by Travis King

Created on: April 14, 2009

Imagine picking up a book that you thought your child would like, giving it to them, and later finding out that it had violent and sexual content in it that you really wouldn't have wanted your child to be exposed to. This is the problem with many books; you can't always tell what's on the inside by the picture on the cover or the description on the back. Why don't books have ratings or warnings about inappropriate content to ward off innocent readers? It works for movies; many parents have a set movie rating that their child can watch up to; for example: your ten-year-old can't watch anything over PG, but your 13-year-old can watch anything up to PG-13. There could be equal systems for books; parents could only buy books for their children that were rated G or had no violence, language, or sexual content warnings.

Many people are so worried about censorship (what if "they" start banning books that "they" don't like?), when really the problem is just that people want to know what kind of book they're buying. I wouldn't like it if I had to be 18 to check out books with a certain rating from the library, but I would like to know if there's anything in the book that I don't want to read about. Yes, parents should teach their children to be discerning in what they read, and make wise choices, but as in the example we began with, sometimes parents can be deceived by a book's cover.

So really, that's what book ratings would do: prevent pretty book covers from influencing people to buy books that they wouldn't like anyway. They could look at the rating on the back to see if it had inappropriate content and if they didn't want to read it they would know that they should not buy it. It might result in slightly fewer book sales, yes, but it would result in more satisfied readers. And the fewer book reviews that say, "I bought this book because I thought my kid would like it but I had no idea...", the more books the publishers will probably sell.

Perhaps the rating system could be a simple notice on the back cover that "This book contains violence and language", or there could be a letter rating system as there is for movies and video games. Whatever the form, as a type of entertainment that is has as much potential to be as inappropriate and offensive as movies and video games, books with explicit content need to be just that: explicit. No more deceptive books. If a book has content that is potentially inappropriate for children, parents (and the children, for that matter) should be aware.

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