"Should YA books be banned?"

The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees our right to free speech, which includes the right to read and write books that might be considered by some to be too violent, hateful, or offensive. In this generation, many people argue about ‘the darkness and horror’ that Young Adult books have deflected into. Some objectors are disapproving with the way YA books are now written while others are just traumatized by the themes portrayed. Over the last couple of centuries, YA books have changed into not being just a book, but a societal argument. This has caused many effects such as, YA books being banned by schools and even proposals put forward by state electives. Parents are especially argumentative on the issue of ‘the new genre of YA fiction’ and are taking it to many levels of opinions. They believe that the darkness of YA fiction has spiralled out of control and that their children need to be protected from the maturity. This has been argued for and against in many ways, for example protests and town meetings. But still there are haphazard decisions being made daily all over the United States regarding this issue. Access to YA fiction shouldn’t be limited in anyway because it provides young adults with real-life situations and outcomes, but adults should be made aware of what their child is reading, to protect them in case of misinterpretation of dark, gruesome images.

            Young adults are already exposed to very intense things in the world, such as ferocious movies or videos, so YA fiction shouldn’t be penalized for portraying the ‘real world’ that young adults come across everyday. “Teenagers look at this darkness all the time, and I always think if you’re not addressing it in your fiction then you’re abandoning them to face it themselves.” This quotation from Husna Haq’s very persuasive article, “Should young adult books have age ratings?” shows how teenagers are exposed to darkness but for some reason in published books, it is being hidden from them. In civilization nowadays, there are many dark things occurring, such as ‘R’ rated movies, pornography and even suicide. These things are occurring and frankly, no one can be hidden from them, as they occur everyday 24/7. So for YA books to hide it, isn’t exactly sensible, since kids will find out about these uninviting topics somehow. In fact, not having these veracity topics in YA fiction just makes kids want to read them more so they can find a unique book that addresses what they are learning outside in the real world. However, some may agree that books include numbers of harsh images that hardly any teens are aware or accustomed to around the world. For instance, Meghan Cox Gurdon’s quote, “If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrays of what life is”, shows how some teens are affected by having real life events and situations portrayed. It acts as flashbacks and therefore harms some kid’s thoughts that are not normally accustomed to dark and mature themes. ‘A hall of fun-house mirrors’, really shows the outcome of kid’s thoughts after reading these dark images because they are surrounded by horror, which may be new to them. It shows that although using the “real-life” darkness in YA books shows very “distorted portrayals” of life, it also harms kid’s intellectual thoughts, which could be prevented if they don’t read YA books. However, with parental acknowledgement, kids should be aware of what is happening in society, and therefore in order to learn more about the world, many kids are already aware of graphic themes that even parents can’t hide them from. “Teenagers look at the Internet, they look at the news, they look at pornography on the Internet, and they look at violent movies on the Internet. So if children literature is not addressing that, if it’s addressing the world as it should be rather than it is, then why would a teenager read you?” This quotation, by Husna Haq, shows once again that although some kids may be totally naïve to such topics, most aren’t and in order to grow up, they will learn them somehow. Teenagers are presented with many murky themes in their everyday life that are frowned upon, but at least it displays reality. Husna is right, if the YA books aren’t addressing reality, then it makes out the world as a fantasy, and then what will teenagers really be made aware of? They are surrounded by so much darkness in the world already, so why are YA books the only thing being reprimanded?

            Another reason why YA books shouldn’t be banned but should be read with parent acknowledgement is because YA books are called ‘young adult’ books, so therefore they are designed for the teenager eye and not for an adult’s reading life. “And when I asked her what she thought of the WSJ piece this weekend, she rolled her tween eyes and said, “Does she get it that they’re not called ‘children’s’ books? They’re ‘young adult.” Adult.” This excerpt from Mary Elizabeth Williams’ ‘Has young adult fiction become too dark’ is very persuasive because it is from a teen’s perspective. The quote, responded to by the daughter of Mary Elizabeth Williams, is in response to Meghan Cox Gurdon’s “Darkness Too Visible” article. In this article, Meghan doesn’t include any teen perspective, but only the older generation, to enhance her views that YA fiction should be banned. The response shows how the younger generation don’t agree with the fact that Meghan didn’t include their thoughts and therefore want to put there argument into perspective. As the leading readers, teens think that adults interfere too much in their reading life, even though the books aren’t designed for them. Parent consent should be given, however too much interference just causes kids to lose interest and not agree with their parent’s choices. We have sympathy for these kids because they obviously feel as if their parents, who they should feel respected around, are obstructing their reading lives. If teens aren’t allowed to recite about these ‘realistic’ topics, then how are they supposed to respect their parents’ future decisions, if they can’t respect theirs? Some adults may say nonetheless, that as parents, it is their job to determine what their teens read, as they do everything else. “Parents should be vigilant if a child is reading a lot of these books.” Quoted from Tanith Carey, we learn that parent’s need to keep a watchful eye on what their child is reading in case dangers occur. As parents, they should be protective of their child’s life and be aware of possible dangers and challenges that their child may tumble into. Although parent’s thoughts should be given, they shouldn’t interfere too much to the point where a child feels insecure and at risk of their reading life being affected. “It’s ok as long as parents are talking to them about these books and what they are thinking and feeling.” Again, quoted from Tanith Carey’s, “The ‘sick-lit books…’ many parents get very involved in their kids’ reading life but maybe if they spoke to their kids’ about what they are learning, rather that assuming the worst, then maybe kids and parents won’t feel under pressure to pause the reading. Maybe after their parent’s observe what their child is reading, they will ascertain that their teens are actually benefitting from reading YA fiction as it teaches them how to overcome situations. Parents should be made aware of what their teens are reading but not make the kids feel as if there are restrictions. When parents are too over protective of what their child is reading and ‘ban’ the book, that isn’t benefitting anything, not the parent and child relationship and especially not the young adults.

            Lastly, YA books portray many themes that report violent or mature matters and therefore help kids learn how to overcome such disasters, teach them lessons, and even help kids be aware that they can overcome terrible situations. “When young people are lost in such traumatized states, it’s vital that they don’t feel alone. Novels and stories on the subject offer sense of commonality and, most importantly a sense of hope.” This quotation proves that teens can be influenced by dark themes, by helping them to understand solutions that are available to them. Kids benefit from the themes portrayed even if it is distinct. It shows that these ‘dark topics’ can be taken with a whole different perspective, teens can look for guidance in these YA books, which shows that they act as a ‘helpful hand’ to teens in need. However, some parents believe that the themes in YA books, just influence teens to perform harsh acts such as suicide or self-harm. “I know a girl of 12 in whose class the book spread like wildfire- several of them also started cutting themselves.” Taken from Tanith Carey’s article, although learning about blackness is educational, it can also have a major intellectual effect on kids who may not normally be used to such themes. It influences them to experiment, and therefore they might try self-harm to feel relieved. Everyone is different and depending on what each teen is aware of, it could harm some in a physical way and even in a mental way, which could lead to severe circumstances. However, even though it may cause children to harm themselves, it does also have the opportunity to protect kids’ thoughts and physical chances of harm. “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer, reading about cheating on exams won’t make a kid break the honour code.” Quoted from Meghan Cox Gurdon’s, “Darkness too Visible”, this quotation entirely backfires the chance of kids’ cutting themselves because there is so much other proof, like the quote above by Meghan Cox Gurdon, in the world, that some things just don’t cause the other. It shows that it depends on the emotional or physical level of a child and therefore it is uncommon that kids will harm themselves just because of what they read. There are other influences in the world, such as domestic violence or stress at school. But this data shows that kids are protected by these themes because it influences the kids not to do self-harm etc. as they are persuaded by other examples in the world. They are shown the effects that others have gone through and this impacts them not to participate in such harmful activities because it shows them what their life could turn into. If reading about the effects dangers have on kids doesn’t stop teens choices, then I don’t know what would?

            In conclusion, YA fiction is very dark, and by no means should that be forgotten, but this darkness can be used to people’s advantages in the long run. YA fiction may only be meant for ‘reading’ but it certainly has a deeper meaning that no one should be concealed from, especially teens. Even though parents may disagree with the choices kids are making in their reading life, if they truly respect their kids, then they should acknowledge what they want to learn and improve their education about existing reality. YA fiction truly reduces the likelihood that the readers will experiment with the acts portrayed, even though it isn’t 100% certain, like most things. Although there are many counter arguments surrounding bad influences, with parental guidance and acknowledgement, YA fiction shouldn’t be banned because it does give helpful advice towards teens and could have a major beneficial effect on them in the future. If YA books were to be banned, then what would teens be reading 10 years from now? It is all well and good banning a book in the present, but is anyone actually thinking about the future? Decisions made now, automatically affect what the world will be like in ten years time. People need to start realizing the affects that banning YA books could lead to and the people it could impact in the future.