[blparent] Censoring reading?

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

I'm absolutely amazed at the response to this question.  I'm a liberal
person, but this list is making me feel like my conservative Christian
mother.  I can't, by any stretch of the imagination, understand why
anyone would think it appropriate for a child who is 9, 10, 11-years-old
to read a Stephen King novel.  And we wonder why kids are the way they
are today.

It is not about censoring, sheltering or denying kids, but as a parent,
we should provide, to the best of our abilities, a safe, loving
environment.  Stephen King novels are full of graphic violent, sexual,
dark material that is just not appropriate for a child who at 9 to 12
years of age is still at a formative age.

To say that they will be exposed to certain things anyway is an excuse
to not deal with it.  Even a mature child is not ready to be confronted
with such graphic material that will influence them.

And to encourage any reading just because it is reading is an absurd
argument.  I'm a writer so literacy is important to me, and I encourage
reading probably more than anything else.  But there is a reason we have
the term age-appropriate.  King is not writing for children, and his
books are not advertised to children.  Why, as a parent, would you want
to expose your young child to graphic content?  And maybe we need to
define literacy.  Just because a book is published, it does not mean it
is quality reading material.

What are you doing to provide any alternative?  How does your child even
know about King novels?  How is allowing a young child to read about
graphic rape scenes, or detailed bloody violence, or be confronted with
disturbing images, in any way, shape or form appropriate?  Would you let
them watch a movie with this graphic of content?  Well, if you think a
King novel is appropriate reading material at this age, I've probably
answered my own question.

And if a child really wants to read suspenseful or scary stories, there
are age-appropriate alternatives such as R. L. Stein's Goosebump series
or even the Hardy Boys.  As the parent, it should be our responsibility
to protect, not shelter, but protect.  That they will be exposed to
certain things is not a viable argument.  Communicate why you feel
Stephen King is not appropriate, and say it is for adults, provide them
with alternative reading material that will satisfy the itch to read a
horror or suspense novel, but that is written for kids.

How anyone can justify extremely graphic content that is violent, dark
and sexual is beyond me.  You really want your child reading gory
details of people being raped, bludgeoned and murdered?  You want to be
the one exposing them to dark, often disturbing, subject matter?  So can
I let my 9, 10, 11, 12-year-old watch porn?  I don't see a huge leap
there.  Even if well-written, King is completely inappropriate for kids
this age.

And if King is the only reading your kid will do to replace TV or the
computer, you have bigger problems on your hands.

What happened to letting kids be kids?  Why do we rush to eliminate the
innocence of childhood that makes us believe in good, and that we can do
anything?  Why are we all so eager for our children to be aware of the
dark, horrible side of life?  We can educate our kids on certain things
especially with so many bad occurrences like abuse and pedophilia, but
we can present it in an age-appropriate manner.

As a kid who grew up in an abusive environment, I'm very aware- have
been from my earliest memories- of how dark the world can be.  Yes King
is fiction, but as liberal as I am, supporting many liberal issues, it
absolutely makes me feel sick that an intelligent parent would believe
Stephen King is appropriate reading material for a child not even out of
grammar school.

I know I'm ostracizing myself here, and probably blacklisting myself,
but I think it's insanity to intentionally expose young children to
graphic content that was written for the intention of adults, not young
kids.  Good luck to you.