Age ratings and books

[Rodders]

Agreed. A poke in the eye with a sharp stick also works.

 

[zachariah]

String 'em up! It's the only language they understand.

I do know from second-hand reports of writers conferences in the UK that many established authors are dead set against age-banding books.

For the simple reason that they believe it will reduce sales.

The idea is that unlike films, which set a lower limit on age, the book ratings will be perceived as 'For ages X-Y only'. No sixteen year-old would want to be seen dead with a book that was marked 'For readers aged 12-15'. Und so weiter.

 

[Hypnos164]

Indeed, witness the popularity of Harry Potter and X of Y (Adult Cover) on Amazon

So i'm pretty sure general ratings could be a sales disaster for those authors not popular enough to rate alternate covers etc.

 

[manephelien]

The lack of discipline is certainly one problem, or rather the lack of consequences if you do something wrong. It does no good to threaten a kid to ground them or confiscate their playstation for a month if you don't follow through. (I don't believe in corporal punishment, all it teaches is that it's okay to hit someone who's smaller than you are, and it also teaches girls that men show love by hitting them, thus setting them up for multiple relationships where physical abuse is the norm. However, kids are individuals and I expect there are some who won't be disciplined any other way...)

Many parents also make the mistake of making their kids' lives too easy. Adversity is a great teacher. Accept that your kid can be a bully and in the wrong, don't defend them at any price when they get in trouble at school. Make sure your assessment of your kid's abilities is realistic, even if you have an IQ high enough to qualify for mensa membership, it doesn't necessarily automatically make your kid a straight A student (probably won't if he or she's as smart as you are, smart kids get in trouble because they're bored). I despise parents who won't accept that their kids can be in the wrong sometimes and who make other parents' and teachers' lives a misery as a result.

I'm just glad I live in a country where most kids get to school on their own from second grade at least. Young kids need to exercise age-appropriate independent action, or they'll be completely helpless when they grow up. You can let your kids out of your sight, the world is no more dangerous today than it was when you were growing up, the only difference is that we're more aware of the dangers. And yeah, it makes me angry that people can no longer intervene when kids are behaving badly because they fear they'll be accused of soliciting sexual favors from kids or whatever. Sure, such people exist and have always existed but they're far less common than people fear.

 

[Rodders]

I think we're going slightly off topic. Would it be worth starting another thread to discuss this one?

 

[ghost8772]

Okay, SO, books are marketed for age gender brackets. which tends to placate anyone who might start a ruckuss about the age appropriateness of a harlequin novel in a preteens hand.

now there are some books that fall under the NC-17 rating, and those are usually behind the counter, or at adult book stores. not many kids can get there in any event. so it usually works out, and in this day and age kids wanting to pick up a book to read instead of TV or game console are rare. Likely they'll pick up a book from parent's library anyways. its not until they get older, and are already pretty literate that they might start picking up books from libraries or book stores that their parents might not approve of.

As with everything mentioned, there can be NO sweeping decisions on ratings, discipline, or a child's understanding, like each of us, our kids are also unique. yeah they may have some capabilities that reflect our own, and a parent can usually spot that kind of resonance. I've got a four year old who is hooked on The Electric company, but also Dora the explorer, and I encourage her reading. she's also seen a number of movies that fall under the PG heading, maybe even a couple R's, though not horror or T&A movies. maybe some inappropriate language, or intense action scenes.
Parenting is such a case by case basis. I can not condone anybody who tells someone else how to raise their child. yes there are parents who drop their kids off in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon, and set them in front of the bread & circuses while they continue with their own pursuits, and child, they have a CHILD? It might work for their kids, it might not, My munchkin and I have fun, and enjoy each other's company immensely. hope it holds up through her hitting teenage years, but expect to get dropped by the idea of boys. Whatever streams/rivers/oceans we hit we'll figure out when we get to them.

 

[Overread]

An interesting point but what sort of books are those NC17 ones?
Amazon UK and US don;t have any warning flags round something like Companion to Wolves with regard to age or content save for the reviews of readers (in the UK case 1)
Amazon.co.uk: J. Dixon "jfdiow"'s review of A Companion to Wolves

Would that book be on the shelf or behind the counter? I get the feeling that behind the counter would be things that had graphic or strong visual scenes in them - things like manga where events are visually drawn

 

[The Judge]

Les Rosbifs is a vaguely derogatory term the French use for the English (possibly in revenge for "frogs", possibly due to the pleasing 'saignant' colour they go on the first day at the beach. I frequently refer to myself as "Le Rosbif de service".

I always thought it was the French take on 'Roast beef' which was understood to be the English national dish cf 'Beefeaters' (the Yeomen of the Guard, not the old restaurant chain).

And not quite on topic, but I understood that although publishers might resist age-guidance warnings, they love having age-suitable stickers for the under-tens, since it means they don't have to worry about the need for an educated and/or intelligent book-shop assistant to be able to help parents out, and the books can be shoved into supermarkets.

J

 

[dustinzgirl]

So, am I the only one, if I had kids (gods parish the thought) that I would allow them to watch, read, and play whatever they wished?

People always say that.

Until your 8 year old is playing GTA and uses a dildo as a weapon, which you don't notice until he asks you what it is.

Yeah......not a fun conversation.

Or wakes up in the middle of the night screaming because he watched Small Soldiers and was utterly convinced that his GI Joes were going to kill him. Not fun either.

I really don't care what my kids watch, just some things their minds are not ready for, due to a lack of hormonal production or social understanding. Some media I absolutely forbid, I don't let my 10 year old read porn magazines or my 14 year old listen to rap that repeats foul disgusting language and calls women hoes. Although my 14 year old reads porn magazines, and as long as he keeps them "hidden" I'm all right with it, even tho they aren't really "hidden"--note to teenage boys, if your mom makes your bed every morning after you go to school, hiding your little porn collection under your bed is not the best idea. But I generally understand that due to testosterone, he's going to look at naked women.

As for books, I don't have too many drawn lines, my 13 year old girl is getting into vampire and romance novels, which is pretty much a teen girls version of porn, and as long as its not too graphic, I'm all right with it.

But for my 10 year old, there are some very strong lines drawn, as there were for my older two when they were 10, but they are teenagers now and developing tastes of their own.

So in short, you really just have to know your kids. Ratings are retarded, half the G and PG rated movies I thought were OK wound up traumatizing my kids (Small Soldiers, especially, and Snow White, and a few others).

 

[ghost8772]

An interesting point but what sort of books are those NC17 ones?
Amazon UK and US don;t have any warning flags round something like Companion to Wolves with regard to age or content save for the reviews of readers (in the UK case 1)
Amazon.co.uk: J. Dixon "jfdiow"'s review of A Companion to Wolves

Would that book be on the shelf or behind the counter? I get the feeling that behind the counter would be things that had graphic or strong visual scenes in them - things like manga where events are visually drawn

was basically talking about the ones that go right next to the magazines and movies. just a BIT sexually explicit. not ones that can be found at walden books, or borders, actually the magazines (playboy etc...) are not really found there either. but they do tend to have the kids books in one place, the young adult books in another, then the regular books in a third. the rest are spread out in all forms of categories. although the relationships aisle should require ID to get in.