Would you let your teen read novels with mature themes in them?

AnimationFan94

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
When I was in middle school my parents and teachers had no problem with me reading Tom Clancy novels. I lived in a suburban area next to a military base. Everyone was pro military. My middle school communication arts teachers were huge fans of the show 24. This was in the 2000s.

When I got to college I got tired of military stuff and got into space adventure. Mass Effect, The Expanse, The Culture, etc. I ate it all up!

Should mature teens read space opera novels to become more supportive of space exploration and give them a sense of wonder of what may be out there in space?

Can mature teens handle stuff like this?
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when I was a teen reading was very much encouraged. I used to save and buy books in thrift shops. I found so many interesting and different genres that way, books I might not have found if I had just been buying new books from Barnes and Noble. Parents and adults shouldnt limit teens to the subject matter or genre, as each person is different. What is fascinating and exciting to read for one person can be boring to another person. Let teens find their own way, reading books is whats important, not the subject matter or genre.
 


I don’t think I’d ever tell my teens what they could or couldn’t read. They can read whatever they want to.

My son was an avid reader as a child and was reading Steven king and dean koontz at age 7-8. He blew though those books and even though the subject matter was sometimes more mature it was worth it to see him so engaged in reading.

These days he’s almost 20, doesn’t ever read books anymore but has a very good vocabulary and speaks very well. I attribute it to his love of reading as a child.
 
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I think it depends on the kid. I had very avid readers. They read SO much. But...Even though they had advanced reading levels they didn't necessarily read advanced content. Well, I'd say that their advanced content was more of the older classics. Yes, they had some advanced content but it wasn't so much explicit adult content and the like. I did tell my freshman one year not to read Lady Chatterly's Lover. At least until she was older. At the time, I'm sure she wasn't real happy but now she is. Same went for my middle dd who wanted to read the twilight series at 12. I flat out said no way. Reason being, it was cruddy writing for one, I didn't want her getting the notion that it was ok to react like that for some boy or that it was ok for a boy to stare at and pine for you out your window and she really internalized and took every thing so intensely that I knew she couldn't handle it. She was very thankful as well when she finally read it. My youngest probably has been the one to read the most. And the most with more mature content. And now she doesn't read "books" all that often anymore. She sits on her phone and reads fanfiction. I have a like/dis-like relationship with fanfiction. I know it can be good but the ones she has had me read...goog night nurse! Really bad.
 
I read Clockwork Orange- at school- at 12.
One of my high school teachers actually screened that movie for the class! Or rather, he did for about 15 minutes & then turned it off red-faced and asked us not to tell our parents. He obviously hadn't previewed it...
 


Imo it depends on the quality of the book and the intellegence of the teen. If it's a book of real literary significance then I'd let a smart teen read it regardless of mature theming.
 
I have a 10 yo advanced reader and I struggle with this too. I want him to be challenged in his reading, but at the same time I worry about the maturity of the content. He read the Hunger Games a few months ago and liked it, but I am still not sure if he really grasped what was happening in the book especially with the political issues and the symbolism behind it.
 
I don't have kids but I think kids should read all they want as teens. Libraries are a great place to get so many books that expand their horizons because there is no cost to trying something new. My grandfather took us to the library for as long as I can remember. We would check out bags full and come home and read read read.
 
When I was a teen,the big book to read was "Go Ask Alice".It was a diary about drug addiction.Was supposed to be true,but really wasn't.Material was disturbing,so my Mom read it first,then gave me the go ahead.Eye opening to say the least.
 
My children were allowed to read anything they wanted. We had everything from non-fiction to playboy magazines in the house. We do not believe in any kind of censorship when it comes to reading.

In fact, many of the more controversial items were a great springboard to intelligent discussions on the materials. We did believe that with freedom also comes responsibility as parents to be available to discuss, even initiating discussions if we felt necessary.
 
When I was in middle school my parents and teachers had no problem with me reading Tom Clancy novels. I lived in a suburban area next to a military base. Everyone was pro military. My middle school communication arts teachers were huge fans of the show 24. This was in the 2000s.

When I got to college I got tired of military stuff and got into space adventure. Mass Effect, The Expanse, The Culture, etc. I ate it all up!

Should mature teens read space opera novels to become more supportive of space exploration and give them a sense of wonder of what may be out there in space?

Can mature teens handle stuff like this?
41085049.jpg

12591698.jpg

51PR6d7nsbL.jpg

12007.jpg

51UYNFts25L._SX302_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
I'm shocked you got into space adventures!! ;)

And to answer your question.....do what you feel is right; you know your teen better than we do.
 
In the 7th/8th grade I read The Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and Lord of the Flies. I heard some rumors that theoretically we needed parental permission for those books because of certain adult themes in them.

I did read The Right Stuff as a senior in high school, which was required reading over winter break. That included a lot of profanity and talk of extramarital activity. I guess they thought we were mature enough to read that.
 
I swiped my mother's copy of Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann when I was about 11 and devoured it.
 
I don't censor my teen's reading. Whether he's choose to read the specific examples you mentioned or even the genre, I don't know, but I wouldn't stop him from reading them.
 
At eleven, I read Gone with the Wind which I found on my aunt's book shelf. She was not sure I should mention it to my folks, but they wouldn't have minded.
 
How exactly would I stop them? They weren't at home 100% of the time. Good grief. It's a BOOK. I encouraged mine to read. I'd be happy they were reading. I *might* comment on whether I thought it a good choice, but I would not stop them
 
I was reading Stephen King in 4th grade. The OLD Stephen King, when his books were truly scary, and vulgar. My mom had no idea what I was reading, and I am glad she didn't. She just saw I was reading and encouraged it.

Elementary children, yes. Teenagers? No way. Let them read whatever they want.
 

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