Age Appropriate Reading
When I was a pre-teen I had a younger friend who followed me around during swim practices and became known as my shadow. We were good friends and both avid readers. Eventually her parents asked me for a list of books that I would recommend for her. They were worried because, like me, she was an advanced reader and then were worried that she would end up with inappropriate books.
As a kid from a family of advanced readers, I’m not sure if my parents frequently worried about our reading materials. I do remember one book that I was told not to read. It was part of series that focused on teens in different sports which I had been reading. I wasn’t particularly intrigued by the book so I shrugged and went back to my browsing.
A few months later, having completely forgotten that my mother had told me not to read it and having run out of other books of interest, I took it home and read it. It was about two gymnasts, one of whom struggles with anorexia and bulimia. At the end of the story the main character tells the parents and the coaches about her friend’s struggles despite the fact that her friend is angry and sees this as a betrayal.
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash
From what I understand, my mother didn’t want me to read the book because I might get the idea to become anorexic or bulimic. The same way many used to think (erroneously) that discussing suicide with teenagers would put it in their head and lead to increased suicides. Despite my mother’s worries the lesson I took from the book was a positive one: That if I ever saw a friend struggling with an eating disorder I tell a parent straight away because I’d rather have a friend mad at me then dead.
When it comes to age appropriate reading I don’t think it should be a free for all (obviously steamy romances and A Tale of Two Cities are not what we’re looking for in an elementary school library) instead kids should be encouraged to read widely while having access to parents who can talk them through difficult issues in books. I read about war and slavery as a kid and could go talk to my parents about how what I was reading was connected to the real world. I’d rather a kid learn about hard things like violence, racism, mental illness, and oppression through books before they see them in the real world. Because they will see them in the real world.
When I was in Junior High one of my friends showed me that she was cutting herself. I didn’t know why she was doing it, or how dangerous it actually was, or what I should do. I ended up doing nothing. Shortly after telling me about the cutting she changed schools. I have wished for two things since then - that I had read a book that explained to me what I needed to know to help her and that she found the help she needed without me.