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njlauren -> RE: Should books be subject to age restrictions? (3/29/2014 9:20:01 AM)
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I think the answer is no, that like others, it should be up to the parents. Deciding what is appropriate to read is hard, and even well meaning people do the wrong thing. Look at attempts to ban reading "Huck Finn" and "Merchant of Venice" in schools, or on a more venal note, the religiously stupid trying to ban Harry Potter books because they promote 'satanism' *sigh*.
As an avid reader from a young age I would take books out of the library from the 'adult' section, and would run into librarians who would object (funny part is, usually it was some young twit who probably just graduated from school or something; the older women would see a kid eager to read and would be like 'its okay, the kid's mother is right there, if the kid wants to read them, let him". I didn't always understand what I read, I remember reading Kurt Vonnegut when I was 10 or 11, and not understanding large parts of it, and my parents would ask me "do you understand it" and my response would be "I don't understand all of it, but that's okay, I'll read it again and eventually I will". And yes, I think it needs to be up to parents to decide, though it is a burden because how many of those books have the parents read? The problem with labels is that is based on the person who rates them, and a born again Christian type is going to rate a book differently than an "Auntie Mame" would do it (I loved the scene in Auntie Mame where she tells the boy that when he hears a word he doesn't understand, to write it down, and at a party he comes back with this list of words that, well, even she has a hard time explaining:) and it may not tell them anything.
The thing about kids reading books is that as someone else said, likely if it is something way out there, they won't understand it, and if they do understand it and are troubled, they will ask. I can remember reading books that mentioned sex, and my mom simply saying something like 'that is what people do to show love' without explaining it, or would explain it in terms I could understand. I generally with our kid was of the school 'if he wants to read it, let him', but we were also careful. We didn't read the harry potter books with him until he was a bit older, because we knew he at an earlier age would not like some of the darker stuff, a year or two later, he was fine. In the end, I am of the opinion that reading a book, even one with 'adult themes', will do far more good for the kid than any perceived harm, either because they won't understand the books tough sections, or can process it in their own way or with the help of it. I know that kids reading books, especially those who are reading "adult books" at an early age, end up testing out on reading ability way up there, I was reading on a college level in 6th grade, and freshman year of high school was reading at grad school level *shrug*.
It should also give pause that things like censorship, or labels or ratings, often are more about controlling what kids think and people think, or the ability to think, than preventing harm. The Texas State School board GOP members wanted to ban any curricula focused around critical reasoning, arguing it was need to protect "long held beliefs"...much censorship is based around the same idea, and kids are often the battleground.
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