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Are you serious? A warning label to warn parents about the content of book? This is the most ridiculous I have ever heard of.

If parents are really concerned about the books their children are reading, there is something else they can do than slap a warning label on them. The most obvious idea about how to be aware of what is in the books their children are reading is to read the same books.

There are some problems with the idea of rating books based on "inappropriate content."

There are problems with how to create the ratings.

First, who decides what is considered inappropriate or not? What may be inappropriate in one family may be considered appropriate in another. These different opinions make it difficult to decide what should or should not be allowed in a book for each rating level.

Second, how many rating levels would there be? I'm sure there would be various, conflicting opinions on this. And when a number was finally decided on, there will always be people who disagree.

There are also problems with having ratings at all.

First, there will be parents that will completely ignore the rating system all together. I know this because my parents never paid attention to movie ratings. As a child, I was never prevented from seeing a movie because of its rating. I was allowed to see R rated movies at age four. I'm sure that if books had been rated when I was a child, the would have paid just a much attention to those ratings.

Second, but most important, is the idea that forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. Making a certain book off limits only makes the book more appealing. This makes a book that a child may never have thought of reading, something that they are eager to read.

Rating books is a really poor idea. Parents who are really concerned should just take a more active interest in what their children are reading.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Allen.
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