Books to get age limits?
Categories: Teens & tweens, In the news, Education, That's entertainment
Who should decide whether a book is age appropriate for your child? Is it you? Is it her teacher? How about the librarian? What about the entire education system? Or, perhaps the publisher? In a move that is sure to gain controversy, publishers are attempting to put age-appropriate information on the covers of their books.
The guidelines would be much those of the movies, which determine what may or may not be appropriate for someone of a given age. Authors among others are vehemently against such guidelines. Among them is none other than J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books (the movies of which naturally are advertised with such guidelines). Also among them is Philip Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials books on which the movie the Golden Compass was based.
Pullman perhaps put it best when he said that by adding age limits it would exclude a group of readers and that he doesn't want to do that. I would imagine the last thing an author would want is to have fewer readers of his books! Look, I read Clan of the Cave Bear when perhaps I was a little too young to fully understand it--but I turned out all right. I think books are different than movies, somehow, but I can't put my finger on it. I don't know how I feel about age guidelines for movies--those don't mean anything anymore as the studios use them to get more viewers--but I can't say I champion the idea of putting restrictions on books. Henry Miller will spin in his grave!
Pic by Nils Geylen.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jan Bay 7-19-2008 @ 12:38PM
When I was a kid we had a librarian that would actually remove books from your stack when you went to check them out if she felt that you didn't need to read them!
Now that I'm an adult, I realize how wrong she was to do this! She had no idea of what my reading level might have been and it
wasn't like I was trying to borrow Portnoy's Complaint or some other book with adult subject matter. She would just cull the ones she felt were out of my "grade level".
Once when the "evil librarian" took over half my books a girl pulled me aside on my way out the door and told me how to get around the evil one's censorship; you scheduled your visit to the library when she took her lunch break. The girl told me that her relief would pass all the books through. We "high fived" and laughed and guess what? It worked like a charm!
The funny thing about this story is that the girl who gave me the tip went on to write two books that were bestsellers and international successes! I saw her the other day in town walking her dog and laughed to myself remembering our strategy for reading the books we wanted to read. It certainly worked out well for her. I heard her advance for her last novel was over a million.
Jan from http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/
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ninainindia 7-19-2008 @ 12:49PM
I am against this. Books are there to learn from, to explore and just as you said if something is too adult it will probably go over the child's head.
Also the library is already divided in children's and adult's section and book stores are the same. I see no need to make further distinctions.
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Gloria 7-19-2008 @ 11:01PM
Books should not be restricted based on age. When I was in elementary and middle school my reading level was well beyond my grade so I read a great deal of adult novels...not the romance ones...they aren't my taste. If they were restricted then what was I suppose to read. should readers have to resort to reading outside of their level. Why must everything be censored and restricted? Who is it that decides what we allow our children to read, watch, play, and do? With all these new restrictions popping up, it certainly doesn't seem like it's the parents job anymore. So who exactly decided the parents should give up that responsibility?
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t- 7-20-2008 @ 11:11AM
I think this a splendid idea way past it's time. For those of us who worry about the content of the books our children are reading it would be a huge help in determining whether we feel it is an appropriate read for our children's comprehension.
This isn't about grade level or ability, just as the movie ratings are not about that either. It is about what the child might be introduced to or subjected to which might be inappropriate for his/her age. The imagination is much stronger than visual perception and something read that is inappropriate might have consequences beyond simply being exposed to the words.
It would be helpful because I don't have time to screen every book my children want to read and relying on the blurb or scanning a few pages isn't always helpful enough to make a sure decision. As with all other ratings guidlines it could be used as just that, a guideline for which parents can use the information to make educated decisions for or against the reading of a particular book by their child.
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Heather 7-22-2008 @ 9:52PM
Many libraries do this. I am glad. I work in a library and we just received some very adult graphic novels. I don't know why we even bought these books they are so bad. This book was horrendous one scene involved abouted fetuses! What kind of person writes this stuff. It has me worried. These books make Stephen King look like kids books.
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Lee 8-04-2008 @ 12:34PM
Another author firmly against this is Stephanie Meyer, bestselling author of the Twilight series. Quoting her, "You belong anywhere a good book is," in reference to one of her more recent books that was regarded as 'adult,' though her most famous 4-part series is 'teen.'
Restricting something as great as books is just silly. It's restricting thought. If you can find something they like to read, why not? If it's got inappropriate subject matter, read it with them! Share your thoughts on what you find inappropriate, and help them put it in perspective. It'll be a wondrous bonding experience.
Chances are, 6-year-old children won't be venturing into the teen and adult sections. Around 9 or 10 years old is when kids begin venturing into the teen section, and at this age you can gently guide them toward an appropriate choice. But by 13, 14, or 15, when they may look at books with more adult subject matter, they'll have already heard anything bad that could lie on the pages at school. If you restrict what they're allowed to read and watch at that age? Darn right they'll get it from a friend whose parents aren't so vigilant--and you'll have less chance to put the inappropriate content in perspective.
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