Books

[stephimummy]

So I got my 14 year old daughter a kindle for her birthday and a gift card so she could buy some books. She loves reading, and was very happy with th egift. I saw some of the stuff she was reading, and although I've always suported her love of reading, a lot of stuff she's reading about isn't appropriate. I wouldn't let her watch movies with the same topics, for example sexual content and drugs, i mean one of thebooks she was reading was a clockwork orange, which you might know from the extremely violent movie made about it (Ihaven't read the book though) I was wondering, do you judge the content of books differnetly than, for example, movies or TV? And should I limit what I let my daughter read?

[DarlaHood]

My dd also had an interest in stories about drugs and addiction.  But I kind of think it is good for them to read about such things.  I mean a series about a teen mom meth head can't really paint a picture an intelligent girl would want to emulate!  And you're right about Jersey Shore and some of the other tv content aimed at them. I watched a couple of episodes just to see what all the talk was about.  Nope, don't want my dd aiming to become that!  It's not the kids that are avid readers that I worry about!

Quoting nicndetsmom:

My dd read the one series about a teen mom meth head (I think?) I didnt realize she did til she was done, and maybe i wish she hadnt, but i love reading and i want my kids to as well. Better than her watching jersey shore reruns, which depletes the IQ. I try not to judge too harshly because my favorite book as a teen was Go Ask Alice and I loved The Bell Jar.

[Barabell]

My son hasn't expressed in reading any inappropriate books yet. I would probably not allow him to read any books with graphic sexual content or that glamorized drug use.

[fammatthews4]

I don't censure what my kids read.  They are pretty open with me though and talk to me about certain subjects that they have questions are concerns about.

[Acalhoun]

It really depends on her maturity and what she understands about the stories.  You should discuss the book with her on peer-to-peer level (i.e. like you would in a book club) and see what she thinks of it so far. 

If you think she is taking it the wrong way than maybe you should suggest other books until she is more mature.  If she seems to understand it and knows full well why the violence in the book does not mean it's okay to be violent in real-life, than you are probably ok with letting her read it.

My 15 y/o was watching rated R movies since she was 10.  This is because her understanding of reality was far superior to that of a normal child's.  Every situation is dependent on parent and dependent on the child. You need to decide for yourself, if she is ready for what she is reading.