotional maturity, to handle the topic with the attention it deserves.
I got an email yesterday evening from my DD's teacher. DD is in 5th grade. There is an assignment to research and write an opinion paper. This involves stating both sides of an arguement and then proving or disproving either side, depending on DD's stance on the issue. Other kids chose topics related to video gaming, whether schools should mandate homework, etc. DD chose to offer her opinion on abortion. DD will be steered away from discussing abortion as it pertains to rape, incest, etc. I neex to give written permission to the teacher if we decide to let DD pursue this topic.
Just wondering what I may not have considered yet and what other people would do.
UPDATE:
I had spent the better part of today going back and forth on this topic. Ultimately, I decided that since the can of worms has already been opened, I would allow DD to pursue this topic with guidance rather than her googling on her cousin's cell phone or getting info some other way. However, just after we got home from school, DD's teacher called. Several classmates have already informed their parents that DD was writing a paper on abortion so the angry phone calls have started. (It was not something that was going to be shared with classmates). The principal has stepped in. DD is in her bedroom right now trying to come up with a new topic.
This does not surprise me. I can see other parents being concerned that research would be shared among other kids, even if it wasn't being presented for the class. I'd be curious to see what she comes up with next!
Ten does sound really young, but girls that young are having abortions, so . . . if the teacher approves, and it doesn't involve a class presentation, I'd probably be okay with it.
This is my thought 10 year olds are having abortions and are having babies. Some of you are leaving things a bit late if you haven't had a talk about sex with a 10 year old. That being said I think there are too many opportunities for things to go wrong. I would have more talks about it at home and suggest health care or an associated topic
That kinda of pisses me off that angry mob of people are calling the teacher already. Like come on really their little angel babies have to be spared even though they aren't even going to hear or read the paper.
I would still give her some age appropriate research if she wanted to learn on her own time.
I would offer the suggestion of female oppression.
I wasn't even sure about the mechanics of sex or baby making in 5th grade. There is so much behind abortion that I don't know if a 5th grader would have the basic understanding of science and relationships, nor the emotional maturity, to handle the topic with the attention it deserves.
Wait, really? What age did you have sex ed?
I think we had preliminary sex ed around 3rd grade and full sex ed in 4th.
Post by lilypad1126 on Oct 26, 2016 16:32:22 GMT -5
I don't post often, but I have to chime in to say I'm hella annoyed with the angry mob parents, and would now want to encourage her to write the paper. i wrote a persuasive paper on this very topic and actually presented it to my class in middle school (maybe 7th grade?). The teacher tried to get me to change my mind and write on a another topic. NOPE. I went home, told my mom this was my topic, and she educated me on it (she was a nurse so had lots of educational materials and my uncle was an attorney so he gave me the legal stuff). Up until I actually presented, the teacher wanted me to change my mind. I told her at one point that her argument of "this topic might be too old for you" wasn't very persuasive with no evidence of why she thought that. No one in my class ever approached me about it. Looking back, I'm certain it was b/c none of them were paying attention. haha.
But I tend to go against the grain like that, and angry mob parents being pissed about this (or other topics along this line) makes me want to dig my heels in and do the opposite of what I probably should do. So maybe don't listen to me
Post by sparkythelawyer on Oct 26, 2016 16:33:36 GMT -5
I would be very inclined to throw a small snit in her shoes and say that if I couldn't research the topic I wanted, then I wasn't going to pick a damn thing and they might as well just go assign me one since apparently I'm not allowed to do what everyone else in the class is and pick the topic I want. That is some bullshit.
I was also the giant nerd that at age 11 did a book report on Gone With The Wind, so, fifth grade me would not have been the right one to handle being told "Oh, you can't research THAT."
Wait...what? Abortion is not an appropriate topic for a 10 year old to write about.
WTH is going on with these schools??
I agree that such a controversial topic might not be appropriate for a class wide school assignment and discussion. However, how is that the school's fault!?
And I think it's good that the OP's daughter is interested in this topic. Shows maturity. We can't shield our kids from life issues forever and I assume the OP has discussed this topic with her in an age appropriate way.
I was talking about the school topics that have been talked about on this board not just this one particular.