Is a Theme of Drug Addiction Too Mature for a Dramatic Story for 5th/6th Graders?

Published January 9, 2014

Question by Squaa: Is a theme of drug addiction too mature for a dramatic story for 5th/6th graders?
I am currently writing a dramatic children’s story about a dog that is raised as a fighting dog and then is released from that environment. If I continue down this path, one of the dogs’ owners will be a drug addict. Although the dug addiction would definitely be small undertone, there would be many obvious references to drugs throughout the story. I could feasibly avoid this path, but it would make things a bit difficult, as the character’s drug addiction serves as a catylist for numerous events and it provides a source of conflict and tension in an otherwise peaceful part of the story. What do you all think?

Best answer:

Answer by random dude
Well you do learn about drugs and the dangers of drugs in health class around that age, and you are highlighting the bad things about them, so I would say you can go for it!

Answer by Mike Yurosek
make drugs look like fun games so it doesn’t get too dramatic and mature for the kids.