Is YA lit too dark?
I just read an interesting article on the Wall Street Journal's website entitled Darkness Too Visible condemning certain authors in the ya genre stating that "If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house
mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of
what life is."
I'm trying to decide how I feel about this. I know as a mom it can be difficult trying to decide what's best for your children and what you think they should be watching or reading and these books that Ms. Gurdon is referencing are filled with cutting, alcohol and drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse and apparently all with very vivid imagery. But I also know that when I was a child I was not restricted. Obviously I wasn't allowed to watch porn but horror films were the norm for our house and I was reading Stephen King (talk about alcohol abuse and sexual content) and Clive Barker in 6th grade. I turned out just fine - those of you who know me keep your comments to yourself.
I'm just now having to think about what my 2 year old watches. I had Annabelle in the blu ray player the other night and he got scared just by the violin music so my husband took him to the other room but that may not be the case as he gets older. He may grow to love being scared like me - or he may always hate horror films. I won't know til we get there. The one thing I can say for sure now is that I won't be restricting his reading, movies or video games. I'll just be happy he chooses to read! I'm honestly more worried about social media and the hazing that can happen or the pedophiles that try to lure children out of their homes pretending to be another child. Before you say it, yes, I know that these fears are a little extreme and that these things happening are unlikely but I also know they are a possibility and to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Parents should be worried about what their kids are reading and I think that if you have a child that's been or being bullied or a daughter that's being pressured into drugs and sex or, God forbid, they are being abused by a teacher or another adult that maybe they should be reading some of these darker books. Some of these authors writing this dark material have actually gone through the hurt and telling their story is a way of releasing their own darkness and for someone in a downward spiral it could help to know that they are not alone, that what they are going through is nothing new and that there is help if they know where to go and have the strength to seek it out. It's hard for me to really talk about these kinds of ya books because I don't gravitate towards them. Like I said, when I was the right age to read them I was reading adult fiction because it was darker, it was realistic and yet still full of the monsters I love so much. I never minded reading about drug addicts or alcoholics or sexually abused characters because it was integral to who they were as a person and gave reasoning into why they made the choices that they did but it was usually all background. Having that be the main plot didn't interest me and now as an adult the coming of age novels or realistic ya fiction certainly don't interest me but that doesn't mean it doesn't interest others. And children need to hear these stories. Do you really think that Hansel and Gretel was told as a happy bedtime tale? No. It was told as a warning to children about how dangerous can not only strangers be but that even those who are supposed to love you can hurt you.
I think reading adult fiction helped me as a child. I never experienced abuse of any kind as a child. I know everyone hates to hear about how happy your childhood was but it's true. I mean, sure I went through some bullying, who didn't? I did have a stalker in high school for a short while but it was nothing major. But I think adult fiction helped me because I was able to experience these things through the books and it made me cautious as a person. I knew what human beings were capable of just as I knew that Pennywise the clown wasn't going to be coming out of my shower drain. If we don't teach our kids that other people are dangerous who will? Don't be upset that these ya authors are writing about real horrors but be upset at yourself for not allowing your child to share in their characters sufferings because one day your kid could find themselves in that same position. Maybe at a party where hard core drugs are being passed around and half of the football team is taking unconscious girls to the back room and taping their sick escapades. I've seen that on the news more times than I'd like to say. Human beings can be capable of great kindness and love but we are also capable of unimaginable horrors and to ignore that is just plain irresponsible.
So go ahead and hide the monsters in these books from your child's virgin eyes. Good luck trying to hide them from the real monsters lurking behind their computer screens or in their neighborhoods.
I'm trying to decide how I feel about this. I know as a mom it can be difficult trying to decide what's best for your children and what you think they should be watching or reading and these books that Ms. Gurdon is referencing are filled with cutting, alcohol and drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse and apparently all with very vivid imagery. But I also know that when I was a child I was not restricted. Obviously I wasn't allowed to watch porn but horror films were the norm for our house and I was reading Stephen King (talk about alcohol abuse and sexual content) and Clive Barker in 6th grade. I turned out just fine - those of you who know me keep your comments to yourself.
I'm just now having to think about what my 2 year old watches. I had Annabelle in the blu ray player the other night and he got scared just by the violin music so my husband took him to the other room but that may not be the case as he gets older. He may grow to love being scared like me - or he may always hate horror films. I won't know til we get there. The one thing I can say for sure now is that I won't be restricting his reading, movies or video games. I'll just be happy he chooses to read! I'm honestly more worried about social media and the hazing that can happen or the pedophiles that try to lure children out of their homes pretending to be another child. Before you say it, yes, I know that these fears are a little extreme and that these things happening are unlikely but I also know they are a possibility and to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Parents should be worried about what their kids are reading and I think that if you have a child that's been or being bullied or a daughter that's being pressured into drugs and sex or, God forbid, they are being abused by a teacher or another adult that maybe they should be reading some of these darker books. Some of these authors writing this dark material have actually gone through the hurt and telling their story is a way of releasing their own darkness and for someone in a downward spiral it could help to know that they are not alone, that what they are going through is nothing new and that there is help if they know where to go and have the strength to seek it out. It's hard for me to really talk about these kinds of ya books because I don't gravitate towards them. Like I said, when I was the right age to read them I was reading adult fiction because it was darker, it was realistic and yet still full of the monsters I love so much. I never minded reading about drug addicts or alcoholics or sexually abused characters because it was integral to who they were as a person and gave reasoning into why they made the choices that they did but it was usually all background. Having that be the main plot didn't interest me and now as an adult the coming of age novels or realistic ya fiction certainly don't interest me but that doesn't mean it doesn't interest others. And children need to hear these stories. Do you really think that Hansel and Gretel was told as a happy bedtime tale? No. It was told as a warning to children about how dangerous can not only strangers be but that even those who are supposed to love you can hurt you.
I think reading adult fiction helped me as a child. I never experienced abuse of any kind as a child. I know everyone hates to hear about how happy your childhood was but it's true. I mean, sure I went through some bullying, who didn't? I did have a stalker in high school for a short while but it was nothing major. But I think adult fiction helped me because I was able to experience these things through the books and it made me cautious as a person. I knew what human beings were capable of just as I knew that Pennywise the clown wasn't going to be coming out of my shower drain. If we don't teach our kids that other people are dangerous who will? Don't be upset that these ya authors are writing about real horrors but be upset at yourself for not allowing your child to share in their characters sufferings because one day your kid could find themselves in that same position. Maybe at a party where hard core drugs are being passed around and half of the football team is taking unconscious girls to the back room and taping their sick escapades. I've seen that on the news more times than I'd like to say. Human beings can be capable of great kindness and love but we are also capable of unimaginable horrors and to ignore that is just plain irresponsible.
So go ahead and hide the monsters in these books from your child's virgin eyes. Good luck trying to hide them from the real monsters lurking behind their computer screens or in their neighborhoods.
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