Fionn is an ordinary child in an ordinary Irish primary school except for one thing – every day for half an hour, he goes to the back of the classroom and has to draw pictures. When he starts second class in school, he finds himself spending more and more time at the back of the classroom. One day the priest comes into class and asks all the children who is making their First Holy Communion. All hands go up except Fionn leading to the priest to ask him if he thinks he’s some sort of hero.
David Graham’s first children’s novel, published by LetterTec, may be the first book to tell the story of an “opted-out” child. In Ireland, almost 90% of primary schools are under the patronage of the Catholic church and teachers are expected to evangelise children into the Catholic faith. There are no resources or supports for schools to allow non-Catholic children to leave the classroom during faith formation classes, which are expected to be 30 minutes per day, every day, and even then, because faith is supposed to permeate throughout the school day, it can be very difficult for families who do not subscribe to Catholicism. The effect of this arrangement is that the majority of families do not opt out and teachers generally have to pretend to be religious in order to get a job in their interviews.
David brings to light the experiences of an opted out child, Fionn, sensitively. While important messages about the education system are introduced, they are never heavy-handed. Fionn’s teacher Miss Gray is portrayed as kind and respects Fionn’s right to opt out.
While Fionn is the hero of the story, his classmates are also portrayed as such. They all know they are different from each other and they all accept each other’s little quirks and personalities. There is a touching scene when a boy from another school teases Fionn for not making his Communion. When Fionn tells his classmates, they tell him how much they admire him for having to sit at the back of the classroom every day and never complain. I was left thinking if only the adults in the novel thought about how that must feel.
Classroom Hero charts some of the challenges of being opted out in a Catholic school, from the general drudgery of daily exclusion to having to explain oneself to adult visitors who inevitably wonder why a child is sitting away from his peers. There are some subtle references in the book, such as Fionn looking at the photographs on the wall of the classes each year that made their Communions, and obviously he is not in the class photo. He wonders how many other children are not in the photos.
There is another powerful scene at the end of the book where the school inspector comes in and Miss Gray asks the class to sing him a song from their Communion. The inspector and Miss Gray speak and Fionn cannot help but overhear the inspector refer to opting out as “not ideal.” Miss Gray retorts that it’s no problem because “we are a very inclusive” school. It’s a scene that many in the teaching profession should reflect upon.
Graham has written a very important book, in my view, and not only that, he has written it with good humour, sensitivity, and subtly addresses the daily discrimination faced by a growing number of children in Irish primary schools, without judgment. I believe teachers should read Classroom Hero to get a glimpse into the world of an “opted out” child and reflect on it. For families with opted out children, there is an irony to sending in the book with your child to read at the back of the classroom, but it will be time well spent.
Classroom Hero is published by LetterTec in Cork costing €12, and I highly recommend it.