Thursday, June 18, 2009

What do you think of this?

This has come to my attention and I want your opinions on it. Just watch the video. I've posted the links that Maureen Johnson talks to you about in the video below.

Fox News: http://tinyurl.com/ndvbgk

WFTV Orlando: http://www.wftv.com/news/19716133/detail.html

I, for one, agree with everything that Maureen has to say, and I don't think that the mothers have any right to decide what other people get to read. If they don't like the material, then they should just keep their kids away from it. And when she mentioned her fifteen year old not being introduced to that kind of material, I was like...are you serious? Because I know what goes on in high school, and what people say...Eh, I'm just ranting here. And, again, what are your thoughts?

10 comments:

Julie said...

I agreed with the video as well. I mean, some teenagers are more mature than others, and CAN handle the reading of some of those novels.(I've read books by Jean Auel, and I think nothing of the "inappropriate" materials in it, and the thing is, it was a good book, a lot of my friends would agree too).
I'm also in middle school and everyday I hear a lot of stuff about girls messing around saying stuff like that all the time.
-Julie

P.S. I'm just stating my opinion, so don't kill me.

Amber Lynne said...

I agree, I mean their is SO many other books that talk about sex in the young adult book. I'm about to be a 9th grader, and I probably know way more than my mom. I also agree if you don't want you kids to read it, they should keep track of what their kids read. Also if their kids doesn't know what sex is or anything at the age of 12 they need to have a talk, and if their kid what going to follow what a box says about sex or anything like that [if thats wat their worried about] then they didn't/isnt teaching their kid right.

Peaches said...

I completely agree, I hate when librarians and moms, etc, try to chose what people read.

Amelia said...

I completely agree with Maureen. In all the clips I have seen the mothers (and Maureen for that matter) point out that the girl chose her two books at "random" and wound up with this. I'm assuming since they were later surprised by the contents in the books, that the books were selected without reading the dust jacket. Perhaps, if she had read the blurb on each of the books revealing their contents she would have realized that the books she'd picked up were not for her and could have then selected alternate works.

Brianne said...

That's totally rediculous for two mom's to try and decide what does and does not qualify as YA. Kids 12 and up are already in junior high. And to be honest, the halls of a junior high are much, much more racy than any YA novel I've read. Totally rediculous.

Trying to shelter kids will only cause more problems in the long run. Having an open and honest relationship with your kids and taking time out to discuss racy material will prove much more effective.

My theory is that the two moms who decided to make this thing into such a big deal, are actually just bored with their lives. This gives them something to do. ;-P

Sorry, just letting off some steam. I'm done now. So glad you posted about this.

Soon Hana said...

I completely agree with Brianne..

You have to trust these librarians to know what they're doing,
this is what they do for a living, which means they must have a level of expertise in labeling these ya books to the appropriate age level for young readers comparing with two moms who do not have any experience at all..

Let them do their job and start doing yours as parents by guiding your kids on matters such as sex and reading materials without stifling your children.

Kate said...

I agree with Maureen. They think that what was in the books is bad. They should hear some of the things that are said at school.

I think that the parents just don't want to discuss the material with their daughters so they decided to try and get rid of it.

Hillary said...

My favorite part is how the girl picked out two books at random. What, did she close her eyes, spin around, and reach for one? No way. & Not knowing about the Gossip Girl books and what they're about is like saying you don't know what chocolate is. Impossible!

Either they're stupid, or they just wanted to be on television. (I'm going to say stupid....)

Hillary said...

PS, school is a dirty disgusting place full of swearing and X rated behavior. (and from what I've heard from friends, even Catholic School is.)

And I love her book banner reading voice. It was soo funny! I'm going to have to do that next time I have to read out loud during school!

(Though, I think if my mother did read some of my books she'd be shocked...but maybe I like it that way! Dirty books=life!)

Laina said...

I was actually in high school at twelve because of the way my school was set up, so... yeah, it's stupid. The same high school library had V. C. Andrews, Stephen King, and no policy on what books who could take out.