Don't Make High Schoolers Read Kafka

I was on TVTropes and stumbled onto its article about Franz Kafka and it made me remember the literature course I took in high school and how for a large part of that course the teacher has us read Kafka's works and talked about the concept of Nilhism. And as I remembered this it dawned on me that its a really bad idea to teach Kafka in high school.

In high school you're a teenager and due to stuff like hormones, and everyone around you being an asshole your emotions are in a state of flux and you are prone to becoming over emotional. So to such a person you introduce the idea that your life is meaningless and make them read Kafka who's stories are mostly about people who no matter how hard they try to be good people and live fulfilling lives, they wind up leading wreched lives and dying alone in misery.

Its shit like that which turns people into emos.

I find emo people much more worth talking to than the shallow minded bunch who thinks nothing but entertainment.

And nihilism ain't that bad. It's a necessary step.

I feel really sad for you right now.

Nihilism isn't a necessary step.

It's called Depression.

It's not as simple as just saying you shouldn't teach them about it. Should we not teach them about WWII also? Not everyone reacts the same way to acquired knowledge. Some take it harshly others are more capable of processing it and developing an opinion of their own.

In the end we must face the truth, most kids that are "ordered" to read those kinds of material don't ever do it. They just go online grab a terrible summary and hope to death the test is about the plot and not about the interpretation of it.

Also every generation has their "emo" equivalent. Kids are still developing their own personalities so to cram yourself into a preexisting mold makes it easier to find your "identity". Eventually they learn that copying others won't help them finding out who they are and they move on. Over-reacting because of it is just a waste of time.

Kafka?

I don't think Nihilism has to be cast in a depressing light. I'm an Existential nihilist and if anything it has made me feel free to find meaning in my own life. You can read very briefly about it on wikipedia: wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_nihilism, if you would like to do so. Perhaps it will change your opinion on it.

Don't worry, I pity you more. The realization that there is no inherent meaning in life is a necessary step for one to find their own meaning. Guess what? That's nihilism.

Nah, the second part works without the first.

I think he means one has to realize that there is no meaning to life (extensional Nihilism), and that one has to create their own meaning to life.

Unless you're a theist or a determinist.

Staying in nihilism is a different matter.

What else should be banned? who decides? where will it end?

The Metamorphosis was one of the best stories i ever read. i wish i had had an english teacher who was that deep. all i got were idiots who misunderstood shakespear and touted hemingway as a genius because someone else said so.

also:

Perhaps we have two different definitions of what Nihilism means for the psyche and spirit. To believe that life is meaningless is to be Depressed. If you instead mean 'there is no one meaning to life, and it is important to find what you want your life to be, what you want to be' then yes, I'll accept your strangely optimistic definition for a hopelessly dreary and dark concept, but when I think of Nihilism I think of James' brother Kyle, who is a truly joyless, empty, and completely unproductive excuse for a human being.

I'll have to call bullshit on this line of reasoning. Teenagers aren't any more suicidal than the rest of us and neither are they "immature" in the manner you portray them.

They're going through an emotional upheaval and also have to deal with shifting relationships, them having to take control of their life and inevitably coming into confrontation with their elders who've managed it for them in their childhood.

Americans insistence in putting down teenagers as "immature", "stupid" and overtly emotional is just goddamn nationwide excuse to put off dealing with the kids' issues et all... one that pisses me off to no end.

The young are pretty much locked up, like criminals, so they're out of the way and the wardens just can't be arsed to actually teach them. I'm not talking about the curriculum, I'm talking about human decency and wisdom in general.

Even when you bump into the occasional person who truly carries the torch, they must fight an uphill battle, since by the time kids get into high-school they're already fucked up.

As children, all too often, it was the TV that raised them instead their parents and no whatsoever feedback - or reflection on their own life! - to help them put things into perspective.

I hope you're married and living a happy life. ): You deserve it~! +rep