Read the following article from The Guardian and then the poem by Carol Ann Duffy that has caused all the fuss.
You might also like to read the comments on the TES English Forum about the decision to remove the piece from the examination syllabus.
Knife crime is certainly in the news. Should this poem be banned?
Top exam board asks schools to destroy book containing knife poem
Three complaints about Carol Ann Duffy work
- Children’s laureate Rosen accuses AQA of censorship
Polly Curtis, Education Editor
The Guardian, Thursday September 4 2008
Britain’s biggest exam board has been accused of censorship after it removed a poem containing references to knife crime from the GCSE syllabus.
Officials at the AQA board said their request that schools destroy the anthology containing the Carol Ann Duffy poem Education for Leisure had been triggered by concerns in two schools about references to knives. A spokeswoman confirmed the decision had been made in the context of the current spate of knife-related murders.
But poets yesterday condemned the move, saying such “censorship” fundamentally missed the point of the poem, which they said could help children debate the causes of street violence.
The poem starts: “Today I am going to kill something. Anything./I have had enough of being ignored and today/I am going to play God.” It...
