I
love to read. I read all types of books-- I still love to read kids’ books and
I love to read novels from lots of different genres. This week in
class, we’ve been talking about the effect of politics on media. We discussed rating
systems for music and movies and it made me wonder why there is no such rating
system for books. I found a couple of book rating systems online here: http://ratedreads.com/book-review-ratings-guid/
and here: http://www.compassbookratings.com/
. Obviously, some people are concerned about the content in books, but there
has not been a nationwide ratings system adopted or enforced.
If
there were a ratings system, would there be an age requirement to purchase
explicitly sexual or explicitly violent books? As a parent of a 10 year old who
loves to read, I monitor the content of what he is reading. As he gets older, I
want to stay involved in his reading choices, but I think I might be more
likely to allow him to read a book with more mature content than I would allow
him to watch in a movie. For example, I am considering allowing him to read the
Hunger Games novels, but I don’t think he’s ready for the violence of the
movies yet.
Even
though I monitor the content of what my children are reading, I’m glad there is
not a government ratings system for books. Most of the books I read come from
the public library- either through their e-book collection or physical books on
the shelf. At the public library where I work, the manager is in charge of
collection development. She decides which books are appropriate for our shelves,
mainly based on popularity. The library is funded by local, state, and federal
monies, but they do not censor what kinds of books each library can have. If
there was a ratings system, books could be “rated” out of the library.
What
do you think about the idea of a book rating system?
I always believe a parent should be involved when it comes to a child viewing any media. But reading and watching are two different things, This sicks out to me as the main reason there isnt a rating system. I dont think it would be a bad idea but just use it as a guideline. Not a restriction
ReplyDeleteBooks are so unique. There's no official sort of rating system in place, but we still incur lists of "banned" books. I find it very interesting that this is more a community effort, a more of a coming together to vote as a whole as to what books should be allowed in school libraries and such instead of a tight and controlled regulatory system. It's wild having the MPAA so heavily control film, but there's no system in place for books (not that I want there to be, it's just interesting how one form of media can be regulated while one is not).
ReplyDeleteI agree also , that parents should be involved when it comes to what their kids listen to, I am also glad that there is no rating for books, but I also like to read different things, if there was a rating on books that would just be doing to much lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, it would suck if there were ratings on books. Growing up I loved to read I would just go to the library and pick random books and read them. I would have been pretty curious if a book was banned for my age group or I wasn't able to read it. It would only make me go online and read it there. Books are different than movies. In movies mature content is shown but in books you are left to your imagination to create a scene in your mind.
ReplyDeleteBut imagination can easily be way worse than what a film shows!
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