i studied this poem. i TRY to like the poetry, i really do, but something about studying it as opposed to witnessing it on your own destroys it.

Souplex:
You guys are lucky. We have to sit through soooooooooooooo much poetry edumacation in the U.S.

Since you called it edumacation you should probably be sitting through more. Perhaps get a knowledge of other cultures too?

The_root_of_all_evil:

Hey, we can still pray in schools and say "Hell" on TV, not so in the U.S. of A.

Not true at all. You can pray in shcool, the school just can't make you pray.

An you can say things a lot worse than "hell" on TV.

Seriously, that poem was banned? Sigh. It wasn't even that edgy.
What's the point of education if not to challenge you to understand radically different points of view, and via the resulting cognitive dissonance define for yourself what *you* think? If everything in your education is safe and unchallenging, you aren't being educated, you're being indoctrinated. By self-castrated, politically correct morons most likely.

Thank god I had the internet as a kid. Sure rotten.com introduced me to internet shock phenomena (what has been seen can't be unseen), and I think we've all had to deal with plenty of obnoxious Internet People, but at least I could educate myself. The US public school system didn't prepare me for college or the real world, I had to do it on my own. I guess thats the way its going in the UK as well.

sun_and_earth:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Hey, we can still pray in schools and say "Hell" on TV, not so in the U.S. of A.

Not true at all. You can pray in shcool, the school just can't make you pray.

An you can say things a lot worse than "hell" on TV.

Hrrrm....I know you can say worse, but every American TV programme I've seen has "Hell" bleeped out of it. And praying is good for a little bit of peace and quiet.

you mean seamus heaney? actually m

Phoenix Arrow:
Hang on is it just this poem or what?
If it's all of Duffys stuff I would laugh so much. Then there would be millions of kids having to read the poems by that Irish guy.
6 poems all about potatoes. Seriously.

you mean seamus heaney? actually there mostly about the troubles and farmlife in Ireland. but they still got the war poets and shakespeare.

p

The_root_of_all_evil:

sun_and_earth:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Hey, we can still pray in schools and say "Hell" on TV, not so in the U.S. of A.

Not true at all. You can pray in shcool, the school just can't make you pray.

An you can say things a lot worse than "hell" on TV.

Hrrrm....I know you can say worse, but every American TV programme I've seen has "Hell" bleeped out of it. And praying is good for a little bit of peace and quiet.

because praying in schools is such a good thing? religious schools are terrible and incredibly diversive just look at the bloody dividends its paid in Northern Ireland.

Is Duffy the one who wrote about burning a girl's fingers with heated scissors?

I know I'm going to get some flack for this but...one can only take so many of Shakespeare's sonnets-works in general really- before they have to say enough is enough.

aswiftlytiltingreality:
I know I'm going to get some flack for this but...one can only take so many of Shakespeare's sonnets-works in general really- before they have to say enough is enough.

yeah well im not offened i only read like one anyway and i didnt get it

Zio666:
There is a good thing about that though. You can be lazy and still get a B. Oh shit I should do my english coursework now :S

In science I once heard a girl complain about the teachers english.

"Now be carefull of the bare wires"

"There aren't bare wires theres only 3. 3 isn't bare!"

They think BARE means LOTS!...Weird eh? Stupid fucking chavs.

Which is why its dangerous asking for lots of presents in chav language as this translates to

Bear shit...........

I'm a little confused.
Is the poem BANNED from schools, in that you aren't allowed to have it at all, or has it simply been removed from the curriculum?
Also, on a somewhat similar note, just because a book uses nigger does not mean it is racist. I read 'Of Mice and Men' last year and it was wonderful, one of the best books I've read in English class. It makes me cry a little knowing that some schools have banned it and prevented millions from discovering this beautiful work for a reason that is just stupid.

Dramus:
I'm a little confused.
Is the poem BANNED from schools, in that you aren't allowed to have it at all, or has it simply been removed from the curriculum?
Also, on a somewhat similar note, just because a book uses nigger does not mean it is racist. I read 'Of Mice and Men' last year and it was wonderful, one of the best books I've read in English class. It makes me cry a little knowing that some schools have banned it and prevented millions from discovering this beautiful work for a reason that is just stupid.

well there pulping the anthologies it was printed in and as british school libraries not really stock poetry (they rely on the anthology) its effectively a ban, though i guess there nothing to stop school going off curriculum to teach it but given the current structure of education and the pressure of exam tables i doubt any will.

electric discordian:

Zio666:
There is a good thing about that though. You can be lazy and still get a B. Oh shit I should do my english coursework now :S

In science I once heard a girl complain about the teachers english.

"Now be carefull of the bare wires"

"There aren't bare wires theres only 3. 3 isn't bare!"

They think BARE means LOTS!...Weird eh? Stupid fucking chavs.

Which is why its dangerous asking for lots of presents in chav language as this translates to

Bear shit...........

And why you also can't tell them to 'stay safe'. Or 'better to be safe than sorry'.

This was banned because it could lead kids to knife crime?
What about Carol's poem 'Shooting Stars'? Its about Jews getting shot at and raped in Death Camps during WW2.

Its because of all the teenage gang stabbings that have been going on recently. In London, where I live, there is a stabbing a week. Or there was in 2007.

Capt_Jack_Doicy:
you mean seamus heaney? actually m

Phoenix Arrow:
Hang on is it just this poem or what?
If it's all of Duffys stuff I would laugh so much. Then there would be millions of kids having to read the poems by that Irish guy.
6 poems all about potatoes. Seriously.

you mean seamus heaney? actually there mostly about the troubles and farmlife in Ireland. but they still got the war poets and shakespeare.

Yeah that's the guy. It was a while back that I read them and I only read those ones once. All I can remember is him going on about the potato famine. I think most of it was meant to be metaphorical for the troubles but I really couldn't tune in to those poems.

Ha, people are stupid, I mean, what are you going to do? Idiots will always be the vast majority of humanity because natural selection hasn't been at work for hundreds of years.

I remember when I had to do poems in English class, reading it one line at a time and then disecting what the poet meant when they wrote it. I don't miss that, and I doubt the school kids now will either.

I read eduction for leisure and trust me there are much worse things than a bored kid who is at a loss of what to do.

Volucer:
I remember when I had to do poems in English class, reading it one line at a time and then disecting what the poet meant when they wrote it. I don't miss that, and I doubt the school kids now will either.

They still do it but they won't use this poem. Purely because British people are all taken for total mugs.
"Oh, this poem features a man who goes out holding a knife. If children read this then they will kill everyone".
No they bloody won't.

Banning a poetry book to prevent school yard knifings seems like a good idea, but...

"Foxes keep on eating our sheep. What should we do?"
"I know! Let's make our sheparding crooks longer!"

How many knife-toting chav children in Britain would pick up a book of poetry?

The poem shouldn't be banned from the schools, I don't care if you call it "emo", teenagers can relate it because of angst/ mixed emotions and how sometimes you fell unappreciated by the whole world, if anything they should use it because of how they can relate to it. I wouldn't min having to read it in my english class. Besides isn't censoring it infringing on some human rights thing

NewClassic:
In Britain, they find it hellacious.
That poems are quite contagious.
In turn, they banned them from schools.
Turning the British into illiterate fools.
"Nay," I said, "these need to be read!
Or soon, poetry will be dead."

A poem by NewClassic.

Ugh, your rhythm is dreadful. Whatever happened to iambic pentameter?
:p
Sorry mate.
I used to really enjoy poetry at school (I still like to read it/ write it every now and then.) I think it's frankly ridiculous, and makes me ashamed. Thank goodness I got out when I did.
Oh, and I really liked studying Shakespeare too, especially Macbeth. I've never understood the whining of people about having to study Shakespeare, the most significant writer in the English language (he invented some of it for god's sake!)

i will quote a man who witnessed a nazi bonfire book burning
"those who burn books today, burn people tommorow"

Phoenix Arrow:

HuntingWolf_01:

Phoenix Arrow:
Education for Leisure? Been a few years since I last read that.
But 16 year old kids aren't going to read this and think "oh.. that's what I can do in my spare time, kill animals and then run around the streets of London with a knife". Seriously, what does the government take us for?

i loved that poem, i could resight it of the top of my head

Hmm it was Duffys best one I think. My favourite was 'Hitcher' by err.. that guy. Simon Armitage.

I loved that one.
I drew a little picture of The Hitcher from Mighty Boosh next to the poem. We never got in trouble for drawing on our Anthology's >.<
I also loved Havasham. Yeah, I graffited that page too. :P

I Hate censorship, I think it is a violation of people's rights, and so to sum up my feelings, i will quote something about censorship

"It doesnt Matter what you say,
or into it what you read,
you do it your own way,
if it is done just how I say."

Are they kidding me?

Actually, if they know what they're doing, this is a *good* move.

What better way to get the kids to read the poem than to ban it? Like they'd read it if it stayed in there.

By the way, was I the only god damn child in the whole of Albion who actually LIKED Heaney?

Are they still teaching that Simon Armitage poem about burning someones hand by giving them tongs heated under a bunsen burner? Or has that too been banned for fear of copycat incidents?

Jamash:
It's political correctness gone mad. First they ethnically cleanse Noddytown, now this. Where will it end?

I'm guessing with more ethnic cleansing, possibly on a global scale. Political correctness is the new evil empire.

I don't hate him but I much prefer Carol Ann Duffy.

Jamash:
It's political correctness gone mad. First they ethnically cleanse Noddytown, now this. Where will it end?

Ethnically cleansing Noddytown...now that there's some pretty poignant imagery.

I loved that poem! It was the only interesting one in the whole of the anthology. They'll be banning Shakespeare next. Almost makes me ashamed to be British.

NewClassic:
In Britain, they find it hellacious.
That poems are quite contagious.
In turn, they banned them from schools.
Turning the British into illiterate fools.
"Nay," I said, "these need to be read!
Or soon, poetry will be dead."

A poem by NewClassic.

You win.