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

[Hrhpd]

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

Exactly. If a child wants to read something, they will find a way. One of my children was in 4th grade when all the hoopla about banning Harry Potter was popular. There were parent groups screaming to keep it out of schools and children having to go to other rooms if teachers discussed it.

My kid had plenty of friends whose parents forbid them to read the book come over and read it at our house. Others just read it at school in the library. The more you ban a book, the more enticing it will be to the child. Not a bad way though to get a non-reader to become interested in a book though

 

[Floridaman999]

Yes

 

[Disney1fan2002]

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.

10 year old is not a teenager. The OP asked if teens should be able to read novels with mature themes. Of course books should be vetted for elementary aged children who are advanced and reading novels.

 

[Meriweather]

My son was reading Stephen King in 5th grade. His teacher was borrowing books from him

 

[tcufrog]

I had an older sister and my parents had no idea what I was reading. I do try to keep an eye on what my kids are reading though. For me, the appropriate age for a book depends on the kid.

 

[JLTraveling]

Before I was born, my parents went out and bought all the frequently banned books to create a library for me. They also bought me whatever books I asked for, and shared books they bought for themselves that they thought I would like. I was a very early, very advanced reader, and I devoured everything from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles to Torey Hayden's nonfiction about her work in special education to the original Grimm fairy tales by the time I was 8. I can't fathom censoring what kids read.

 

[Jennasis]

In elementary and middle school my sister and I would read whatever my dad was reading (Stephen King, Dean koontz etc.) I found out many years later that Dad had removed the pages from IT that had the group sex scene in it knowing we would swipe his books, but otherwise we were left to read everything we wanted.

 

[sk!mom]

my DS was/is an avid reader so I never paid much attention to what he was reading. He needed no encouragement from me and I don’t believe in censorship.

My DD didn’t enjoy reading so I constantly recommended good books to her in elementary not for censorship purposes but just to try and develop a love of reading. The Harry Potter series and Kate DiCamillo’s books were some of her elementary school faves.

By their teen years they were both choosing their own books with no input from me whatsoever for DS since he loves Genres that I do not so I have no suggestions. DD enjoys the same type of books that I do so she will often ask for my suggestions.

My suggestions were never about censorship though. Just encouragement to enjoy a good book.

 

[pezgirlroy]

I will not censor reading. Granted I probably don't want my kids to read Flowers in the Attic when she is 10 like I did but still. (As an aside, I found it at my grandmother's and my parents didn't know).

 

[cedricandsophie]

If a kid is willing and excited to read, I think he/she should be encouraged to read almost anything except hard porn. I’d rather have them curious and interested about a variety of topics than stuck on their phone or video games.

 

[gillep]

I am very thankful that my parents never censored my reading. I read a wide array of genres, and always have, reading has always been my favorite 'hobby'. I am positive I read very adult content during my teen years and younger, and it was not a problem for me.

 

[TavieP]

I would never dream of telling a kid what they can or can't read - if they wanna read, let them read. (I guess I'd draw the line at young children and, like, pornography, but other than that... reading is reading.)

My mom never put any kind of restrictions on me and I was reading all kinds of books, including a period in sixth grade when all the girls were passing around those trashy VC Andrews books. I read adult books as a kid, and learned from them. Nothing I read scarred me, even the Andrews and the Stephen King.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I grew up reading Ellen Hopkins books in my personal time and read a lot of classics like 1984, In Cold Blood, etc. in high school. Didn't bother my mom.

 

[cabanafrau]

I would only step in if I felt my child wasn't emotionally or psychologically mature enough to handle the content. There's such a thing as being cognitively up to the reading of the words on the page, but being ill equipped to handle heavy material that involves topics like suicide, drug usage, the subtleties involved in engaging in sexual behavior, the overall context of violent behavior, etc.

I never had to intervene when my daughters were growing up, but if I had ever felt one of them was particularly suggestible, showing signs of depression or any other indications of vulnerability to influence in a way that made me think I needed to particularly monitor things I would have.

Ironically the one that I would have kept from reading certain subject matter took care of self limiting and still does as an adult. She does not like scary stuff, won't read or watch it. Something like reading Amityville Horror would have meant an entire household not getting a good night's sleep for I don't even want to think how many months. Her sister would have been able to handle the reading challenge of the words on the page by the time she was eight and wouldn't have blinked an eyelash at the subject matter. It all depends on the reader.

 

[tzolkin]

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 sister passed the Twilight books on to my oldest daughter. She also coordinated a dinner and movie evening one night with my other sister, daughter, and my mom. A kissing scene came on and my mom went to cover daughter's eyes and daughter said loudly, "Don't worry, Grandma. They don't have sex until the third book." My mom started yelling at my sister while we were still in the theater for giving her granddaughter inappropriate reading material, sister started trying to justify that it was "tastefully done", and since none of the rest of us had read the books she looked at my daughter to back her up saying, "Right, niece, don't you think it was tastefully done."

 

[indimom]

I never restricted books. But I read raunchy romance novels at a pretty young age. Twilight and Harry Potter were tame by comparison. Ha Ha

 

[portocall]

I will not censor my children when it comes to reading. They can read anything they like. I was a huge reader and when I came across things I want ready for I tended to gloss over it or file it for later. I sent most of my twenties going, Oh, NOW I get it.

I did have my son's school librarian threaten to call child protective services on me when I asked that my fifth grader be allowed to check out books from the young adult section. He wanted to read the Harry Potter books. Talk about drama.

I love when kids read. It makes my heart happy

 

[indimom]

I will not censor my children when it comes to reading. They can read anything they like. I was a huge reader and when I came across things I want ready for I tended to gloss over it or file it for later. I sent most of my twenties going, Oh, NOW I get it.

I did have my son's school librarian threaten to call child protective services on me when I asked that my fifth grader be allowed to check out books from the young adult section. He wanted to read the Harry Potter books. Talk about drama.

I love when kids read. It makes my heart happy

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

 

[QueenIsabella]

Assuming a normal kid, I don't know why anyone would censor a teen's reading choices. Even if you think a book is awful--I personally hate Stephen King, don't think his books are worth the paper they're printed on. But, I wouldn't stop my kid from reading them.

I did censor when my kids were little. I had one reading adult books by the age of 4--she loved reading the Wall Street Journal at that age. We felt there were subjects she just wasn't ready to process, even if she had the comprehension. She has an older sister who was 15 when the younger was 4--older DD could read anything, but we had her keep her books in her room, away from prying eyes.

 

[LadyBeBop]

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.

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.