Ban All Books With Sad Endings From Schools?

[Talon Karrde]

A group called Happy Endings is lobbying to ban all books with sad endings from schools in England. Are these folks daft?! How will children learn to deal with normal life issues if we shelter them from anything that could cause sadness? How will they learn to deal with grief?

The real world out there isn't all fun and games and life has its ups and downs. By banning books with sad endings from schools, you rob children the right to learn the ability to cope with sad occurrences in their every day lives!

What is your position on this controversial issue?

[Kordmalgemar]

... So, considering that kids can learn about tragedy from stories of tragedies, why is it that these people don't realize they're sugar-coating reality, and that such sugar-coating could... possibly lead to insanity?

I mean... Don't people lose it because they can't cope or something? Doesn't a guy go crazy because his wife left him because he can't understand why?

So what happens when these kids get to high school, or when there's some accident or something? I mean... would parents talking about these things be enough, or would their explanations pale before the written word's ability to place readers in a character's situation?