Banned Books Week - question

[spinelli372003]

Beth,  I do not agree with Banning Books.  I do however think it is a 
parents responsibility to make sure a child has what is age 
appropriate.  Harry Potter is a wonderful series.  However I do not 
think it is appropriate for children under perhaps the age of 7 or 
8.  That is the age when most children could follow the chapter type 
books.  My kids love video games.  I have an endless struggle with 
the 9 yr old who wants to play video games with an M (mature) rating 
on them.  I have tried to explain to my older boys and my husband 
that the rating is not just for language or just for violence but a 
combination of things.  The same goes for books.  I think children 
should be exposed to all forms of literature but I will not let mine 
have what is not appropriate for there level.  I think it is 
perfectly acceptable for a library to have playboys etc on a 
restricted shelf.  After all at least in the US you have to be 18 to 
purchase those types of magazines.  It might even be 21 now.  so why 
should a library be any different right?
sherry
--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Beth" <jillily3g at y...> wrote:
> Last year(?) TLC posted a link to a Bennington, VT paper that had an
> editorial about Banned Books Week (thank you, Heidi!) and I wrote to
> the editor the letter I'll post below. I looked into the ALA's 
website
> because I had a concern about a book being used in my daughter's 
class
> and wanted to talk to the teacher about it, ironically, during 
Banned
> Books Week. I know I've asked this question before, I'm just curious
> about those of you who are parents and/or are involved with 
children:
> Do you think children should have unlimited access to all 
literature?
> Why or why not?
> 
> Beth
> p.s. I did let my daughter read the book in question, I just wanted 
to
> know how discussion would be handled. And I still think it's 
important
> for parents to know as often as possible what their children are
> reading and to try to read it, too, to be ready to discuss it in the
> context of their own moral beliefs.
> 
> Dear Editor,
> 
> Please understand that I do /not/ advocate banning books. I simply
> wish to point out that the statistics quoted: "There have already 
been
> 6,364 challenges posed to the American Library Association, and that
> was only between the years of 1990 and 2000," do not take into 
account
> the reasons behind a challenge. In researching the ALA's website 
last
> year, I found that the ALA lumps a parent requesting a book be moved
> from the children's to the adult section of a library in the same
> category as those wanting to burn Harry Potter. In response to the
> question from the media, "What if a child wants to check out Playboy
> magazine?" librarians were told to answer that very few children 
would
> want to check out material that was inappropriate for them. I think
> that response is naive, at best.  Just as a movie theater owner 
would
> not allow a six year old to buy his own ticket to a Restricted 
movie,
> some literature best put "on the top shelf" until children are more
> mature. I think the ALA does readers a disservice by thinking they 
can
> not understand the difference.