Today I happened to come across something, that ceased to amaze me on how ignorant people can be. It was a review essay published in Wall Street Journal book section, for a book called "Darkness Too Visible" by Meghan Cox Gurdon. Basically the book takes up a prejudice against YA fiction, and why is that you may ask? Because of its dark themes things like macabre, suicide, rape, drug use, and other real life themes. Gurdon fears that it is harmful for teens to read about such things. My response to this is what is this a society, where teens live in a fairytale land where there are pink frosted cupcakes and sparkly unicorns? Obviously that's not how life works, and not every teen has a happy go lucky life. I'm not even sure those, who don't go through as harsh times have a grand lifestyle either way. But that doesn't mean that teens shouldn't be able to read about real life situations, because in reality bad things happen. Shielding a kid may keep them from seeing the harshness of the world, at the same time it will only make them unprepared for such situations. Its not the genre that's bad, it does nothing to shape how a young adult person will turn out.
For reading does not make a person do something, its the person that chooses what they do not the book. Take for instance a book about a girl cutting and say another girl reads it and is not a cutter like the main character. Its not suddenly going to make the reader start cutting, the book has no such power. It would be the girl's decision to pick up a razor, and mark her own skin. In certain instances the books on real life, can actually help those who are going through hard times. It gives them the sense, that they are not alone in the world. Sometimes the only thing a person has is a book, as a method of help because no one else can help, even if they want to. But its not just about helping, there should also be a freedom to read what one wants to read. I can understand a parent not wanting their child to read, certain books and that's their decision. What I do not agree is bashing the genre as a whole, especially not for covering darker themes in life. Cause frankly things like this happen every day, its a simple matter of fact. Young adults knowing this isn't going to warp them, yet instead they wont get a naive vision of life.
Whether its to help or just to tell a damn good story, the author creates the book because they want readers to read the book. Whatever message they are trying to send, is not to 'harm' teens but to entrance them into their world. When I say entrance I don't simply mean, that they want the teens to go out and be like their characters. But simply get something from the book, whether its a new insight on life, or just enjoying the book because really that's the fundamental reason why authors write. For others to enjoy them, in whatever way they might. In conclusion what I have to say is, face it this world isn't perfect. By trying to ban the books, replacing them with ones only certain persons want to read, isn't help anyone. All its doing is trying to create a perfect world, which hate to break it to you does not exist.
