Choosing Appropriate Literature for Adolescents

1. by: Valerie Sullivan

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 Anti-Bullying  Anti-Pregnancy
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ʘ Reducing Recidivism article, click below completed
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3. Opening Dialogue amidst Conflict: Utilizing Young
Adult Literature in the Classroom to Combat Bullying
 In this article by Kenan Metzger and Jill
Adams, they discuss the need to use
pertinent and relatable literature in
conjunction with anti-bullying programs to
significantly lower the incidences of bullying
amongst adolescents.

4. Bullying is the silent problem in a
lot of schools.
“It has been estimated that two-
thirds of students who were
involved in school shootings have
reported feeling bullied before their
attacks.”
 It has become mandatory after the rash
of school shootings in middle/high
schools in the mid-to-late 1990’s that
schools have an anti-bullying program.
 These authors have a program that utilizes
online resources along with literature, small
group discussions, and writing assignments
to help the adolescent students relate not
only to the bullied but also to the bully.

5. My Reaction
 This article answers some questions about
these mandatory anti-bullying programs and
their effectiveness. The authors believe that
for a program to be worthwhile it need to
engage a student in multiple ways and with
multiple types of stimuli;
technology, writing, reading, discussion, etc.
 These points really resonate with me. When I am
thinking about a truly vexing issue, I talk to my
friends, I journal about it, I blog with my distant
friends, and I think a lot about it.
○ For this students, it would teach them not only how to
discuss problems with their peers, but also how to
empathize with the “bad guy”, which is important when
dealing with work/social issues as adults and bullies
when in adolescence.

6. Select an article to begin with, then continue clicking
the arrows in the lower right corner until you see the
blue circle. That will return you to this screen.
 Anti-Bullying  Anti-Pregnancy
article, click below article, click below
When you
have
ʘ Reducing Recidivism article, click below completed
these
links, please
click here.

7. Facts and Fictions: Teen Pregnancy in
Young Adult Literature
 In this article by Kristen Nichols, she
discusses the importance of connection
between a teenage mother and a literary
character, so that the mother does not
feel isolated.

8. Teen pregnancy is a major
problem for many adolescents.
“Unfortunately, however, many young
adult novels featuring teen pregnancy or
parenthood are truly fictional and do not
adequately reflect the realities of the
situation.”
 In this article, the author looks twenty young
adult novels that discuss teen pregnancy and
the ways that they discuss the issues. She
found that most of the literature available for
students to connect to rarely gave realistic
outcomes, whether the protagonists chose
abortion, adoption, or parenting.
 The author and I both agree that this is criminal
because many adolescents read this literature and
connect it to their own experiences.
○ If every ends with a “happily ever after” ending, then
adolescents cannot learn about the real-life
consequences of pregnancy; no matter which option
they choose.

9. My Reaction
 This article truly raises many good
points concerning the lack of literature
offering the real-life consequences of
teen sexual behaviors.
 The author goes in-depth to discuss each
book’s pros and cons in regards to the
protagonists and the plot.

10. Select an article to begin with, then continue clicking
the arrows in the lower right corner until you see the
blue circle. That will return you to this screen.
 Anti-Bullying  Anti-Pregnancy
article, click below article, click below
When you
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ʘ Reducing Recidivism article, click below completed
these
links, please
click here.

11. “Art Is Not a Mirror to Reflect Reality, but a Hammer to Shape It”:
How the Changing Lives through Literature Program for Juvenile
Offenders Uses Young Adult Novels to Guide Troubled Teens
 In this article by Russell Greinke, he
discusses the Changing Lives Through
Literature (CLTL) program and its effect
on teens in a Midwestern juvenile
detention center.

12. Adolescents in the juvenile
justice system struggle with
recidivism.
“The quantitative evidence from one study
of CLTL found a 19% recidivism rate for
CLTL graduates versus 45% for a group
that did not utilize a comparable reading
therapy program.”
 The author of this article was hoping to
encourage educators to use the lessons learned
through the CLTL program to choose appropriate
literature to help connect with adolescents on the
issues that mean something to them.
 For this program, the offending adolescents have been
referred to the program by a judge who thought that the
program would benefit them.
○ It is a seven week program that has a pre-selected
reading list (with nothing but reading and discussions) in
which to teach the juveniles about the mistakes they
have made in the past, and why those choices should
not be made again.
 These adolescents go through the program learning more
about making decisions, thinking through the
consequences, and learning how to make good decisions.

13. My Reaction
 This article really was a great example of
good investigative practices, designed to
make an impact! I was very impressed
with the author’s method of delivering his
message with poignant quotes, good
excerpts of discussions, and excellent
methodology.
 I truly believe that this should be the method of
choosing all literature for adolescents; deciding
based on common issues and problems, rather
than because of tradition.

14. Select an article to begin with, then continue clicking
the arrows in the lower right corner until you see the
blue circle. That will return you to this screen.
 Anti-Bullying  Anti-Pregnancy
article, click below article, click below
When you
have
ʘ Reducing Recidivism article, click below completed
these
links, please
click here.

15. The Common Bond
 Each of these articles discuss pertinent issues
for adolescents.
 Pregnancy
 Crime
 Bullying
 These issues can be looked at in many
different ways, but the way that these authors
chose to combat these problems for modern
adolescents is to use good literature to show
the children how to connect to literary
characters to learn lessons.
 These lessons help the children to learn about their
issues, and possible ways to change their lives, be
better people, or make better decisions along the
way.