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Writers Retreat > Student Talk > Course Lessons > Subject matter - is it too "scary"?
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Beth Consugar
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« on: January 18, 2010, 01:25:54 PM »
I am thinking ahead to some of my future assignments.  I took my daughter to a wildlife sanctuary over the weekend, and got some good ideas for possible future assignments.  We heard a woman give a talk about a type of falcon that often eats smaller birds.  Would that be rough or "scary" subject matter for say, 8-10 year old children?  Obviously, we leave out the gory details, but would it cause fright or other problems for kids if you say something like "This bird eats smaller birds and insects"?  What about giving some examples of the types of songbirds that our falcon friend likes?  Would that be going too far?  I know some kids will have the "ewww, gross" factor, but is this subject matter inappropriate for this age group?

Thanks!

Beth
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jfields
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« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2010, 01:32:35 PM »
Eight to ten year old kids know raptors eat other birds. By that age, they know some animals eat other animals. In fact, by that age...they find owl balls...the balls of puked up feathers and bones...just fascinating. So, not too scary. In fact, in CLICK magazine (which is for even younger children) they did an issue with lots of stuff about the cycle of life...how plants feed small animals which feed larger animals...etc.

The key is to not personify any of the animals. If you do that, you can't have natural "eating one another" relationships anymore in a story for magazines. Having said that, the middle grade novel series on feral cats have cats who talk to one another and still kill and eat things. But the creatures killed and eaten don't get personalities/intelligence. Even in books, you can't make animals eat each other if both are personified.
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« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2010, 01:36:01 PM »
This months Highlights magazine has two stories about animals being eaten by other animals. One was about owls and why they hunt at night and the other was about desert tortoises and how they are endanger because they are eaten by other animals.  So it is all how you write the story.

Eve
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Beth Consugar
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« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2010, 07:41:49 AM »
Thanks guys!  I wasn't sure if my motherly instinct kicked into high gear, or if the subject was too much for young children.  I'm glad to hear it was my motherly instinct in over-drive!

Beth
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"It's not about how hard you hit.  It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"  Rocky Balboa

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« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2010, 08:51:39 PM »
I think your question is already beautifully answered.  For me, I think it is okay to introduce the natural world and a cycle of life.  Sometimes it is a discernment exercise.  Children need to understand the various worlds around them, the human world, the wild world and so on.  I often told our children that the wild lived in the mountains and humans live in and around it but most often outside of it.  We need to go to nature for our food, but humans being wise and ingenious have made their own world.  The wild world is scary, even to adults.  They are viscious.  Anything that promotes an understanding and differentiation of these worlds, I think is very useful.

I find in media that the wild is so cutified.  Does one really want to say kitchi koo koo to a grizzly bear?
cheers, bjb
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