The following has been passed out in a second grade public school class so that students could circle the rhyming words in the poem:
I Tried to Ride a Skateboard
by Kenn Nesbitt
I tried to ride a skateboard.
I fell and scraped my knee.
I tried to ride a bicycle.
I crashed into a tree.
I tried to ride a scooter.
I landed on my chin.
I tried to ride a unicycle;
lost a bit of skin.
I even tried a tricycle
but ran into a wall.
I'm happy in this wheelchair now.
I never fall at all.
Copyright © 2015 Kenn Nesbitt
All Rights Reserved
From www.poetry4kids.com
Ok, so...
easy-to-read and somewhat playful sounding rhyme for the most part. I
found myself wondering about protective gear and all until the end. The
end is what's really bugging me. I kept second-guessing myself,
whether this should bother me as much as it did, so I consulted my
friend and disability advocate, Kim Wombles. Here's what she had to
say:
"That sure is an all or nothing fallacy. Plus, I'm in a
wheelchair and fall all the time. It's ableist and insensitive. It also
will have those second graders potentially blaming wheelchair users for
their disability."
I
wonder if they would have thought twice about passing this poem out if
there were a child in class who needed to use a wheelchair or walker. I
really wish that staff at this school were able to learn more about disability, not to shame them, but to help them truly learn and do better next time.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
We have to assume this poem was written well before such sensitivities were even thought about, but still, it should have been more closely studied and then dismissed as unsuitable.
ReplyDeleteI'd've assumed that except for the copyright date. And you're right. It should have been dismissed as unsuitable for children in class.
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