GCSE poem dropped after knife fears

[cocaine]

An exam board is removing a poem about a knife-carrying violent loner from its anthology for GCSE English because of fears over teenage knife crime.

The AQA exam board has decided to withdraw the poem Education for Leisure written by Carol Ann Duffy.
The exam board is writing to schools to advise them to destroy the copies of the anthology - and says it will send replacements not containing this poem.
The poem begins with the line: "Today I am going to kill something. Anything."
It describes the thoughts of a disturbed, isolated individual who feels underappreciated and undervalued and who kills a fly then a goldfish. The poem concludes with this angry loner going outside with a bread knife.

More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7594566.stm

How pathetic is that?

[Leetzgirl]

I was like oh okay about knifes, but then i read about the last 2 lines and i laughed so 'ard

[SUPERhanna.]

nearly as pathetic as ''baa baa rainbow sheep''

[Heart Break Kid]

lol i studied that
they also wont allow erm assassin for an exam entry coz it gives the inpression of ppl going out murdering ppl
Loooool

[Pyroka]

I loved that poem! Thats pretty silly, it really got the imagination going for me. Bloody shame that.

[Yoshimitsui]

Surely a poem like this is more likely to make young people realise the effects of knife crimes. Withdrawing it is just stupid.

[luke-p]

That's really stupid, but they keep the one about the weird woman that cuts someones head off after screwing them (Well that's what I got out of it, can't remember the poem name ). Yeahhh, good choice.

I really liked that poem it was easy to analyse... Withdrawing it because it had a knife in is pathetic

[Heart Break Kid]

ooooooh salome that was funny that xP

[benjamin]

i remember doing that poem, it was weird

[redtom]

Are teacher told us this yesterday, she said we had a choice if we wanted to do it but we would be the last year to do it if we did, but she said it was pretty pathetic having it banned.