I have been wanting to do a discussion post on the topic of Censoring reading for teens for a while now. So I thought today was a good day to post it and hopefully we can all discuss our feelings on this subject.
Are you a parent who censors what your teen reads?
I am a mother of 3 girls and my oldest is 15 years old. She loves to read Manga, but she also reads books that I read and review on the blog. I will answer my own question above and you might be surprised at my answer. Growing up, my parents didn’t really censor the books I read. They didn’t read a book first to make sure it was okay for my age level. With children of my own now, I follow the same principles. I never read a book and tell my daughter she is not allowed to read it. If she has questions about a book, I am glad to answer them, but I don’t get upset about any book she chooses to read. My library at home is in an open area. Whenever she wants to read a book she is welcome to grab one and read it. Some people disagree with this because I do have some erotica books on my shelves. My daughter may ask about those books, but once I tell her what kind of book they are she passes it by. I asked her one day if she is ever tempted to read them. She always tells me no and she also tells me how she appreciates me not hiding them from her. I feel that my daughter is smart enough to know what is right and wrong, and she also has the smarts to choose what is appropriate to read. If she happens to read a young adult book that touches on subjects that are geared more toward the older teens, she knows she can ask questions about it and not feel like I am going to be hard on her for reading it. This isn’t to say I would approve of her reading some of my racy books, but I certainly am not going to hold her back in reading. There is too much censorship in schools to have to be scared to read a book at home.
Are you a teen who’s parents censor what you read?
How does this make you feel? Do you wish your parents would give you more freedom in what you read? How do you feel about the censorship of books in your school? Maybe I have given my daughter too much responsibility in choosing what she is comfortable reading, but I feel to tell her not to read a book due to content is a form of censorship. I guess what it boils down to is I trust my daughter and her choices. I know that most of the stuff we read in these books is the same stuff they are discussing and sometimes participating in with people at school.
What are your thoughts?
