[quote=""annis""]There was a bit of a kerfuffle here over a teacher reading
Hunger Games to a class of 11 year olds, and I do wonder about the wisdom of that as there are some quite heavy concepts involved in the story. Concerned over this, the school initiated discussion to establish whether any of the kids wanted to talk over issues they'd found disturbing. Turned out the issue the kids were most worried about was whether Katniss would hook up with Peeta or Gale

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My daughter read this at 11 at her teacher's recommendation. Her teacher is a voracious reader of YA books and routinely talked about books that she loved to her students. I don't censor books when my kids show an interest. If it's something I question or don't think they're quite ready for, I'll read it with them and talk about it with them which is what I did with
The Hunger Games when my daughter read it (and you're right, girls this age are going to be more focused on the love triangle). She lost interest by the end of the 2nd book in the trilogy. I read the trilogy and think that older teens and adults will get more out of it.
I think what some parents feel uncomfortable with is how influential teachers can be, especially teachers who have different values. For example, it's been my experience that teachers are probably more wary of preaching their religious convictions in the classroom, but they will make their political convictions known quite frequently and to the point of presenting their political beliefs as the socially acceptable standard or fact rather than inclination or opinion. Schools apply some pretty heavy social conditioning, whether we want to admit it or not. Many parents are naturally going to be concerned about the influence teachers have over their children.
All that said, I have met some fanatics that are sadly misinformed about the content of the books they protest, including some of those who want to protect their kids from foul language or Harry Potter books (usually for religious reasons). I grew up in a neighborhood full of older boys, so I was exposed to curse words at a fairly early age. Encountering them in books was anti-climactic.