Submitted by Meredith Harley Inserra, New Bern, North Carolina

Idea posted July 17, 2006

If we are going to discuss a topic which might be scary to some students, I take a minute or two to talk about the subject matter so they won't be scared. I approach it in one of two ways, depending on the age of the child and the subject matter.

  1. I approach it as something FUNNY rather than scary, making it a pretend thing or just a fun kind of thing. Humor can diffuse the scary edge something may have.
  2. I might also approach it as a maturity thing, by asking the students if they think they are old enough to handle the lesson. They ALWAYS want to be more grown up than they are. So we talk about it, and I ask them again, before we start, "So, do you think you're old enough to handle this without being too scared?" I remind them it's music which is the SOUND of instruments playing or the SOUND of words being sung, and SOUND can't hurt them.

So far, these approaches have worked for me. That being said, I did have one 5th grader back in 1988 go home and tell her mother I was teaching satanic worship after our "Danse Macabre" lesson. The parent went to the principal who came to observe my lesson that week. My principal loved it. You're always gonna have somebody out there freak out now and then, I guess.