The Editor, Sir:

Kindly allow me some space to query the appropriateness of some of the content related to the Grade 6 English Language curriculum. The sentences below are taken from Mastering Vocabulary Book 5, published by Caribbean Educational Publishers.

'My neighbours were tortured and robbed of their money and other belongings.'

'After the insane man killed his relative he hacked her body to pieces.'

'The schoolboy was incarcerated for possessing an aggressive weapon.'

'At the report of the security guard's gun, the thieves took to their heels.'

'The drugs were brought illegally into our country.'

My question is whether our children aged 10-12 need to reflect on sentences with such violent, graphic content to learn vocabulary, grammar and punctuation?

I am, etc.,

ELIZABETH PIGOU-DENNIS

gouden@yahoo.com

Kingston 6

Via Go-Jamaica