Dangerous games: a comparison between teen’s behaviour and the characters of a ghost story.

By Renée Fredes

Have you played Ouija when you were an adolescent? In general, adolescents love this game, as it happens in the short story Amber. The young adult short story Amber is a ghost story excerpted from Spooky Texas (Tingle, T., Moore, D, Miller G., 2005) that shows an aspect of teen’s behaviour through the adolescent characters of the story.

The term young adult is defined by Pedak as “a member of the public who is in transition from childhood to adulthood; usually between ages of thirteen and eighteen” (as cited in De Voss, 2003). It has been found that Young Adult Literature (YAL) is very popular among adolescents. The main characteristics of this literature are stated by Small (1996) who considers that “a teenager is the main character of the story and the events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers. In addition, the actions and decisions of the main character are major in the outcome of the conflict” (as cited in Herz & Gallo, 1996). Amber can be used as YAL which means that this is a text that can be suitable for teens to read because it includes many characteristics that belong to YAL.

Different researches have shown that nowadays students are reluctant to read the classics texts, so teachers can use short stories as supportive reading in class. This paper compares the story character’s behaviour and that of adolescents. It also proposes to use Amber from the point of view of YAL in the classroom to engage students in reading. 

In this story, a group of five girls decide to play Ouija in spite of the fact that it is considered a dangerous game. The girls begin to play late at night and the planchette begins to move spelling the word “help”. They have made contact with an eight- year-old girl called Amber who is asking for help while the planchette spells the words water, danger and Alabama. The girls want to call the 911 but it was too late because Amber had disappeared. The next morning the news announced that in that place there had been flash floods and a girl called Amber had died.

Through the short story Amber, teens can realize that sometimes adolescents have the impulse to face dangerous situations without taking into account the consequences. According to Koelling (2004) “teens in the 10th grade become physical risk takers. They seek adventure and a wide range of experiences”. Though Ouija is said to be a very dangerous game, the five girls decide to play it all the same. Koelling (2004) herself writes,” Teens like to explore the unfamiliar, they like to learn.” The narrator anticipates this situation with the following words: 

“Oh, you hear the stories about how dangerous Ouija boards are but hey- it’s just a game”.

The characters in the short story feel free to play but one of the characters goes through a very strange situation, 

“Suddenly, a kind of electric shock buzzed through my fingers. I gasped and tried to pull my fingers from the planchette, but they were stuck.”

Koelling emphasizes that when adolescents are about 14 years old they are asserting independence, developing personal beliefs of right and wrong and will challenge other’s beliefs. These kinds of situations happen among adolescents in real life because in spite of knowing what is right and wrong they want to explore the limits.

During adolescence, many aspects of human beings are developed. In Profesor Robert Havighurst’s view, “to embrace a personal value system and demonstrate mature behaviour are some of the aspects that lead teens to adulthood”. (as cited in Koelling, 2004). The characters of the short story show a mature behaviour when they discover that they have made contact with a girl who is in problems while playing Ouija. They try to help her immediately calling the 9-1-1. They are really worried as it is expressed in the following example:

“Call 9-1-1, Mary cried suddenly. Quick, Amber is in danger”.

As mentioned previously, adolescence is the moment of life when the values that teens have acquired from childhood are challenged. Gail De Vos (2003) states, “young adults remold these values until they have established a value system that reflects the person who they are becoming”.

It’s important for EFL teachers to engage students in reading by means of stories that are meaningful for them. Gail De Vos is right in that “through stories young adults are able to try out their own fantasies without experiencing real life consequences”. In the short story Amber, the character has a new and risky experience playing Ouija. Teenagers can experiment the same feelings as the characters’ by reading this short story.

As mentioned previously, the short story Amber can be suitable to be read in the classroom because it shows how adolescents can behave in a dangerous game situation. This story can be a mirror where students can be reflected and, in that way, enjoy the reading. 

Adolescents and the characters of the short story Amber have many similitudes in their behaviour. Taking into account that adolescents seek adventure and new experiences, this ghost story can fulfil these needs. Teachers can take advantage of the interest that this short story produces in the adolescents to engage them in reading.

References

• De Vos, G (2003) Storytelling for Young Adults: A Guide to Tales for Teens. Westport, TC: Libraries Unlimited.
• Koelling, H (2004) Turning Teens on to Great Literature Westport, T C Libraries Unlimited.
• Herz, S & Gallo, D (1996), From Hilton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and The Classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Tingle, H, Moore, D, Miller, and G (2005) Spooky Texas. Texas Tech University Press.