RuthByrne 08/24/2012 at 07:58am
I use classic battle scenes as inspiration in a few lessons, and I'm generally tolerant of tanks and firearms in the student's work. But I usually follow it up with conversations with the table about the story being told, the source of the imagery and the ethics of the situation they depicted.

I feel the conversation is more valuable than a zero tolerance policy.

Artisdead 08/24/2012 at 08:40am
It's all about boy friendly teaching techs, and within artist context, there are many artists that you can divert the gun/ gore relationship towards to make it a warranted piece of work.

lightARTed 08/24/2012 at 06:48pm
I agree with the comments above...conversation is definitely important. I also like to refer to paintings such as Picasso's Guernica when I can and talk about symbolism for such things.

imagiNATION 09/29/2012 at 03:17pm
I also agree with the others in this discussion. I usually say it's alright as long as it does not get personal toward a certain classmate, etc. I think having a conversation about it is always a good idea. I actually had a talk with one of my college professors about this same subject and he said he made really disturbing art as a kid. We came to the conclusion that kids need to express themselves just like adults and sometimes this dark art is the way to do it. However, if it is really consistent or really gory, a personal conversation with the student might be a good idea just to make sure everything is alright.

MrsImpey 11/11/2012 at 05:32am
For me, it depends on what they are drawing. One of my grade levels is really into drawing guns and swords, so I try to present projects to them where it would make drawing those items a little more relevant. For example, last year we did dragon shields, so it was more apporpriate for them to draw knights, dragons and swords. Another project example would be a pirate drawing assignment...there it would be okay for cannonballs and guns.

However, at Halloween time and during regular free draw assignments, I always tell them it must be school appropriate. No bloody, gorey scenes of anyone doing harm to another.

It's a fine line at my district because my district is very small and on the conservative side. However, we live in an area where people like to take their kids hunting...In general I fly by the seat of my pants when these items show up in their art. If it's appropriately drawn by a 3rd grader, then it's fine, but if it crosses the lines for what they should be drawing at their age, and how they draw it, we have a discussion about it.