I had a very young child write a poignant memoir about a fight between her parents when her dad left her mom. It was very personal, she had a very clear memory of the fight. She wanted to enter the story in a young author's event and I was concerned for her family's privacy. I suggested that she share the story with her parents and ask them how they felt. I got thank you calls from both mom and dad... And they had no problem with the going public.
I had another child describe shooting himself in the toe of a thankfully overlarge shoe. Went straight to the counselor. I think that kids need to know our obligations to report. I told my first and second graders! We talked about the kinds of secrets to keep and the kind that simply cannot be kept. I am with you, Tena, I think that in-school writing is always written with an audience in mind and I would encourage them to keep it in an at-home journal. If it is there, we have an obligation to read and act upon anything that puts a child in an at-risk situation. Lori On 8/4/07 8:24 PM, "Tena Linsbeck-Perron" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Often we are the sole reader of student writing. Have you ever some > across a disturbing piece? What do/did you do? Have you ever had a "do > not read" section of a student note book in which they write but ask > you not to read? Is that even advisable? -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
