The classic American novel Of Mice and Men will no longer be studied at GCSE in Wales from next September. John Steinbeck's text, set in the 1930s, has been a mainstay of the English literature qualification for many years but there have been concerns about racism and the use of racial slurs in the novel. Wales' Children's Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes welcomed the move and said that having to discuss the book in class had been "psychologically and emotionally" harmful for some black children.
The WJEC exam board said it had selected "a wide range" of "appropriate and inclusive texts" as part of a new English language and literature GCSE. Ms Cifuentes said many black children had "specifically mentioned this text and the harm that it caused them" when she spoke to them as part of research on racism in secondary schools. She said it was important to have "opportunities for positive, constructive, informed discussions on race and racism" but there were "alternative texts available, which could still offer the same opportunities but in a less directly harmful way".
"It's not censorship," she said. "This is safeguarding the wellbeing of children who have told us how awful those discussions have made them feel in those classrooms..
. they've very often been the only black child in that classroom when discussions all around them are focusing on very derogatory, negative depictions of black people". Marley, 16, listened to the audio book with the rest of the class when he studied Of M.
