Investigating my Reaction to Terrorist Files
Many titles cross my desk. My mail carrier anticipates Saturdays when I open the envelopes in front of her to show her what’s coming out. We’ll oooh, aaah and talk about our sons in the military. She’s a definite “Fred Factor person” or I’d be worried that she saves delivery for only those times I’m home to share.
But a month ago a series arrived that has put me in a deep thinking loop. Bearport Publishing has some unique titles and series. Many of the titles are marketed to grades 4-8, but I believe it is important to review each series to be sure they are appropriate for my elementary library collection and those particular students.
One of their series is Crime Solvers including these titles:
* Cold Case File
* Kidnapping File
* Murder File
* Robbery File
* Serial Killer File
* Terrorist File
From their web site the series is described as: Children become top-notch detectives as they follow investigators on the hunt for clues in these riveting stories of real-life crime solving! Readers will be fascinated to discover how police officers, medical examiners, and private investigators use criminal evidence and forensic techniques to crack the toughest cases. Each book is written in a narrative nonfiction format that will grab kids’ attention and engage struggling readers.
Absolutely this is an excellent series to show techniques, research, and how many people working together solve problems. There are interesting details and most of the information is middle and high-school age appropriate. My guidance counselor and I have discussed how many children are staying up late to watch all the versions of CSI. This results in elementary students having extensive knowledge of some grisly, gruesome, and age-inappropriate topics, but I can deal with those in school.
I have been so torn over Terrorist File: The Lockerbie Investigation by Amanda Howard. 
When I first scanned the title, I noted the details, the process, and the accuracy of information. When I asked my library assistant from England to review the title, she was appalled that there were photographs of the simple device used to build a bomb that resulted in so many deaths. I tried the title out on my youngest son who stated “It’s just wrong to tell little kids how to do stuff that can be dangerous.”
This is the same son who is learning lock-picking techniques after watching a television documentary on locks, viewing numerous videos on youtube about the techniques, and locating web sites with detailed descriptions of the tools needed to be successful. We have had a serious discussion on ethics and morality of knowledge. He claims that he needs to be ready in case I lose my house keys. I reviewed his search and none of the sites offered information on the ethics behind this “skill.” (to be continued…)
I then sent this title to the local alternative school to test their reaction at the high school level. They were totally “cool” with the topic, presentation, and ethics of the title. Honestly they didn’t understand why I even hesitated at the elementary level to put the title in the collection.
Off to the reaction of middle school librarians. They were ecstatic to see this series and planned to order many copies because it is age-appropriate and high-interest. They laughed at our sheltered viewpoint of protecting elementary students from perceived “dangers” when information is available on the internet for building bombs and other devices.
Yes, there are directions on the internet for bomb-making. I did a limited 15 second search and review because I really didn’t want the FBI/Homeland Overreaction Committee/Internet Police to come to my house and ask why I’m looking at those sites and why my youngest son was searching for lock-picking tools.
So, am I fooling myself in thinking that this topic is inappropriate for my elementary students? Maybe, but I answer to the parents of my community, my administration, and my own sense of ethics/morality. I will be happily sending this title to a middle school librarian to use with her students, but after viewing my collection development plan, I have decided this is not appropriate for the educational needs of my students.
What would you have done?
Diane,
I believe your next to last sentence is key. This material does not meet the educational needs of our students. I will not purchase that series.
Comment by Sandraent — October 4, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
1. The right call.
2. Don’t make a big deal out of it. You can’t buy everything. There’s plenty of stuff out there; why not save this for middle grades. It isn’t like you soaked it in gasoline and burned it out by the flagpole (did you?).
3. I’m really not sure how much actual interest the kids will have. Publishers don’t realize how quickly the world turns. 1988 is a generation ago — this is about something that happend when their parents were in elementary school — like expecting me in 1964 to get all excited about a new book about the battle of Iwo Jima.
I get this all the time from science textbooks. In their rush to relevancy, they pull things from their recent memories, and confuse those with current events, Scicnce textbooks treat the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens as common knwledge, something kids woul dhave seen on TV; in reality, lots of their parents don’t even remember it.
Comment by Dave Taggart — October 28, 2007 @ 7:45 am
Sentence from the book: “A bomb made from plastic explosives was hidden inside a Toshiba cassette player.”
Not a very exhaustive and detailed intruction on how to make a bomb.
I think you are over-reacting. These books are for 11-14 year olds and these titles are quite popular with the students at my school.
Comment by Amanda Bendeich — April 20, 2008 @ 12:20 am
Thanks Amanda! I have since then visited many other series that I can happily use with middle school and 11-14 year olds that I am NOT convinced work with 8-10 year olds. When I first read the book, I was perplexed about the interest, but the reaction of all other adults around me who work with the little ones was what surprised me most. It’s not just the sentence that caught their attention, it’s the detailed illustrations. I continue to gather opinions from students. The little ones just aren’t interested in that disaster that happened a long time ago and didn’t directly impact them. They also do not care about the tornadoes that devastated Nashville ten years ago and remain vivid in adult minds. The older students 11-14 have a better ability to understand complexities and appropriateness.
Older students are interested in the process of investigation. That’s why the series works better for older students in my own opinion. I love blogging and commenting because I do respect your opinion and I’m glad you shared it here.
Comment by Diane — April 20, 2008 @ 1:00 am