Parenting is hard because you never know what the right thing to do is in a given situation, and no matter how hard you try, you make lots of mistakes.

That is the issue the father in this story is having because he isn’t sure whether or not his son should read a specific book assigned to him at school.

He wants to protect his child, but he also doesn’t want to shelter him so much, making it a very hard decision.

AITAH For Not Wanting my Son to Read and Assigned Book in School?

So, I was looking over the list of upcoming classwork in my son’s 6th grade class.

Book reports are a normal part of school.

There are a couple of book reports that will be due over the next few months. Two I have no problem with. Treasure Island is the first one (I actually read it to him as a bedtime story years ago) and the second is Animal Farm.

All well and good but the third one stopped me cold even though it’s beloved by many. Bridge to Terabithia.

This story can be pretty tragic in parts.

I don’t like tragic stories and he tends to be a rather emotional child as it is. (I would be equally as aghast at Where The Red Fern Grows, btw, if not more).

As a boy, I hated anything with tragic death in it, particularly a child or a pet. It would upset me for days.

It is hard to deal with loss.

Now I’m not raising a clone of myself and I also don’t want my son to lack the emotional skills to deal with sadness. We did lose an actual beloved pet last year and I helped him through it.

But I really don’t want to have him read this book, which I consider misery porn and have to deal with the upset it’s likely to cause.

Just swap it out then, no big deal.

The teacher has told me that the curriculum is flexible; I know if I ask her to swap that out for something else, she will and not have much of a problem.

But am I micromanaging my son’s emotions, here? Should I just let him read the book and find out for himself?

This is a challenge with parenting. You never know what to do.

Should I warn him ahead of time that it’s a sad book? Or should I ask the teacher if it would be okay to swap it out for something that doesn’t yuck your heart of your body?

I’m not suggesting it has to be sweetness and light. Animal Farm is hardly a story with a happy ending.

It’s a fair question.

But I figured I’d throw the question out here and see if anybody had a thought.

Oh, FWIW, I’m a single parent, so I don’t have a wife to bounce the question off of.

AITA?

Not at all. This father is trying to do what is best for his child, which is never easy. Whether this book is appropriate for his kid is something only he can decide.

Let’s see what the people in the comments come up with when it comes to advice.

Reading is a good way to explore emotions.

Here is someone who would let the child read the book.

This commenter seems to be right.

Reading this type of book can help in many ways.

Let the child read the book and see how it goes.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.