Do You Need Parent Permission to Recommend Books?
As with many things teaching, there are no hard and fast rules for how to handle recommending texts to kids. Students of all backgrounds walk into our classrooms each year, and what we may deem appropriate for a child, another teacher may not. What we may feel is no big deal, might horrify a particular parent.
Especially in the world of young adult lit, there is such a wide range of content in every book. Sometimes ninety percent of a book is completely appropriate for all age groups, and one chapter throws in an explicit scene. Truthfully, that’s why I began this blog. I felt there was a need for book reviews and maturity ratings for young adult novels so teachers could make informed recommendations. All of my book talk guides contain specific information about mature content, even specifying page numbers, when necessary.
Now, story time. In my second year of teaching I recommended a book to a student that led to an email from her parent, cc’ing my principal, questioning the content of the novel and why I would ever recommend such a book to her child.
It was an upsetting moment for me because while I was not in the wrong, (our difference in opinion regarding the content came down to this family’s strong religious views that I was unaware of) I still felt taken aback by the encounter and it made me second-guess all recommendations I made for students. I found myself imagining scenarios in which a family might be upset about one thing or another. It was exhausting and limiting my ability to match students with awesome texts.
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. But even if not, there is a strong possibility you will in the future, and I have the perfect solution. After that year in the classroom, I decided to send home a letter to parents during back to school detailing the following:
Information about the importance of independent reading in my classroom
The benefits of CHOICE reading in cultivating lifelong and engaged readers
The parent/guardian's responsibility to monitor students' reading choices
A space for parent/guardian signature
This parent "permission slip" has served me in my classroom for many years, so I decided to share it with you. It completely removes your responsibility to censor students' book choices, and instead puts the responsibility on the parent or guardian to monitor their child's book (with no penalty to the child if they need to choose another title).
Because of this simple letter, I can now recommend titles freely to students.
I highly recommend sending it, or something similar, to your students’ families this year. Let me know how it goes.
XO,
Kara
