The Parent's Guide to Banned Books

Recently my father described puberty as discovering your parents' mistakes. He figured there were three stages. 1. Annoyance. 2. Pity. 3. Endearment. As a teenager, their irrational rules and repetitive faults frustrate you. Once you've made peace with it for yourself, you can focus on the way they suffer from them. And eventually, it becomes a kind of cute trademark flaw which continues to mess up their wrinkled little lives. Since I'm stuck in stage one for another year or three, here's an ode to all the mistakes parents might make in regards to Banned Books. So hand your laptop to your folks and allow them to suck in every last detail about avoiding some tricky but tempting fatal missteps in the world of censorship.

The Parent's Guide to Banned Books by Sennett Young

Well isn't it good to get together and talk about this? Today, I'm addressing you. You who have been complaining all our lives we didn't read anymore. You who simultaneously deny us the privilege of doing so. Here're the things you should always and never do, along with a step by step guide on how to treat your child's questionable book choices.



Always
Always respect your child's wishes. My mom often makes fun of me for what I read. Little does she seem to realize that what I read is also what I'll be writing one day. Dropping spiteful or derogatory comments won't help anyone, so just don't.
Always stay objective. It doesn't matter whether you personally would enjoy the story. All you have to do is make sure the book is appropriate for your child. Whether the genre is after your own taste is completely irrelevant.

Never
Never ask your kid's school to remove a book. You have no right to make the decision for children not your own.
Never OVER- or UNDERestimate the power of books. Your upbringing dictates your life and reading, not the other way around. But the only positive thing to say for censorship might be the acknowledgment of the power of words. Remain reasonable. Don't let fear rule your life.

The guide
So your kid brought home The Hunger Games? The English teacher assigned The Giver and you have to sign a permission slip? Hold your bonfires and red Sharpies, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here to help you.

1. Google the title and author. Probably your first impulse, right? Go ahead, read the synopsis. Author bio if you must. But whether you approve thus far or not, your work doesn't stop here.
2. Research more in-depth. A great site to check the content of a book is www.commonsensemedia.org. They rate the book on everything from positive role models to swear words and give an explanation for the rating. They have reviews as well, along with a list of possible living room discussion topics. If you like what you see here, I recommend looking at a second opinion and then wishing your child happy reading. Side note on 'educational value': your child can read books without much deeper meaning. It's okay to read for pleasure only. Side note on religious parents: commonsensemedia doesn't give advice on how the book handles religion. If you want that, you could look on www.pluggedin.com. However, keep in mind that both the Bible and the novel your child is interested in is interpretable. I, for one, did not agree with their piece on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A Christian resource I love is Christianity Today, but they might be too liberal for you.
3. We have arrived at a crossroad now. If you're pleased with what you've discovered thus far, you can safely hand the book to your enthusiastic reader. On the flip side, parents who are still wary of the Twilight copy on the library's shelf are not yet allowed to find their suspicions confirmed. Even though a synopsis and the reference sites above are helpful, the best way to get an idea of what the morals and ideas in the book are is by reading the book. So loosen your corset, have a drink, and settle down with the corrupting, iniquitous heap of paper that is Looking For Alaska. If the book is a series, I would recommend reading it all the way through. This sounds like a lot of work, but you can skim-ish read it. The reason you should do this is that many series only completely resolve their theme at the end of the story. A good example is The Hunger Games trilogy. I'm not going to force you into reading all seven (/eight) HP books, but try to get a very detailed summary on for example the wikia of the series if you refuse to read them all.
4. Another option is to budy read it if your kid is particularly young and you have a good relationship. If the book frightens him or entices him to ask difficult questions, you will be able to explain the concepts and put his mind at ease. This won't work for a sixteen-year-old who says she hates you, though.
5. Still hate the book's guts after reading it start to finish? That's a shame, but at least now you can control your child's life knowing you're well-informed.

Words on series

You might worry that, if your child only reads the first book and the moral climax takes place in the final chapter of the fourth book, it will still influence him negatively. On the contrary. Children (or humans) are not influenced by what they do not like (/love). If your kid doesn't see the fun in reading all five books, the first installment won't have any impact on his life whatsoever.