. . As someone who loved reading as a kid, I am really against banning books of any sort. Even if they are inappropriate. I read sexually inappropriate things, and most of it flew over my head. If you don't know what sex is, you'll skim over it as boring, in my experience. Kids are used to skimming. There's plenty of words they won't learn til months later that they only half gess the meaning of. Sexually contact was rift throughout childhood books, but I can promise you I didn't understand anything, and neither did anyone else.
It usually wasn't this descriptive admittedly, and I think the closest I got to gay stuff was a guy dating a girl, then the girl turned out to have been a biological male but was transgender. That was a one off, though. Us kids still made fun of the word gay on the bus back in the mid-2000s. None of us knew what homosexuality was, admittedly. It was just a word, like retard.
This is fairly descriptive- but lots of books are. By highschool, this is par for course in assigned readings. Anne Frank, the Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden. From the books description, Lawn Boy is about a kid who gets obsessed with mowing lawns and likes earning money. It talks abojt investing.
I wouldn't exactly be ecstatic that it has homosexuality, but I'd be positive that my kid wouldn't be traumatized over it.
I'd heavily prefer if kids weren't given access to these books to begin with, but taking books out of kids after they've already decided to read them- that's harsh.
Unless the kid dislikes reading to begin with. In which case, telling a kid not to read makes me upset just because it's such a genuinely important skill to be able to read quickly. Taking away from their enjoyment results in kids not wanting to read at all. Or sneaking around elder siblings attempting to monitor your reading choices and despising them for thinking they have the right to forbid you from reading.
Idk.
Who else on here genuinely enjoys reading? What's your opinion? Did you guys ever read inappropriate stuff in in your elementary days? Did it impact you negatively?
I'm just one person, so me turning out fine (imo) doesn't mean that's other people's experiences.
I'm completely against censorship and book bans, too. And it's not like kids that age don't know the word "dick" or any other bad word. But I really don't see that this book is age appropriate or has any educational value. It's there to promote a pro gay agenda. Huckleberry Finn has lots of "bad words" and is considered a classic. I don't mind "bad words", I mind the context and educational value. And this book seems to have neither.
I remember "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" has some stuff that went completely over my head as a kid. A character works in a condom factory, but the word condom is never used so I was clueless. There was also a reference to the clap, which I looked up and still was clueless about. It was one of my favorite books but odd because the author spends so much time analyzing all the adults characters, including their sexual behavior.
I think it's a fine line but I see your point. I read a lot as a kid, I read nearly everything in my elementary school library. I don't think the librarians knew what was in some of the books on the shelves, these weren't even the Judy Blume-like books that everyone read just to get to those funny/embarrassing parts (dating myslef). Like you said, a lot went over my head and was glazed over. But some I still remember now and wished I hadn't been exposed to it. It's typical to have "coming of age" literature for teens but there is a fine line between innocence and too much description not to mention the downright crude language.
Like the examples you gave, Anne Frank, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden--I read those as a teen but reread as an adult and whoah, a lot did go over my head. So I do agree with your point. But this book (and some other books I read years and years ago) aren't quite the same.
Now movies, man oh man, there's about a 1000 movies I wish I never watched as a kid/teen. Am I a prude or does every movie/TV script have to joke,joke,wink,wink,joke about sex, sex, sex. /old lady rant
. . As someone who loved reading as a kid, I am really against banning books of any sort. Even if they are inappropriate. I read sexually inappropriate things, and most of it flew over my head. If you don't know what sex is, you'll skim over it as boring, in my experience. Kids are used to skimming. There's plenty of words they won't learn til months later that they only half gess the meaning of. Sexually contact was rift throughout childhood books, but I can promise you I didn't understand anything, and neither did anyone else.
It usually wasn't this descriptive admittedly, and I think the closest I got to gay stuff was a guy dating a girl, then the girl turned out to have been a biological male but was transgender. That was a one off, though. Us kids still made fun of the word gay on the bus back in the mid-2000s. None of us knew what homosexuality was, admittedly. It was just a word, like retard.
This is fairly descriptive- but lots of books are. By highschool, this is par for course in assigned readings. Anne Frank, the Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden. From the books description, Lawn Boy is about a kid who gets obsessed with mowing lawns and likes earning money. It talks abojt investing.
I wouldn't exactly be ecstatic that it has homosexuality, but I'd be positive that my kid wouldn't be traumatized over it.
I'd heavily prefer if kids weren't given access to these books to begin with, but taking books out of kids after they've already decided to read them- that's harsh.
Unless the kid dislikes reading to begin with. In which case, telling a kid not to read makes me upset just because it's such a genuinely important skill to be able to read quickly. Taking away from their enjoyment results in kids not wanting to read at all. Or sneaking around elder siblings attempting to monitor your reading choices and despising them for thinking they have the right to forbid you from reading.
Idk.
Who else on here genuinely enjoys reading? What's your opinion? Did you guys ever read inappropriate stuff in in your elementary days? Did it impact you negatively?
I'm just one person, so me turning out fine (imo) doesn't mean that's other people's experiences.
I'm completely against censorship and book bans, too. And it's not like kids that age don't know the word "dick" or any other bad word. But I really don't see that this book is age appropriate or has any educational value. It's there to promote a pro gay agenda. Huckleberry Finn has lots of "bad words" and is considered a classic. I don't mind "bad words", I mind the context and educational value. And this book seems to have neither.
I remember "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" has some stuff that went completely over my head as a kid. A character works in a condom factory, but the word condom is never used so I was clueless. There was also a reference to the clap, which I looked up and still was clueless about. It was one of my favorite books but odd because the author spends so much time analyzing all the adults characters, including their sexual behavior.
I think it's a fine line but I see your point. I read a lot as a kid, I read nearly everything in my elementary school library. I don't think the librarians knew what was in some of the books on the shelves, these weren't even the Judy Blume-like books that everyone read just to get to those funny/embarrassing parts (dating myslef). Like you said, a lot went over my head and was glazed over. But some I still remember now and wished I hadn't been exposed to it. It's typical to have "coming of age" literature for teens but there is a fine line between innocence and too much description not to mention the downright crude language.
Like the examples you gave, Anne Frank, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden--I read those as a teen but reread as an adult and whoah, a lot did go over my head. So I do agree with your point. But this book (and some other books I read years and years ago) aren't quite the same.
Now movies, man oh man, there's about a 1000 movies I wish I never watched as a kid/teen. Am I a prude or does every movie/TV script have to joke,joke,wink,wink,joke about sex, sex, sex. /old lady rant