From the TV show "The Middle":
Sue is a teenage girl and the daughter on the show. She wears braces, has long stringy red hair that's unmanageable, and bit larger than other girls. She does not "fit in", but she does try. She has a great heart and would do anything for anyone.
In one episode she was in the car with her best friend and a "popular girl" who had asked for a ride home. The popular was complaining about how hard geometry class was and how she hated the teacher. Sue of course, seeing a chance to maybe make a new friend, especially with a popular girl, invites her to come to her house to do geometry homework together. The popular girl jumps at the chance to get help and comes over to Sue's house. The three girls worked on geometry together and things were going fine. When Sue leaves the table to go get something from her room, the popular girl invited Sue's friend to a sleepover that weekend. Her friend said, "Sue and I would love to come...that would be great!" However, the popular girl said that there wasn't enough room for Sue. To top it off, the girl called sue the next day to borrow a sleeping bag for the party and of course, Sue, being the kind person she is said, "Sure, I'd be happy to lend it to you." Fortunately, Sue's dad, who did realize what was going on, was able to keep the truth from her and they had a father-daughter movie night.
As you can see, Sue was just being used by this girl who was being mean, unfair, thoughtless, and self-centered. This problem Sue has of "fitting in" can be seen as a social issue.
How did Sue's story make you feel?
How did her dad feel?
Do you think real kids have to deal with social issues?
If I were to give this social issue a name or label, I could call it prejudice. The popular girl had the idea Sue was a geek. She judged Sue by her appearance, and decided it was okay to treat her that way because of it.
Turn to a partner and discuss what you would label the issue.
Often the stories we read have hidden lessons about how the character faces problems in the world, called social issues. Understanding these kind of issues helps us understand the story better and also makes us think about the kind of people we should be.
Let's look at this chart and discuss some of the social issues and the feelings they can create.
You will read several picture books that relate to one or more social issues. Use this form to keep track of the books you've read and your thinking.