Today, I forbade a student in the writing seminar I instructed from continuing to present his disturbing poems about demons. He responded to this by convincing nearly every other student in the seminar to write and read out loud several of his poems. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, my new creative writing teacher informed the class that we should consult him before writing anything "dark or disturbing." I only took the class because my therapist recommended that I join the class so I could freely express my darker thoughts without her help or a fear of being judged. FML
Today, my teacher read my story about a haunted house for a class assignment. She liked it very much and turned it in to the office to be sent into a state writing competition. An hour later, I was called to the office where the guidance counselor called my work "disturbing" and said I "need help". FML
Today, my boyfriend came across an old poem I wrote. I like to write horror stuff, but he was disturbed, called it “silly” and “sad”, and said he didn’t want to have a girlfriend who thinks about stuff like that. I'm now discouraged from becoming a writer. FML
Today, I was reading my students' Halloween stories I made them write for my creative writing class in high school. One of my students wrote about attacking me. She got my street address perfect and everything. FML
Today, one of my classmates got bullied and the whole class got to wrote 2000 words about that. FML
Today, I submitted a poem for my English class. I had fun writing it, so I wrote a second which was not nearly as good. My procrastinator of a friend never did his, so I gave him my extra poem. Mine was given a 75% while "his" received a 93%. FML
Today, a parent of one of the students I teach called me to complain that I was teaching her child "lies" and "fairytales". I was teaching them about the Holocaust. FML
Today, a student set me on fire while I was lecturing my class about proper lab safety. FML
Today, I gathered the courage to participate in a class discussion. My professor laughed at me. FML
Today, we wrote Valentine's Day poems in class. I wrote a very depressing poem about how I was rejected by all the girls I like and how it hurts to be alone. When it was read to the class, they laughed and told me it was hilarious. Even the teacher. FML
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Top comments
MrConcise 35
Actually, I kinda agree with the student. **** your censorship, OP. Stephen King has written many masterpieces.
drayloon 50
Is it a creative writing course? You shouldn't be forbidding a student from writing about what they want then, as long as isn't criminal.
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Comments (124)
Zarcissa 34
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
Am I the only one who has sympathy for OP? The poems could actually be very mature/graphic content and not approriate. I think that OP should seek professional help for the student to find out if he's mentally ill or doing this for some sick humor.
Tthug 34
I'm definitely sympathetic to OP, but perhaps he should have had better control of his classroom. Maybe it wasn't even the content but how he presented it? All the people rushing into "censorship" nonsense. If the professor doesn't like it, he can ask him to stop.
Zarcissa 34
#23: That's why I stated that they COULD be inapproriate. We don't know for sure. It could be that OP is a religious nut and its not about demons at all but he sees it that way and thus is trying to ban it for all I know. Just stating one point of view.
jack67_fml 14
I don't think it's OP's choice on if the student is mentally ill, my teacher thought the same thing about me when I read some stories to the class, and I just made them deal with it
Zarcissa 34
In my opinion, writing about same things constantly is a sign of something being wrong or sick humor. Isn't creative writing about using different topics?
calucalay 13
Writing about the same things constantly. Okay so JK Rowling has something wrong with her and Nicholas Sparks, Jane Austen, Poe, Suzanne Colins, etc etc. people write about what inspires their imagination. If you look at a persons works they are similar in their own ways
Zarcissa 34
Please don't pull famous people into this, this has nothing to do with them kthnx. Book series are different from what I meant but it seems nobody gets me so I'll shut up.
tdawg91 17
Every artist has their own unique style, the wonderful thing about creating art is that you can express yourself with no censorship ...... OP doesn't sound like much of an art teacher if she is going to forbid a student from expressing themselves and I think that student is absolutely amazing for standing up for their work
jadenjacksonm 14
Unless he was talking about inappropriate, he should be able to express himself based on how he feels. If I'm correct, isn't that kind of the point of poetry?
cocacola999 27
Sorry, OP, but you remind me of my high school art teacher. We had a "free subject" drawing class and a boy drew this amazingly realistic picture of a body hanging. The teacher's reaction was giving him an F, saying that it "wasn't pretty". You may like it or not, but art is not always supposed to be pretty and comforting. Free expression is what draws many teenagers to art and they should be allowed that.
BoriquaLove293 25
I hope he went to the principal
awesumous 16
But it isn't school appropriate
cocacola999 27
BoriquaLove293 - No, he wasn't. Now, 10 years later, he is a computer engineer interested in arts. He has a stable relationship and is a happy, outgoing person. You cannot assume that just because someone is interested in unconventional things, they should be sent to the principal or somewhere else. If the boy had shown other signs of mental anguish, he probably would have been referred to someone. But drawing one picture or writing some poems are not valid signs of definite mental problems.
jenjen2633 17
#74, I thought that the phrase "I hope he went to the principal" was actually for the student to go himself and ask the principal to change his grade on the project. Not sure what the intended meaning was, but that was my take on it.
calucalay 13
They meant they hoped he went to the principal to tell on the teacher.
cocacola999 27
Sorry, BoriquaLove, completely misunderstood what you were saying :)
Cebolamole 13
YDI, censoring artistic creativity like that...
karacakal2 30
That's what you get for preventing his right of free speech
ColonelCusswords 24
He has sent a "**** you", and a "Watchu got punk" without saying anything to you. How are you gonna comeback?
Ichiya 29
Fail any student who presents his poems. Regardless of whether op was right in saying he couldnlt present, there are proper channels to go through for these things.
drunkturtle 14
I don't think you should be teaching a creative writing course if you can't let your students be creative There's irony here somewhere...
VeganVampyre 27
It doesn't say anywhere that it's a creative writing course. It could be a business/ professional writing course, or a formal essay writing course, in which case demon poetry would be highly inappropriate and OP would be correct in asking the student to stop. Not necessarily saying that's the case, just saying we can't assume things with no details.
Zebediabolical 45
If it were a business/professional writing course or a formal essay writing course, I don't think the other students would be writing and reading the poems.
jude_iscariot 7
You don't write poems for business writing, for the record.
MedChew 19
If the majority of them is okay with reading his poems without being disturbed, the problem might be you.
nomrana 14
Any portals unlocked?
Steephx0 23
We had a girl in my creative writing class who used to have these elaborate stories about demons and when she read them it caused quite a few people to get so uncomfortable they had to leave (included cutting, murder, suicide, incest, grave robbing) so my teacher had to take her to guidance and she wasn't allowed to read the stories aloud anymore. I'm all for being creative and writing whatever you feel, but it's not worth it when it makes multiple other students uncomfortable/triggered. Although it seems your students were more comfortable with the story as they were willing to copy it. You can either A. Threaten failing for plagiarism of another student's work or B. Just let the kid read his demon stories
SystemofaBlink41 27
But the point of art, at least to me, is to get an emotional response and make you think about stuff that you wouldn't necessarily think up yourself, which also includes our dark side as humans. If people wanted to leave, then that's their choice, but I don't think they should've stopped her from reading the stories.
UtadaMisori 4
Threaten the student for plagarism because of the content? Please go back into the hole you crawled out of and don't give advise. The people that walked out were probably religiius nutcases in your school.
Steephx0 23
Obviously I don't intend for OP to actually get them in trouble for plagiarism; just kinda use it to shut them up
Steephx0 23
@26, I agree with you, however when speaking of certain dark topics (such as suicide + depression) it can really trigger a student. While the writer may have a clear thought process on the topic and be able to speak freely of it, someone else may not be ready to work through those ideas yet.
Steephx0 23
If you bothered to read my comment I said OP could use the plagiarism argument because the students are copying and presenting another student's work. Not just because it was about demons.
VeganVampyre 27
#27, he wasn't saying OP should threaten to fail the kid for plagiarism because of the content of his stories, he was saying OP should threaten to fail all the other kids who copied that kid's stories just to get back at the prof. And while I don't think that's the best course of action, he is right that it is an option, because that is indeed plagiarism, and all those students would have been warned that a failing grade is a probable consequence of plagiarizing.
a1_z9 10
I agree, there's expressing yourself creatively and then there's coming out with the same old stuff each week just because you like disturbing/upsetting people. I would've thought writers need a bit of flexibility and understanding of who they're writing for anyway.
Zebediabolical 45
While I sympathize with people who've been traumatized, why should their comfort outweigh the right of the rest of a class to a challenging and thought provoking education?
rldostie 19
I am so tired of this generation being so afraid of "triggers." As someone with PTSD, it is MY responsibility to be aware of my triggers and remove myself if need be. It is NOT the responsibility of the artist (or situation) to cater to my triggers/trauma. Art should never, ever be censored or dampened because someone might be "triggered." Good God, people, grow up and take responsibility for yourself. Be aware of your own emotional triggers and deal with them accordingly, don't make others have to change their art/work for you.
UtadaMisori 4
You do realize for it to be considered plagarism they would need to CLAIM it as their own? Fail.
a1_z9 10
I think its a good thing people are starting to realise their opinion on subjects they know little about might not be as important as those who have actually experienced it, but it's unfortunate the whole 'trigger' concept is often simply used to berate other people.
Ianamis 6
Oh **** you Steeph Art is suppose to make you uncomfortable sometimes. Paintings like The Slave Ship poems by the likes of Poe they are suppose to make you feel uncomfortable. I don't give a **** if it triggers someone.Cause guess what that is not my responsibility as a writer if someone has triggers guess what any therapist worth their salt tells that person it is their responsibility not the worlds to deal with it.
Ichiya 29
But at the same time if its disturbing just to be disturbing its not art just trash. Art should educate. When you read/see/hear art it should convey emotions and ideas that teach about the content and further discussion about it. Not just freak people out. Besides that art does need some censorship to make sure that it is only consumed by appropriate audiences.
Zebediabolical 45
Who gets to decide if it's disturbing just to be disturbing? Me? You? I guarantee we'll have very different ideas of what should be acceptable.
Ichiya 29
You misunderstand me I never said that they can't write disturbing things just that any art regardless of if its happy, sad, or creepy is only art if it causes the viewer to either learn something about themselves or to think critically about the subject of the art.
Ichiya 29
What is art to one may be trash to others. So the op may not have considered it art and so banned it. The important thing now is will op let it be presented since the other students seem to view it as art?