Education

School‘s Reading List Includes Rapper 50 Cent’s Memoir

In an attempt to get more kids to spend time reading this summer, a New York school district “freshened up” its summer reading recommendations to include titles and topics administrators thought teens would be interested in.  Included among these: rapper 50 Cent’s “From Pieces to Weight.”

Schools Reading List Includes Rapper 50 Cents Memoir

Photo: MTV

Students of the Rochester School District were encouraged to read the rapper’s memoir which depicts (in graphic detail) the rapper‘s early life embroiled in the New York City drug trade and utilizes rough language and violent depictions that fans of 50 Cent’s music are undoubtedly familiar with.  “If it’s a situation where everything in the book is mother this and mother that, then of course it’s inappropriate,” Rev. Marlowe Washington, head of the Rochester Literacy Movement told the city’s Democrat and Chronicle.  “We have to understand what will get the kids interested, but there has to be a balance of how far we will go with that.”

Though she’s never read the book, school administrator Beth Mascitti-Miller said that district staff picks books for the list and will review them if there are complaints from the community.  “We want to make sure we’re putting appropriate material on the list,” she said. “You want to get kids interested, but you also want to make sure they have plenty of choices and that you’re not endorsing anything that might not be appropriate.”

Perhaps most controversial about the 50 Cent book is the author himself, known for explicit and often vulgar lyrics about drugs, sex and violence. Some of his songs include the sound of rounds of bullets being fired in the background.

The text of the book is no different. Described on its back cover as a “violent and introspective memoir,” it documents his childhood in Jamaica, Queens County, his experience selling drugs and his ultimate rise to stardom.

Scenes of the book depict violent gun fights, and the book makes liberal use of R-rated expletives.

The school’s reading list choices have even drawn national attention from the media:

Comments (92)

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  • FreedomOfSpeech
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:28pm

    I say we let them read whatever they want. Maybe 50-Cent’s memoir could be the gateway drug to Huck Finn and Great Expectations. Or maybe not. I’d bet the recommendation is a result of trying to get those kids to read ANYTHING.

    Report Post » FreedomOfSpeech  
    • AMERICA4EVER
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 9:20pm

      I have to agree with FREEDOMOFSPEECH. It may be an attempt to get them to read anything. Still not a good idea considering the source. It amounts to glorification of a less than desirable lifestyle. I don’t care how much money he made. It’s a very narrow and limited “occupation” to try and emulate. All the wrong signals. It also takes the place of a much more appropriate book with much more positive values and one that actually teaches something that is useful.

      Report Post »  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 11:24pm

      Sounds like a “set the bar low enough so everyone can pass” argument… I don’t buy it.

      The students in the district that want “extra credit” need to pick from the list – they aren’t allowed to substitute different books.

      Clicking around I came across this seemingly well-designed summer reading program – the students are expected to work with their teachers to create their own reading list, across a variety of genres and varying skill levels:

      http://www.hilton.k12.ny.us/pdf/hssummerreading10.pdf

      That meets the “read anything” criteria, and allows for teacher AND student involvement.

      Report Post » beekeeper  
    • moriarty70
      Posted on September 28, 2010 at 8:31am

      @Freedom
      That’s just it. My parents never complained about me reading comics as a kid since they knew “at least he’s reading something”. Having that pro-reading outlook had me reading H.G. Wells and Stephen King when my classmates still tried to do book reports on R.L. Stien.

      Report Post » moriarty70  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on September 28, 2010 at 12:27pm

      That’s the theory behind it for sure. And in schools where the academic achievment levels are so low because the teachers are of such poor quality, I’m sure that is their primary goal. Having someone that graduates from high school that can actually read is a victory to them.

      The problem is you’re making no attempt to guide these students in a positive direction. You are setting them up for failure in the rest of their lives. Getting them accustomed to simply having the bar lowered for them when they can‘t or simply don’t do something.

      Besides the argument just doesn‘t hold water that it’s desperate teachers just trying to get them to read anything at all. Those teachers are the reason they can‘t or won’t read in the first place.

      Report Post »  
    • Brooke Lorren
      Posted on September 29, 2010 at 1:13am

      I’d rather set the bar higher. I take my kids to the library every week. I let dd pick out a couple of books that she wants, then I check out some other books (based on things we’ve been talking about in school), for her to take a look at. If she likes them, great. If not, we just turn them back in. Give kids access (or suggest) better books, and maybe they’ll read them.

      Report Post »  
  • drconstitutionalconservative
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:25pm

    50 Cent, now, there’s a role model to draw to, useless, arrogant gang member.

    Report Post »  
  • welovetheUSA
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:22pm

    Dumming down of America…..trash all trash…take a “D” for the kid rather than allow them to read trash like this.

    Report Post » welovetheUSA  
    • GlennBeckIsADemagogue
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:41pm

      i think the “dumming” down must have started at your school.

      Report Post » GlennBeckIsADemagogue  
    • dressseller
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:55pm

      Demagogue.. what witty little comebacks you post. Really puts us all in our places. Must make you feel really good about yourself. That’s ok. We all need a hobby. Rock on with yours I suppose.

      Report Post »  
  • realchrisjones
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:18pm

    I actually read 50′s book and it was pretty damn good. I couldn’t put it down.

    Report Post »  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:15pm

    I was in a bookstore a few months ago, and a mother walked in with 2 girls of about 11. I had the impression one was her daughter, the other her daughter’s friend. I took notice because they were dressed appropriately for their age, as opposed to most other girls around here, and I kind of smiled inwardly. They reminded me of when I was a kid, when we played in the mud and caught frogs instead of being neo-ghetto whores.

    The mother left, telling them she’d be back in a minute. The girls immediately ran over to a book about 50 Cent’s “Get rich or Die Tryin’” and excitedly thumbed through it, quoting some of the nastiest things imaginable, and discussing how “he’s so *$&#ing hot”. Everything was “gangsta” this and “gangsta” that. Then discussion turned to Dave Chappelle and how much cooler black people were than white people… I’m not kidding. It was embarrassing to witness. They were talking as loud as possible hoping people would overhear them and approve.

    They were just trying so hard to be something they weren’t, no doubt because they weren’t fitting in at school. I watched the same happen to all my friends in Jr High… in 1996 they were suburban white kids, but over the summer they turned into pseudo-gangstas. Their mommies still made their beds and did their laundry of course, and they were all talk, but that was the end of the end of my friends. You could still sense them beneath the surface, but that was it. They were gone.

    Pop-culture is a disease if you ask me. I can’t stand a culture where everyone has the same “opinions” and independent critical thinking is considered lame. I go out of my way to wait a few years before watching a popular movie, and not having Facebook. It’s refreshing to avoid the media waves and group-think.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • RKade
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:47pm

    The Dick and Jane with Spot series are also great except they don’t has drugs, gangs, fights street slang and cursing.

    On second thought Dick and Jane with Spot might actually teach the kids so it will not do…

    I’s gonna pop a cap in U MF…

    Report Post »  
  • dressseller
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:45pm

    Progressives just doin’ what progressives do. Lowering the standard.. propagandizing.. Actually HOPING that our kids turn out to be wards of the state on the dole and looking to the Almighty Government to make their lives worthwhile. That way.. no resistence for them and an easy pathway to power and money for themselves.

    Report Post »  
    • GlennBeckIsADemagogue
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:39pm

      when someone uses a word like “propagandizing,” even though it is a legitimate word in the dictionary, with the expectation that others will think that person is smarter than they really are, one can only rest comfortably with the knowledge that said someone might as well write the word “moron” across his/her/its forehead with an indelible marker.

      Report Post » GlennBeckIsADemagogue  
    • dressseller
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:43pm

      LOL. Yeah. LOL.

      Report Post »  
  • moriarty70
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:43pm

    I look at this book as teaching what not to do. Not every book has a positive happy moral at the end just as not everyone has a shiny happy life. Sometimes showing the reality of this lifestyle from an inside perspective can be more effective than some teacher telling them not to glamorize it. And on top of that are they really worried about students reading some four letter words? The kids reading this aren‘t toddlers and I’m sure few if any will be learning new expletives from this book.

    Report Post » moriarty70  
    • wingedwolf
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:47pm

      My objection is to having my child hold a copy of this book and have money paid to the writer of this filth.

      Report Post » wingedwolf  
    • moriarty70
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:52pm

      Most of the people on here have maligned it without having read it. I haven’t either but I have read less than positive books and believe they have their place, both in school and out. Also most of these books are ghost written by a real writer so I have a feeling it will be better than his “songs”.

      Report Post » moriarty70  
    • iamhungry
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 7:08pm

      Here are the reviews on Amazon. It received nearly all 5 star ratings. Look it up.

      Also, his story does have a happy moral ending. He has pulled himself out of the gangs and is a legitimate businessman who regularly appears on the financial channels to discuss his many business deals. (e.g. He made $100 million after tax by selling ‘Vitamin Water’ to Coke).

      His story is rags to riches. His story is the American Dream.

      Report Post »  
  • COjohngalt
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:42pm

    Hopefully there are parents in this community that still care enough about their children to complain. If this was my community, the complaints would be non-stop and at a volume level that would get the point across clearly.

    Report Post » COjohngalt  
    • missmarie
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:05pm

      Agreed. I was on a reading list parent committee that successfully advocated the removal of certain materials we deemed inappropriate and was successful in returning classics to the list. Not an easy process, but one our group felt was important. Sadly, many parents have no idea what their children are reading. I haven’t read the book in question and cannot comment on whether its content is appropriate or, if it would appropriate at a specific age level only.

      Report Post » missmarie  
  • cheezwhiz
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:28pm

    Though she’s never read the book, school administrator Beth Mascitti-Miller said that district staff picks books for the list and will review them if there are complaints from the community.

    ==========================================

    Do these district staffers take orders from mister-fister Keving Jennings ?

    Report Post » cheezwhiz  
    • Omanhater
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:01pm

      sounds like the district staff would fit right in in D.C.

      Report Post » Omanhater  
  • Prospero
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:20pm

    I’m sure some ******* somewhere figured this would reach the “black” demographic with an authentic tale they can relate to, due to their culture.

    Illuminating yet again the pervasive racism that underlies American liberalism. The ideology with the political platform that presumes blacks are organically incapable of prevailing in a free society, and they are inherently criminalistic, and thus must be led and controlled by liberal white folks. Just like back on the plantation.

    Just another example of why liberalism must be marginalized, disempowered, and made as laughable in the minds of the people as reading Ouija boards and tea leaves. Liberalism must not simply be crushed politically, it must be reduced to a joke that nobody ever considers seriously again.

    Report Post » Prospero  
  • bhelmet
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:19pm

    When I was in scholl I hated the Summer reading lists, but guess what? I read them b/c I was tested on them the first week of school. You know what was even more amazing – I liked many of them.

    Report Post » bhelmet  
  • megansmom
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:16pm

    hhmmmm. yep, I’ll stick with homeschooling.
    PS Harry Potter isn’t even in the same class as 50 cent. Harry Potter was your classic good vs evil and no worse than the Hobbit. Both have witch craft, magical creatures and graphic themes. One is considered a classic and one is modern.It’s all in how you perceive things.

    Report Post »  
  • RealityCheck
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:16pm

    Man, how much more out of touch can we get. What happened to teaching intelligence and preparing kids with the knowledge they need to get good jobs besides flipping burgers and selling drugs? Enough with the education BS, we should be teaching our kids SKILLS and practical knowledge to survive after school, not telling them to read even if it’s a book about how one man sold drugs, got shot, sold albums and now a self proclaimed star. How pathetic.

    Report Post »  
    • GlennBeckIsADemagogue
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:25pm

      most people understand that intelligence can’t be taught (witness the Tea Party), and while the ability to engage in critical thinking and decision making can be enhanced with a good education, this is often offset by deficiences due to bias,bigotry, and greed (witness the Republican Party).

      Report Post » GlennBeckIsADemagogue  
  • CoFX
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:14pm

    Am I to understand that the district staff that compiled the list have not read the book? I can’t believe they would recommned any book that the staff has not read. and if some of them have read it, I’d be curious as to why they deem it appropriate for high school reading. Last I checked, you couldn’t throw the F-bomb around in the hallway of a high school, but you recommend reading of a book that has probably 20 F-bombs per page? This isn’t about the standards of society as a whole – we know high schoolers use this language all the time when they hang out together- this is about the schools needing to raise the bar just a bit.

    These kids can go down to the bookstore and grab a copy of this book if they want to read it on thier own, but a summer reading list should contain books endorsed by the school, and chosen for thier content. If my daughter came home with this on her summer reading list, I’d be down at the school asking for an explanation.

    Report Post » Rogue  
    • GlennBeckIsADemagogue
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:19pm

      it’s really not any different from people who have never read the new testament, but seem to know everything about it.

      GlennBeckIsADemagogue  
  • Will NV
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:13pm

    BHO has done more to cause racial strife then anyone in the last 50 years.

    Report Post »  
  • wodiej
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:13pm

    good Lord….these schools should get all of their tax funding pulled.

    Report Post »  
  • Slayer
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:12pm

    A few years down the road when a lot of these mothers are burying their stabbed and bullet-ridden kids at least they’ll be able to say the kid could read.

    Report Post » Slayer  
  • The Count
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:12pm

    Ebonics, redux???

    Report Post » The Count  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:08pm

    school kids must read that ghetto filth? not MY American White Conservative kids.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
    • Zoe
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:41pm

      Mayberry here too..

      No, not sheltered…. ……

      Oh & witch craft well for fun & games if the kids are old enough & their foundation is good. That’s just Dragons & Knights- to teens.

      The flag on the play is installing “passion” in the mix of what was once fairly vanilla Vincent Price type themed stuff .

      Then your right & you just tied the knot of the millstone around the neck.

      OK so I’m sure there are some conservative Witches & Warlocks who will disagree… Barnabas Collins, Conservative ……right?

      Report Post » Zoe  
  • Patriot nurse
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:02pm

    What are we doing to our kids???? First Harry Potter and now 50 Cent’s !!!!

    Report Post » Patriot nurse  
    • GlennBeckIsADemagogue
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:56pm

      Oh my Heavens! The next thing you know they will be reading George Orwell’s 1984 (banned in the soviet union from 1950-1990), Frank Kafka’s The Metamorphisis (banned in Nazi Germany), or The Diary of Anne Frank (banned in Lebanon for favorable portrayal of Jews). May Glenn help us all!

      Report Post » GlennBeckIsADemagogue  
    • JoeClymer
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 10:16pm

      GlennBeckIsADemagogue – Well, I suppose the history regarding Orwell, Kafka and Frank is accurate, but your perspective is rather Escher-esque: Those who banned the books mentioned knew that the three books you mention were (or would be recognized as) great literature and would have an impact on the people who read them. That’s why political regimes banned them.

      rapper 50 Cent’s “From Pieces to Weight” does nothing but insult the concept of great literature. However, it is meant to help realize a political agenda. It has been introduced into the Rochester School District reading curriculum for questionable purposes. It’s interesting that this technique IS explored in Orwell’s 1984. – a rather ironic choice to further the argument.

      Report Post »  
  • BrerRabbit
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:02pm

    Yep….that is a role model. Moral….is there one?

    Report Post »  
  • cheezwhiz
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:01pm

    What ?
    R Kelly‘s video starring him p’ing on young girls were not available ? That has educational value too specially for this perticular demographic !!

    Report Post » cheezwhiz  
  • poverty.sucks
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 5:00pm

    More books to burn

    Report Post » poverty.sucks  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on September 27, 2010 at 4:57pm

    Sadly this is true for all children everywhere. The attack on our students continues today with lies and propaganda in the classroom, where political ideologies trump truth and fact. We need to stop the liberal attack on our future and promote only honest truths even if these truths hurt, We need to remove the social agenda and government out of our schools and place our curriculum standards on truth and facts and not on opinion political ideologies or social agendas
    God help our future and pray that we all stand up and do our part in returning our education system back into the control of fact based studies, being honest about the different theories that do exist, but taught as fact, and reinserting the missing parts of our history that have been removed, and engineered to support specific agendas instead of teaching the facts as they lay and letting our students learn from these mistakes without the contamination of one group or an-others agendas.
    Release our students from the chains that bind them and allow our country, and other countries children grow to greatness

    Report Post » Psychosis  
    • FlameKeepersUSA
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 6:36pm

      Speaking of PROPAGANDA. I am a high school history teacher. In my new textbook materials today, I received a student workbook titled “THE LIVING CONSTITUTION!”

      Once again, a perfect example of philosophical bias being presented as fact to the students of America. Needless to say, this “resource” will go into the circular file!

      http://www.flamekeepersusa.com

      Report Post » FlameKeepersUSA  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 10:49pm

      The WHEC website reports the superintendent saying:

      “Some of the books that we cherish today were banned a few years ago. 1984 was banned, Huckleberry Finn was banned. Who is deciding what is or what is not appropriate reading for kids?”

      This is a college educated, teaching professional who apparently feels there is some correlation between 50 Cents autobiography and 1984 and Huckleberry Finn. Aside from being printed on paper, I am at a loss as to the similarities between this book and those previously banned books.

      Apparently any book that is printed is literature, all are equivalent in her eyes…

      Source: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1760200.shtml?cat=565

      And at least one student chimmed in as well:

      “Many teenagers told us they don’t see anything wrong with this book.

      East High School senior Quata Reynolds says the slang in the book is nothing new to them.

      “I think it’s a good boy because it shows in his life how he struggled,” said Reynolds.”

      Assuming the “boy” is a typo, that still leaves a “challenging” sentence structure – I think every teacher that ever drew a paycheck for standing in front of this young lady owe her a refund…

      Report Post » beekeeper  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 27, 2010 at 11:07pm

      Here are a few of the other titles in the school district reading list – there are some very reasonable books on the list, but the ones that jump out at me are:

      10-12th Grade:
      50 cent – The 50th Law
      Bradley, Adam – Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip-Hop
      Harvey, Steve – Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man
      Haskins-Bookser, Laura – The Softer Side of Hip-Hop
      Lindsay, Jeanne Warren – Teen Dads Rights, Responsibilities & Joys
      Pride, Felicia – The Message: 100 Life Lessons From Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs
      Salinger, Michael – Well-Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme

      Source: http://www.rcsdk12.org/1973101061228013/FileLib/browse.asp?a=374&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=56614

      After they read one or more of the above books, they are to demonstrate their understanding of the piece by doing an “activity” – http://www.rcsdk12.org/1973101061228013/lib/1973101061228013/Summer_Reading_Activities.pdf

      This is what happens when you let teachers pick books they think the kids would read, assuming that a book is a book, and all are equal.

      I think many would learn more by watching almost any John Hughes film (16 Candles, Pretty In Pink, even Planes, Trains, and Automobiles)…

      Report Post » beekeeper  
    • PostProgressiveAmerican
      Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:41am

      Amendment x

      1. The General Welfare Clause shall not be construed as a specific grant of power, but as a statement of purpose qualifying the power to tax.
      2. Congress shall pass no legislation regarding social welfare, education, labor, housing or healthcare as these powers are specifically granted to the people and the several States.

      Report Post » Post-Progressive American  
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