I definitely got my interest in reading from anything that wasnt available from school. You make kids read shit like Mark Twain and expect them to relate?
Paksarra on
Books are the safest way to experience difficult subjects. You can stop reading any time you want, skip a scene that’s making you uncomfortable, stop and look something up.
CaptainLookylou on
My middle school library had The Skrewtape letters. Which is a really interesting title. The book itself is about a lesser demon’s correspondence with his demon boss about his trials in tempting his selected human target. I didn’t really get that or most of what was going on at the time. It’s a weird ass book. I should read it again.
But at the time it was very interesting and I’m not weird or violent or anything! I swear!
IAmThePonch on
I am still long awaiting the day book banners discover the extreme horror subgenre
duvetbyboa on
I read *A Clockwork Orange* of my own volition my freshman year of high school. Checked it out from the library. I wasn’t an avid reader, but the content intrigued me after watching the Kubrick movie.
I’d say it was a very enriching experience that helped developed my sense of empathy. Despite the awful things the protagonist did, I never once felt like it was something I wanted to mimic. It’s not only okay for teens to grapple with difficult subject matter, I’d say it’s necessary for them to cultivate a developed understanding of the world.
Final-Performance597 on
It’s hard to criticize what you don’t understand, and it’s hard to understand why someone wants to ban a book unless you have read it.
WDTHTDWA-BITCH on
My English teachers always deliberately threw disturbing books our way in high school and I honestly think we were better for it. It really challenged our critical thinking and reflection of the world.
Kitchen-Witching on
Yesterday I stopped at the library by my office to check out their used book sale. I grabbed copies of Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451 for my son. I have my own copies, but he’s a bit rough on books, so I like to get him his own.
I told him these were two books that were often banned, and so therefore he should definitely have them.
RepresentativeTalk31 on
My daughter read heartstopper at 11. She liked it a loved the TV series. She has also read Diary of Anne Frank. I do not put much limitations on her, though after reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame would probably steer her away. 🤣
turbo_fried_chicken on
Books take you to places you wouldn’t ordinarily go. That’s the point. Think of it that way – a book about anything will take you somewhere, but that’s no good if they want you to stay put. Define “they” for yourself.
merurunrun on
Honestly, part of me thinks that these benefits are *precisely* the thing that the book banners don’t want people to develop. Adults without healthy outlooks and coping mechanisms are far easier to scare and manipulate.
The world is messy and complicated and confusing and painful, and people who can’t deal with that are far more likely to surrender their autonomy to people who promise to deal with it for them.
Ganbario on
In high school we looked up the most banned books and all read a few and did book reports on them. Part of the assignment was “why is it banned?” And “should it be banned?” Nobody in my class ever said a book should be banned. One said “don’t let boys read it” (Our bodies ourselves) but she figured the boys would look at it like porn.
speedy2686 on
The results of the survey are all self-reported. There’s no way to disentangle whether the changes perceived by the students are real or—if they are real—to what extent they would have occurred anyway, regardless of the reading material.
Teens should be allowed to read whatever they want—there may be some exceptions, but I’d err on the side of permissiveness rather than restriction—but this article and the survey it reports doesn’t really tell us anything.
DresdenMurphy on
Oh. Is this: “tellme you’re from the US, without telling me you’re from the US”, kind of thing?
PretzLs85 on
That was the best way to get me interested in ANYTHING as a kid. Try to ban it. Make it forbidden. Now I MUST know! If anything, it made me stop and think, “who would stand to benefit from this being silenced”. Helped shape my outlook on most of life.
15 Comments
I definitely got my interest in reading from anything that wasnt available from school. You make kids read shit like Mark Twain and expect them to relate?
Books are the safest way to experience difficult subjects. You can stop reading any time you want, skip a scene that’s making you uncomfortable, stop and look something up.
My middle school library had The Skrewtape letters. Which is a really interesting title. The book itself is about a lesser demon’s correspondence with his demon boss about his trials in tempting his selected human target. I didn’t really get that or most of what was going on at the time. It’s a weird ass book. I should read it again.
But at the time it was very interesting and I’m not weird or violent or anything! I swear!
I am still long awaiting the day book banners discover the extreme horror subgenre
I read *A Clockwork Orange* of my own volition my freshman year of high school. Checked it out from the library. I wasn’t an avid reader, but the content intrigued me after watching the Kubrick movie.
I’d say it was a very enriching experience that helped developed my sense of empathy. Despite the awful things the protagonist did, I never once felt like it was something I wanted to mimic. It’s not only okay for teens to grapple with difficult subject matter, I’d say it’s necessary for them to cultivate a developed understanding of the world.
It’s hard to criticize what you don’t understand, and it’s hard to understand why someone wants to ban a book unless you have read it.
My English teachers always deliberately threw disturbing books our way in high school and I honestly think we were better for it. It really challenged our critical thinking and reflection of the world.
Yesterday I stopped at the library by my office to check out their used book sale. I grabbed copies of Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451 for my son. I have my own copies, but he’s a bit rough on books, so I like to get him his own.
I told him these were two books that were often banned, and so therefore he should definitely have them.
My daughter read heartstopper at 11. She liked it a loved the TV series. She has also read Diary of Anne Frank. I do not put much limitations on her, though after reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame would probably steer her away. 🤣
Books take you to places you wouldn’t ordinarily go. That’s the point. Think of it that way – a book about anything will take you somewhere, but that’s no good if they want you to stay put. Define “they” for yourself.
Honestly, part of me thinks that these benefits are *precisely* the thing that the book banners don’t want people to develop. Adults without healthy outlooks and coping mechanisms are far easier to scare and manipulate.
The world is messy and complicated and confusing and painful, and people who can’t deal with that are far more likely to surrender their autonomy to people who promise to deal with it for them.
In high school we looked up the most banned books and all read a few and did book reports on them. Part of the assignment was “why is it banned?” And “should it be banned?” Nobody in my class ever said a book should be banned. One said “don’t let boys read it” (Our bodies ourselves) but she figured the boys would look at it like porn.
The results of the survey are all self-reported. There’s no way to disentangle whether the changes perceived by the students are real or—if they are real—to what extent they would have occurred anyway, regardless of the reading material.
Teens should be allowed to read whatever they want—there may be some exceptions, but I’d err on the side of permissiveness rather than restriction—but this article and the survey it reports doesn’t really tell us anything.
Oh. Is this: “tellme you’re from the US, without telling me you’re from the US”, kind of thing?
That was the best way to get me interested in ANYTHING as a kid. Try to ban it. Make it forbidden. Now I MUST know! If anything, it made me stop and think, “who would stand to benefit from this being silenced”. Helped shape my outlook on most of life.