Reading List

My reading list sure has changed over the last year. I just finished reading my second fantasy book in two months. That in itself is strange. I used to go through fantasy books by the dozen.

But graduate studies will do that to you. I hadn't realized how much I miss reading fantasy/ fiction until I just finished this last book (Songspinner). Of course, I read a lot still, and I still get excited over most of the books I read, even though they are "school" books. Just the other day I was very excited to (finally) receive a book I ordered back in May (after calling several times this month to demand the whereabouts of my book). I was just laying down for a nap when the delivery guy knocked at the door. Of course I had to open it immediately, and then I started reading even though I was tired. It is a great book titled Kids in Context and is about the research I now do in the field of the sociology of children and childhoods. It's well written, but the most fun was reading the introduction where the authors describe their difficult experiences in getting permission to start their research - the same difficulties I am facing with the university's Human Research Ethics Committee. They reminded me that I'm not alone in facing these issues, that research with children is constantly being roadblocked by ignorant and overprotective boards, but that ultimately the research is getting done and it is making a difference - children's voices are being heard in research as well as some areas of policy-making now, wherever there are researchers and advocates like us fighting with the overseeing boards to make space for the children's voices. Unfortunately, the difference is not yet being seen at the level of ethics boards - not even after 30 years of work.
It has been said that this new field of research which advocates for the rights of children as persons will be to the 21st century what feminism was to the 20th century. I hope they are right.
I hope that one day my children and grandchildren will not be faced with the dismissive attitude of "she's just a child", even by the most well-meaning "guardian" who seeks to "protect" that child by deciding everything for her.