by C.D. Crowder

Created on: April 14, 2008

Has anyone looked at books for children and teens lately? Parents and teachers are ecstatic when they see a child or teen with a book in hand. However, what are they reading? Is the content age appropriate? Television and movies provide parents with a rating system to gauge whether content is appropriate. Wouldn't it be nice to have a similar system in place for books?

Book stores separate books into sections, but what if a child grabs a book from another section. For instance, children interested in science fiction will more than likely look in the science fiction section over the children or young adult section. Just because a book isn't in the children's section, doesn't mean it's not age appropriate.

I remember as a child, I picked up a book in the young adult section. I was roughly thirteen at the time. This book was one in series targeted towards young teens. My mom always looked at any books before buying them for me. She was surprised to find nothing but foul language and adult content. Honestly, a dirty romance novel was probably cleaner. So just because a book is in an age appropriate section doesn't mean it really is age appropriate.

A simple rating on the front of a book would be useful for parents. They could easily see if the book has foul language, adult content, excessive violence, or a combination thereof. Reading is supposed to be fun and safe. Parents shouldn't have to read every book before hand to make sure it's right for their child.

Some books and shows tend to think children and teenagers are more adult than they used to be. It's the media that is making our youth try to act like adults. Instead, parents have nothing but trouble on their hands. Having ratings on television shows has helped parents to monitor TV watching successfully. If TV ratings are working, then why not apply it to books as well?

Children and teens may not approve of the ratings, but a parent's job is to protect their children and make sure they have good influences in their lives. Parents have enough trouble keeping their children from blindly following the latest trends and choosing the wrong friends. Parents should be able to easily tell if a book is right for their child or not without a lot of trouble.

All books need to have some type of rating available. Parents need all the help they can get when raising a child. A book shouldn't undermine all a parent has taught their child. By providing a rating system, a parent can easily tell if a book is age appropriate. This is one less thing a parent will have to worry about while raising their child.

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