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

You can censor all you want, but it won't change what your child reads and might, in fact, be incentive for them to read things you'd rather they wouldn't read. You cannot stop your child from reading what they want to read unless you're also contemplating locking them in their room, depriving them of the Internet, sending them away to a totalitarian regime in another country, and/or keeping them isolated from every other human being on earth.
 
I went to a Catholic grade school in the late 1960s/early 1970s when "Go Ask Alice" came out. The grade ahead of me had to read it when they were in 7th grade.

The summer after that, there was an administration change (new principal, a number of new teachers). The new 8th graders were assigned a paper about their favorite book. A few of them wrote about "Go Ask Alice."

And the teachers were shocked.

And those children were actually punished for writing about such a horrible novel. Since they were not "Godly," they were relegated to very minor roles in the annual 8th grade Christmas play, even though some were good actors/singers.

Fast forward to me. Yes, I read the book on my own; I think I was in 7th or 8th grade. No, I didn't tell my teachers. Yes, my parents knew. They bought the book several years earlier for my older sister (who was already in high school when the new administration came in).

No, it did not make me want to take drugs. Or have sex. Or do many of the things mentioned in the book.

Except one.

There was a scene in which Alice washed her hair in mayonnaise to get a sheen in her hair. Yes, I washed my hair in mayo. All I got from it was greasy hair.
Agreed! Didn't make me rush out and drop acid or go to Coos Bay.I didn't try the mayo trick,so you're one up on me!
 
I am an avid reader and I would read anything that I could get my hands on as is my mother. She never censored anything that i read. Looking back the was ONE thing I wish she WOULD have censored!!!!

Somehow I got a hold of a copy of Helter Skelter when I was about 11. It was about the time Manson was about to come up for parole. You talk about scary the living daylights out of me! But, I still read it all, that's a kid for ya !!!:rotfl2: I wouldn't read it past 4 pm or I couldn't sleep at night!

That was the one book/movie that I would never let my kids have anything to do with until their late teens. It creeped out that badly :eek:
 
What is a 'mature theme' like in a science fiction or science fantasy novel? Is it any different from a mature theme in any other novel?

Teens should read whatever they like to read. I think reading is a dying art, BTW. Most people either wait until the movie comes out, or at least just listen to the audio version. I work at a high school, and kids brag about never reading a book. I bite my tongue from replying, but in my head I'm hearing "It shows!" So if a teen wants to read? By all means, let him or her!
 


Wow!! That's some serious crazy right there. I know tons of fifth graders who've read "young adult" books. CPS? Wow!

The full story. The school librarian at the time belonged to a very conservative church. She took issue with so many of the books and either got rid of them or moved them to the young adult section which was only for the middle school. My oldest son had a late birthday and my middle son missed the school cut off by a couple of days. I bring that up because my middle son was actually many months older than my older son was when he able to use the young adult section based on grade level when I made the request.

So I knew that there was a form to fill out and sign that would allow middle son to check out Harry Potter 4-8 so I went down to the library to do that for him. While I was there I noticed that there were a lot of good books in there that middle son would love so I asked what I could do to allow him access to the whole section. The librarian's head nearly spun around. She was horrified. She made the case that the material was inappropriate for anyone and if she could have her way she would get rid of all of them. I told her I understood her position but mine was that I don't mind him reading anything he enjoys regardless of the content. I also told her that age wise, middle was already 6 months older than his brother when he was granted access to the whole section without a release form. She insisted that the only way was to fill out a form for every single book individually so I asked for a list of every book and the release forms so I could do it over the weekend. Then she told me "his father" would also have to sign each form also. Implying that would be a hardship. I told her that my husband has the same philosophy on books that I have and he will gladly sign. We played chicken until I went to the copy machine and started copying the form. At that point I think she realized I was dead serious and agreed to let me sign one form for the whole section. When I went to leave she told me that she had "serious reservations about my parenting style and seeing that she was a mandatory reporter she would be obligated to call CPS". I shrugged my shoulders and told her to be my guest. I could imagine how that call would go. "I would like to report this family for allowing their son to read books.". What I didn't tell her was my husband was over CPS in our area at the time so we would have gotten a head's up if we were going to be investigated just because he was aware of all the active investigations. That said, we would have been investigated pretty thoroughly had it come to that and could have been career ending for my DH had abuse been found. It wouldn't have been because we don't abuse our kids but it still made me so angry. Either she didn't call or the state office discarded the complaint, luckily for her because I was prepared to launch several complaints of my own had it become a real mess.

My son ended up loving the young adult section and received a special award for reading over a million words that school year.
 
I am an avid reader and I would read anything that I could get my hands on as is my mother. She never censored anything that i read. Looking back the was ONE thing I wish she WOULD have censored!!!!

Somehow I got a hold of a copy of Helter Skelter when I was about 11. It was about the time Manson was about to come up for parole. You talk about scary the living daylights out of me! But, I still read it all, that's a kid for ya !!!:rotfl2: I wouldn't read it past 4 pm or I couldn't sleep at night!

That was the one book/movie that I would never let my kids have anything to do with until their late teens. It creeped out that badly :eek:
I think I was about that age, maybe a year or two older when I read it too. Good Gravy! I was so creeped out and just so nauseated that people could really be like that! I'm not even sure I finished reading it. Don't really want to either :)
 
My opinion is that books should never have age restrictions. Read whatever interests you and allow kids to do the same. Along those lines, no one is too old for picture books either.
 


I have never really censored my kids' reading, with a few exceptions at the extremes (ie, I have Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy along with her Vampire Chronicles series on my bookshelf... but that trilogy was off-limits when my daughter started reading her books in 5th grade). My mom didn't either. I went through a Stephen King phase in 5th grade and when my teacher started confiscating my "inappropriate" books she had no problem telling him that I had her permission to read whatever I liked. Like a few others on this thread, I blew through those trashy VC Andrews sagas in late elem/early middle school, after finding them cheap at a garage sale, and didn't suffer any lasting harm.
 

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