Shakespeare

[Theland]

Isn't it child cruelty to force Shakespeare on kids who have no time for it, struggle with it, fail it, and after leaving school never revisit it.
Why?

[Mamyalynne]

Personally I couldn't call it cruelty - it can be a challenge and encourage a different way of dissecting plots and characters but if they found better or different texts to study it wouldn't break my heart.

I loved it and like many I use quotes on a regular basis.

[Theland]

All my working life it was so irrelevant to me and the hundreds of people I worked with. This sentiment carries on with my kids and grandkids and their peers.
Why?

[tonyav]

Isn't it child cruelty to force Shakespeare on kids who have no time for it,

I had plenty of time for it, great for getting 40 winks at the back of the class ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

You mean you would rather they didn't do set books for English Lit at all?

because they may never use that knowledge at work?

[Theland]

Educational time is short. Why waste it?
Better to study more maths or IT.

[Mamyalynne]

Scrap English Lit?

Interesting, not something I'd be keen on.

[Theland]

Study by choice age 14 maybe, otherwise something in English.

[gness]

Children only struggle if the teaching is poor. I adore Shakespeare. My daughter was enthused from an early age and is still passionate years later.
That Othello can be set in Camp Bastion says so much about the genius of Shakespeare.

[kvalidir]

If kids struggle with it then it's not being taught properly. All children love stories, that's all Shakespeare is, and what he wrote about is as pertinent now as it was then, they are just human stories and children learn all sorts of things from it, ethics, morality and human nature etc it's not just English literature.

[gness]

Time studying Shakespeare is time wasted???? Good lord! Never.... unless one has a dim and slow witted mind.

[Prudie]

Cruel no because some will love it - now had you said Dickens :-)

[retrocop]

Lot of humour to be found in Shakespeare Theland. For just that I like it.

[retrocop]

As you like it.:-)

[-SharonA-]

I hated it and cannot see why we had to do it.
What dost you think?

[Theland]

After merchant navy, fifteen factory jobs, shipyard, hundreds of workmates, it did nothing for anybody, true for my kids and grandkids too.

[jno]

"I hated Shakespeare at school and now I spend my hours babbling nonsense on social media"

[retrocop]

The lady doth protest too much

[retrocop]

2343 to Sharon

[kvalidir]

How can this not sing to anyone's soul?

[Mamyalynne]

Perhaps ( or is that perchance ) it stems from childhood - working class family but house full of books and literary quotes abounded and piqued my interest in their origin.