Is this poem too violent for GCSE students?

Question

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2673862/The-poem-banned-by-school-examiners-for-being-too-violent.html

Answer 1

It's not violent but it does have undertones. I don't think they should have removed it though, it is a good, thought provoking poem. It's certainly not going to encourage anyone to go out and stab someone.

Answer 2

No bed, it sounds like Jim Morrison to me...and we like Jimbo.

If this is too violent, then they could not watch TV, news, go to cinema.

They are teen agers, not 5 years old.They are often mature, more than some adults I have to deal with..so I don't see where the problem is

Answer 3

As much as I abhor censorship, I think it was right to withdraw it in this instance.

For the benefit of a previous answerer, 'I don't like Monday's' was written ABOUT the shootings in America, not before they took place.

Answer 4

No way?!  I remember reading that for my GCSEs!  Its a good poem, it's like a spooky story - we loved it!  If that's too violent then we'd better switch off Miss Marple, or Midsummer Murders, Hamlet too if you think about it!  Teaching fifteen year olds must be hard enough, but if you tell them a poem about a little blood and gore it at least gets them interested!

Answer 5

No it isnt!

I'm a GCSE student and last year in year 10, we studied that poem. Just because we're reading about murder and knives doesn't mean we are gonna lash out at someone..

Answer 6

It's explaining how she feels, I wouldn't think it's violent...

Answer 7

I can see why they would remove it . They do say serial killers enjoy the death of animals  as they lead up to killing their human prey . It suggests power and someone who is desensitised  and building up to killing a human

Answer 8

didn't seem much like a poem to me..more a sadistic rant..what are you supposed to learn from it

Answer 9

Gods, if that's a poem I'm immensely pleased I've not had the dubious pleasure of attending a school for the last twenty years.

Perhaps had she not 'breathed out talent onto the glass' she might have had some left for the rest of the poem.

Answer 10

I think it is a great poem, very visual.  And no it is not too violent for GCSE students - there's far more violence than that in Shakespeare!

Answer 11

Well I don't think it's the reason so many kids stab each other.  I thinks its always iffy to ban literature, it seems a bit desperate if you know what I mean.

Answer 12

I don't think it is too violent.  GCSE students will be subjected to violence via the media, personal experience, etc. so the poen is unlikely to shock them.  Very mild by comparison.

Answer 13

Chicken poo. If you want proper violent poetry try John Cooper Clarke's Kung Fu International.

http://www.johncooperclarke.com/Pages/ku...

Answer 14

Not that violent at all but dont use it in your exam because its c**p and nothing rimes.  

Answer 15

I don’t think it will matter whether they ban it or not as life teaches that bad things happen and most students will have already experienced this. You have to be imaginative and creative to compose good poems. I write poetry but in my opinion that was nothing more than a shallow composition based on power and cruelty and I wouldn’t give it shelve space.

Answer 16

If poetry is part of the exam, them I assume the students are taught what poetry is meant to represent and not an instruction manual. Censoring it isn't going to have a dramatic effect, other than remind people what censorship has represented in the past perhaps.

Answer 17

I'm a gcse student myself, and I think it's fine. It's a very interesting topic, and I think it would appeal to students. Teens could really relate to it, get interested and involved in discussing and analysing it. And yeah, it does sound like something a gcse student would write.

:)

Answer 18

it sounds like something a GCSE student would write. of course not.

Answer 19

it has sadistic tones and of course is too violent.

Answer 20

That girl needs to be put away for life.

Answer 21

I would have said it was morbid.

Morbid.......................

no wonder there's emos!

Answer 22

Funny you should say that.

I had to study that in my GCSEs and I can tell you, there's far worse in that AQA Anthology book.

Answer 23

Brilliant piece of poetry, expressing frustration, and, borderline despair. Not in the least bit "violent." Just (philosophically) fitting and appropriate (especially in this day and age.)

Answer 24

You know what that reminds me of and that's "I don't like mondays". That came true so god only knows what is cooking in that persons brain.

Answer 25

its stoopid, i bloody hated poetry at school, fell asleep regulary in english lessons. it could give seriously unhinged teenagers ideas but then again most things do already !  

Answer 26

I had to study that poem too for my English GCSE, and yes there is much worse. There are graphic poems about s*x, and more violent ones. It is a very interesting poem though, the Education system is becoming ridiculous. Students pre-GCSE are well aware of these things.

Did it come up in the 2007 exams at all? And to think I came out with a 'B' haha.

Answer 27

Interesting question.  I wonder at such censure, when students are taught to read Shakespeare (quite bloody & lots of incestous relationships), and with the graphic scenes we see in everyday news bulletins.  Surely such a poem is a product of the society we live in today.  

If a lesson on English Literature & Language is taught well, and the material used is studyed intelligently, then surely there is no reason to ban such poetry.

Answer 28

I think it`s a totally c**p poem.

No wonder standards are going down.

Answer 29

It's a difficult poem to read, but I don't think it's too violent for GCSE students.  It doesn't glamorise violence; if read and understood it does the opposite as the poem's protagonist is clearly a sad unemployed nobody.

Answer 30

I studied that poem at GCSE level - it didn't turn me into a murderess. It's a fantastic piece, one that I really enjoyed writing about and analysing. If that's too violent then so are many television programs and games.

Answer 31

I think the walk home is probably more violent...

Poetry is all about insight isn't it?This, however odd or skewed is an insight into that persons world. A think a 14-16 yo can grasp that notion.

It's just another reaction to make it look like they are 'doing something' to discourage anti-social behaviour. Takes the eye off what really needs to be done..what a wheeze eh?