One child came back from school with a copy of the dreadful Shirley Jackson story "The Lottery" in hand. Along with _Lord of the Flies_ it's a chunk of Cold War libertarian propaganda - so I promptly handed them a copy of Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas". I don't know if Le Guin actually intended her story as a point-by-point refutation of "The Lottery" but it does a magnificent job of exposing the underlying ideology and challenging it, right down to the question of what is acceptable in literature for 12 year olds - "Omelas" overtly discusses sex and drugs, with gentle humour, and condemns violence, while "The Lottery" features prudes who practice ritual murder.
If anyone here is teaching "The Lottery" or has a child for whom it is prescribed reading, I heartily suggest Le Guin's antidote to cultural poisoning.

@yetiinabox I might also suggest Brave New World and 1984- BNW has the layered irony that the child might need pointed out (not a hand holding, I consider most 12 year olds quite bright enough- but just point out that it's intentionally supposed to be a flawed and broken society).

1984 is disquieting, but also a good read, and there's a lot there to look into.

Both of these are pretty good at illustrating the dangers of accepting surface values, and contain some interesting thoughts.

@Oggie @yetiinabox

I read both 1984 and BNW at around 12 yo off my own bat. I found 1984 merely depressing; fascist dictatorships are bad for your health. Gee. BNW was more challenging. It's supposed to be a dystopia, but almost everyone is happy and well adjusted to their society. The only way Huxley could make it look bad was by introducing an unsophisticated religious bigot as viewpoint character.

Also neither society could work as described, which makes them difficult to critique.