It doesn't sound appropriate to me, but I think it's like a lot of those kid's books in the Goosebumps series or Paul Jennings - maybe it's based around something like this. Have a chat to the teacher and find out where the idea comes from. Putting it in context may help a bit but I still don't think it would be appropriate.
Well I wrote a murder story when I was 9 years old during creative writing at school. It took place at school and all my friends were clamouring to be a character in it and the murderer character was an axe murderer so the story got a bit gory. The teacher was fully aware of it and didn't discourage me at all. In the story, we (my friends and I) were all trying to catch the murderer - a la Enid Blyton. In fact, the story got even gorier because there were so many suggestions from the other kids about additional details to put in.
I can assure you I am perfectly sane and have no psychopathic tendencies, I not have been abused in any way, nor was I permitted to watch or read inappropriate material.
Kids can be gruesome little things at times. Fairytales can be quite horrific too (eating up the 3 little pigs, the witch wanting to eat Hansel and Gretel) when you think about it...but they are all about giving them that delightful chill while still feeling quite safe.
I'd be interested to find out the context, remembering that kids generally don't have the same scope of understanding about murder as an adult does.
I have to agree with Curly. Would be interested to hear what context it is in and what the previous lessons/books etc that are being read behind it all.
My first reaction is to be gobsmacked but then I think about when I was about that age I used to love playing Cluedo (the boardgame) and taht was all about guessing where the murder was and what with.
As a child though I never thought about gory stuff. I didnt really think about it at all.
Yeah, I'm going to agree with Curly on this one. I vividly recall some of the creative writing stories I did in primary school, the vast majority descended into gore and murder mysteries by the time 'the end' (in lovely cursive script lol) rolled around... and I don't think I was a particularly morbid child. Just found it interesting as it was a bit 'taboo', so to speak - I wasn't permitted to watch M-rated movies so I'd write my own M-rated (or at least pretty hardcore PG lol) tales for assignments
Context puts things in a whole new perspective, really... although I can't recall a teacher ever setting a similar task when I was in school - more just 'Okay, this week you have to write a story about (eg) cruise ships' and I turn in some story about a murder mystery in which the captain is thrown overboard with no life-jacket, the sauna door is mysteriously locked, leaving clients to fry in their own juices and there are blood spatters everywhere I could find an opportunity...
I'd vouch it's as age-appropriate as it can be for kids of that age - I'm sure they all have vivid imaginations and even if they don't grasp the reality of 'murder', I'd bet it's fun for them to let loose and write about something a bit 'naughty', kwim? Probably gets better results than asking them to write about the family of ducklings down at the pond :/
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
LZ I am GOBSMACKED by what you said!!! Wow, I bet youre looking forward to THAT day at school
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