Growing up surrounded by easily accessible media, it is very likely that you have at least seen or heard of a piece of dark fiction. Horror movies ranging from psychological to snuff are all popular, especially during October, and you have probably read Edgar Allan Poe in one of your classes. Many of these works contain gruesome and/or incredibly uncomfortable topics, which is part of the the whole appeal and makes them enjoyable to read. However, are they really appropriate in an academic setting?
Dark fiction often contains elements that are not suitable for all audiences, often delving into the depravities of humanity and portraying controversial subjects like suicide and rape. Because of its genre, these topics can be romanticized in the eyes of the narrator and not necessarily written in a way that can be safely consumed to those uneducated about those specific topics.
While I believe that dark fiction has the right to exist, as disallowing it is censorship and high school students should be old enough to understand that the topics tackled within dark fiction are not things that should be emulated, I feel that works that include dark subject matter should not be mandatory reading in class settings. I do believe that teachers should encourage students to consume material containing more serious topics, but making it mandatory is potentially harmful to students uncomfortable with it.
I absolutely believe that students need to be taught about the worst parts of humanity, but I do not think exposing them to dark literature is the best way of going about it. Learning about something through a clinical and professional setting is vastly different from reading about it through the eyes of a participant of a horrific event. While it definitely teaches you empathy, it can also be extremely uncomfortable, and, to survivors who have gone through trauma, even dangerous.
As stated before, I do think teachers should recommend literature that discusses controversial topics. Reading should be encouraged, not suppressed, and if the reader can stomach it, stories written from the perspective of someone in that situation give them much more insight into the situation outside of a neutral textbook description. However, any book you recommend should come with trigger warnings unless you know for certain that the person you are recommending it to has no triggers and would prefer if you didn’t warn them. Spoilers are not more important than the mental health of the person you are recommending the book to.
Of course, while the group that this is mostly dedicated to are survivors of trauma, this is also for readers who are uncomfortable certain kinds of fiction. While they are not going to have as visceral reactions, they are still allowed to feel uncomfortable with reading something. Making someone read or watch something that makes them uncomfortable just to get a decent grade in the class is something that I cannot condone.
Dark fiction often contains elements that are not suitable for all audiences, often delving into the depravities of humanity and portraying controversial subjects like suicide and rape. Because of its genre, these topics can be romanticized in the eyes of the narrator and not necessarily written in a way that can be safely consumed to those uneducated about those specific topics.
While I believe that dark fiction has the right to exist, as disallowing it is censorship and high school students should be old enough to understand that the topics tackled within dark fiction are not things that should be emulated, I feel that works that include dark subject matter should not be mandatory reading in class settings. I do believe that teachers should encourage students to consume material containing more serious topics, but making it mandatory is potentially harmful to students uncomfortable with it.
I absolutely believe that students need to be taught about the worst parts of humanity, but I do not think exposing them to dark literature is the best way of going about it. Learning about something through a clinical and professional setting is vastly different from reading about it through the eyes of a participant of a horrific event. While it definitely teaches you empathy, it can also be extremely uncomfortable, and, to survivors who have gone through trauma, even dangerous.
As stated before, I do think teachers should recommend literature that discusses controversial topics. Reading should be encouraged, not suppressed, and if the reader can stomach it, stories written from the perspective of someone in that situation give them much more insight into the situation outside of a neutral textbook description. However, any book you recommend should come with trigger warnings unless you know for certain that the person you are recommending it to has no triggers and would prefer if you didn’t warn them. Spoilers are not more important than the mental health of the person you are recommending the book to.
Of course, while the group that this is mostly dedicated to are survivors of trauma, this is also for readers who are uncomfortable certain kinds of fiction. While they are not going to have as visceral reactions, they are still allowed to feel uncomfortable with reading something. Making someone read or watch something that makes them uncomfortable just to get a decent grade in the class is something that I cannot condone.