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13 Books That Parents Read Back In School That They Feel Their Own Children Should Never Read
If you’re anything like us, dear Pandas, then you’re simply obsessed with reading. We devour books one after the other, speed-read chapters during our coffee breaks, and may or may not literally be reading 8 books at the same time. Physical, digital, imaginary—we don’t care about the format.
Even though we personally enjoy experimenting with various weird works of writing, things are a bit different when you’re a parent. Case in point, some grownups spilled the tea in a r/AskReddit thread about what books they read back in school that they’d never, ever want their own children to read. Scroll down to see their opinions and the reasons behind them.
Bored Panda reached out to redditor u/masterbuildera, the author of the viral thread, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts with us.
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#1
Dianetics, or anything else by L. Ron Hubbard.
Edited to explain why "Dianetics" was read in school: I was a junior in high school. Our AP world history teacher assigned us a project to research a "world religion" outside of the "big 3". Half of the students chose Buddhism, a few chose Hinduism, a few Taoism, a few LDS, etc. But this was '05-'06, and the "Trapped in the Closet" episode of South Park had just come out. Having never before heard of Scientology, I *had* to know if the episode was accurate.
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#2
Shakespeare. Not because it is bad but because it's not really meant to be read. It's a performance your supposed to watch it.
#3
I don't have or want kids but Flowers In The Attic by V.C. Andrews. I was maybe 11 or 12 when I saw it in my school library and remember my mum mentioned she'd read it in school. Holy hell that was not a book that should have been in a primary school library, the fact it was required reading in my mum's school when she was 14 is even more messed up.
#4
Maybe this isn’t the question, but I read A Child Called ‘It’ as an elementary aged child. I bought it at the school’s Scholastic Book Fair, and was maybe 9 years old. Why on earth they thought that was an appropriate book for small children to be purchasing and reading, I will never know. The 90’s were a trip.
#5
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison was rough.
As a victim of childhood SA I wish I didn’t have to quietly relive that trauma in a freshman English classroom full of strangers.
#6
I was in a gifted class and we read 1984...in the fourth grade. Great piece of literature, but maybe a titch intense for nine-year-olds, y'know?
#7
Where the Red Fern Grows- I wept like a baby when I read that book. I don’t want to subject my little one (who loves dogs) to that heartbreak.
#10
Red Badge of Courage was so ungodly boring it almost drove me insane so I would save them that headache
#11
Les Miserables. Sophomore year. Just too long. I failed English because of it. It was just a basic English class not English Literature.
I read it years later and it is long but, one of the best endings of any novel ever.
#12
I was supposed to read Night John in 4th grade. We stopped when parents complained about the vivid description of a slave being ripped apart by dogs. I’d definitely let me kids read it but not in 4th grade.
#13
Was given The Things They Carried in HS and had nightmares for weeks because I had a brother overseas in combat at the time. Part of me never wants my kids to read it because of how much it negatively effected me, which I know isn't a good reason. I do think it is a worthwhile book but it will always, always make me uncomfortable.
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