Banned Books Week - question

[spinelli372003]

I understand all of your points.  However I still hold firm to my 
belief that just because something is out there it shouldn't be 
accessable to all. Again it is up to the parent to give a child 
something that he/she feels is appropriate.  my son at 9 could read a 
porn magazine.  Does that mean it is something acceptable?  NO.  My 
son at 9 could read a college text book.  again is it something that 
he needs to see or read at that age?  Children are capable of doing 
many things but that does not mean they are good for them.  Going by 
your belief it would follow that your also would agree that having 
sex at 12 and procreating was ok because biologically they were 
able?  I still think it is up to a childs parent to decide if they 
were old enough.  Not up to the librarian to decide.  and rules are 
there for the health and safety of the population at large.  I have a 
hard time with the few parents who have the super bright children 
demanding that the rest of the world meet their demands.  I ahve a 
hard time with 11 yr old kids in college.   Yes there should be 
material and processes in place for them but it doesn't mean that the 
world should drop all of the tried and working plans.  The world is 
as my grandmother would say "going to hell in a handbasket" because 
so many restrictions and rules that we used to live by have dropped 
by the wayside.  I think if more parents were involved in what there 
child were doing rather than just giving a blanket "ITS OK TO DO WHAT 
YOU WANT" any time any place we would not have as many problems.  
sherry <<who will now wait for the computer to blow up from the 
outrage over this post lol>>
 --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" 
<drednort at a...> wrote:
> On 25 Sep 2004 at 20:05, spinelli372003 wrote:
> 
> > 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
> 
> The thing is Sherry, I know kids who have read the Harry Potter 
> books before the age of 5 - I even know of a couple who've read the 
> first two books before they were three years old. Now these are 
> fairly unusual kids - they are exceptionally and profoundly gifted 
> - but I know a lot of moderately gifted kids - and there's one of 
> those, on average, in every two classrooms - who could easily 
> handle the Harry Potter books before they were seven.
> 
> If books are restricted because 'most' children aren't ready for 
> them, it is extremely unfair to these children. A society where 
> decisions are made based soley on what is best for the majority, is 
> always going to be an extremely inequitable society.
> 
> Now, I agree entirely with your right as a parent to decide what 
> your child reads, what computer games your child plays, etc. 
> Because you know your child, and you are basing your decisions on 
> that specific child and what that specific child is ready for. But 
> there's a huge difference between a parent doing that as an 
> individual looking at individual children, and their individual 
> needs, and a public library making those decisions based on a 
> hypothetical average child, without regards to the fact that 
> there's a huge amount of deviation from that average around.
> 
> I grew up reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted - at least 
> for the most part. I remember starting a new school at 7, and being 
> told that I couldn't leave the picture book section of the school 
> library until I was 8 - I'd been reading chapter books for about 4 
> years at that stage, and I was horribly upset by this restriction 
> (fortunately the librarian lifted it a week or so later), but that 
> was my only experience with any restrictions. Throughout my entire 
> childhood, on only one occasions, did I encounter a books that I 
> have any reason for regretting encountering at that stage - and I 
> was 15 at that time - and I did approach our school librarian and 
> tell her about the book, because I knew she was recommending it (or 
> rather the author) to students and obviously had no idea of its 
> content. From then on, she started warning students who were 
> borrowing it that it wasn't like the authors other books in the 
> library - but it wasn't removed from the shelves.
> 
> 
> Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
> Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
> (ISTJ)       | drednort at a... | ICQ: 6898200 
> "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
> thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
> facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
> uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
> need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
> Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia