Comment

Comment by LaTonya on November 8, 2009 at 11:02am

Let me open by saying I'm a vocal, very active literacy advocate and I focus on YA literature. I founded and ran a real life group for teens for years as well as built a library collection and ran the library for years so when I speak I'm pulling on experience with real teens. I'm also the mother of two daughters twenty-four and fourteen. I don't censor their reading and neither of them is scarred from their choices of reading material. Now the music and entertainment influences, that's a discussion for another time.

Do they have a moral duty to protect the young minds of their readers?


Define young. And who determines what is appropriate and moral? Drinking, drugs and promiscuity in many YA books are not there for a titillation factors solely. On the other hand I could rant for days how Twilight is soft chastity porn and this is read by mothers and daughters. All the titillation you could want but that's ok because they get married before they do the deed. Mothers, teachers and other adults lavishing praise on Myers. I digress.

Back to your question about responsibility. No, it's not the writers' responsibility it's mine, the parent. Frankly, I'm tired of parents abdicating their responsibility and screaming everyone else should be held accountable for their children's moral and social development. The writer's responsibility is to write authentically. They should be neither condescending nor preachy. Tell the story as they know it and respect the reader to draw their own conclusions. I loathe those simplistic, overtly moral tales designed solely to teach kids some lesson.

I'm a literacy advocate and while there is something to be said for morality and responsibility there is also something very dangerous about censorship. Don't think something is appropriate for your child, by all means don't allow them to read it. But I don't want someone else (and those others rarely bother to ask or educate themselves about what I value to begin with) dictating what is appropriate for my child or anyone else.

And to the point about the vast age range and diversity of what is being marketed as YA, it falls back to parents and readers to educate themselves about the genre. Educators are trained to know standards to shelve based on industry standards. Since it is their business to know, I trust their assessments as a benchmark and then it's up to me to decide what is appropriate for a particular child.

Today's YA has evolved in significant ways from the days when I was a young reader. In fact, if what is available today had been available when I was younger, I would have read more of it.

For me, the media and entertainment industry is where I'd hold folks feet to the fire because in these arenas gratuitous sex, negative body images and misogynistic messaging is the norm.

Literature more often than not at its core is an examination of who we are, what we want and value and how we correct or embrace what we think of ourselves and our societies.

I'm not arguing anything goes. I am arguing responsibility rests first with the parent not the writer. No writer sets out to corrupt children.

Comment by Bethany Keeley on November 7, 2009 at 8:00pm

Maybe I will change my mind if I ever become a parent, but I remember reading books with mature content as a young teen, and it provided a safe way for me to learn about those parts of life (some of which I never have experienced for myself).
I don't think KNOWING about things like drugs, drinking and promiscuity will make kids do them. If those things are portrayed realistically in a book, it might give readers a more realistic idea of the consequences without having to learn about them the hard way. Maybe the most important ethical concern about sensitive material anytime is to deal with it honestly.

Comment by Patricia Caspers on November 6, 2009 at 12:13pm

Thanks so much for writing about this issue. I used to be on the side of "whatever gets them to read," but that's when my daughter was six and reading _Captain Underpants_. Now that she's twelve, the question is a bit trickier for me. I try to read most of what my daughter is reading, so we can discuss it, but it's not always possible. I guess I've come to the idea that it's my job as a parent to pay attention to what my kids are getting into and talk to them about it.

Comment by Lea Beresford on November 6, 2009 at 7:55am

Thanks Becky!

Comment by Rebecca Rodskog on November 6, 2009 at 5:41am

Lea, I have a hard time with this as well. As an actress and a mom, I've found myself asking this question a lot. On the one hand, we as artists need to do what sells or our art form might go away. And let's face it - it's hard to always have the "impact" of our work in mind when we are creating....but I do think we have a responsibility, not just as artists, but as citizens of this lovely world, to understand that we DO have an impact. And we need to think it through and own up to the responsibility of that. And I believe that if we have the opportunity to be a positive influence, we should do so. Good food for thought Lea - thanks for your post!

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