Potential q&a

[lizzybennet]

If I'm asked how I'll handle a parent who is upset about certain materials being available in the library, perhaps I'll quote from this article

I wish kids were sneaking into the library, of all places, to get their hands on edgy sh*t that would freak their parents out. The reality is that kids can get shocking material much more easily on the Internet, and books are so uncool in comparison (with, I suppose, a few vampiric exceptions) that parents who think the printed word will destroy their children's innocence are looking in the wrong place. Banning books in 2010 feels like banning Brussels sprouts — which, come to think of it, may be a good idea. I hope Wentworth's objections are actually a master plan of reverse psychology — but I fear they're just a misguided attempt to control her kids' brains.

ps-thanks ticklethepear. You always send me the best links.

Comments

[ticklethepear.livejournal.com]

:)

[mikanis-hatter.livejournal.com]

*cheers the article maker*

I would rather have my kids reading "crap" like a Clockwork Orange or Marquis de Sade than watching porn on xtube. At least I can ask them philosophical questions based on that.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I think parents should be involved with what their kids read, aware at least, so they can have productive conversations about it. If this mom has a problem with the book, she should talk to her daughter about it and tell her why she has the problem, and how she hopes her daughter would handle the same situation. It's good to think!

[mikanis-hatter.livejournal.com]

Agreed. My mom didn't want me reading DH Lawrence until I reached a certain point in my life, but then she also explained all of this:
1. When she read her first DH Lawrence book
2. How that book made her feel
3. Times she would deem it appropriate for me to get my own copy
4. Offering to send me a whole set of them once I am married

It was certainly a fascinating discussion and that last one made me laugh. I wish I could remember exactly how she said it, but it was perfect.

My parents have always been big on reading and they got me hooked at an early age. We joke that they turned me into a reading monster. Nowadays, its about even between who suggests and lends books to the others and who gets to bring up the discussion after reading it.

Some of my favorite discussions are Harry Potter movies v. books. Its reached a point where we just ask my dad which number he is reading because that is typically what he is reading on his Palm Pilot. My mom has read them over more times than me. It's fun watching them talk about which parts the movie got wrong, who is remembering it right, and where it was in the book. I have read them enough to know what they are talking about while also being amused by the squabbling.

[arrctic.livejournal.com]

sad but true. today when I went to the campus for a videoconference class, the librarian's 12 year old daughter had locked herself into the room to use the computer. I knew this girl when she was a little kid. I hate to imagine what she's doing online that she feels she has to lock the door for.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

oh my, that would be a no-go for my kids. They use the computers out in the living room or other common areas. No privacy at this point in their lives. But they haven't discovered IM'ing or chatting yet. They do play a few games that have those options, but we haven't enabled them. I dread the day when they lock themselves in with the computer!

[mikanis-hatter.livejournal.com]

Meep!

Yeah, my future kids are going to have a hard time hiding stuff from their future daddy. Dattas is a computer programmer and he will most definitely be a protective daddy.

If I were the librarian, I would make my kid go use the public computers in the nice open areas.

[themenow.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

I love books. I can understand a parent saying, you know, I think this book might be really good, but why don't we wait a year before you read it. In the meantime, let's find something else to read that might be just as interesting. (Then again...that might pique the interest...ooh mom says the book isn't right for me now...sneak and get the book!)

And the psychologist (budding of course) in me would tack on, honey, what is interesting about that book?

But to get crazy angry? Heck no. Books are awesome! They have taught me so much about life, myself, people, the world! Even the books with icky parts have learned me up some how.