Should young adult books have age ratings?
It鈥檚 a debate we expect to hear a lot more of in coming years: is developing a ratings system for increasingly dark young adult literature a move toward responsibility and oversight 鈥� or a slide into censorship?
In its latest iteration, the debate is being played out across the pond in the UK, where bestselling children鈥檚 authors G.P. Taylor and Patrick Ness sparred on over Taylor鈥檚 proposal to establish an age-ranging system for children鈥檚 lit.
After diving into the vast pool of vampire-themed literature with his Vampyre Labyrinth Series, about vampires living in Yorkshire, England during the Second World War, Taylor, better known for classic children鈥檚 novels like "Shadowmancer" and "Wormwood," said he decided to withdraw from the dark direction young adult lit has recently followed.
鈥淚 wrote the Vampyre Labyrinth, it came out, I hadn't really read it when I wrote the book, and people who were reading it and reviewing it were saying, 'This is the most frightening thing that has ever been written for kids,'鈥� Taylor told BBC Breakfast, as reported by . 鈥淚 have changed my mind: I think children's literature has gone too far.鈥�
After telling BBC Breakfast he got 鈥渄ragged鈥� into the vampire craze, Taylor hit upon the hot-button topic du jour: advocating the establishment of an age-ratings system for young adult literature, similar to ratings systems for movies and video games.
鈥淚 think the way forward is a certification system for books, the same way we have in films,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or children, we鈥檝e got to be really careful. We鈥檝e got to have a guide for parents.鈥�
His comments come on the heels of a recent study by Brigham Young University that found young adult bestsellers have twice the rate of cursing of video games and characters who swear are typically portrayed as wealthier, more attractive, and more popular than their clean-mouthed counterparts.
And it鈥檚 not the first time age ratings have been proposed for children鈥檚 books. Publisher Scholastic just such a measure back in 2008, which was met with swift condemnation, rebellion, even a petition against the measure signed by some 800 authors, including J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, and Terry Pratchett.
Given the less-than-warm response to Scholastic鈥檚 proposal, we鈥檙e not surprised Taylor鈥檚 proposal was similarly rejected. Patrick Ness, whose Carnegie Medal-winning novel 鈥淎 Monster Calls,鈥� about a boy whose mother has cancer and is visited by a monster, not only rejected Taylor鈥檚 proposal but said he embraced darkness in young adult literature.
鈥淎ll you have to really do is read what teenagers write themselves, and I've judged competitions for teenagers writing, and it's darkness beyond anything I would come up with,鈥� Ness told BBC Breakfast. 鈥淭eenagers look at this darkness all the time, and I always think if you're not addressing it in your fiction, then you're abandoning them to face it themselves.
鈥淚t's not as if books exist in a vacuum and that's all the input teenagers are getting,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭eenagers look at the Internet, they look at the news, they look at pornography on the internet, they look at violent movies on the Internet. So if children's literature is not addressing that, if it's addressing the world as it should be rather than as it is, then why would a teenager read you?鈥�
What鈥檚 more, Ness argued, ratings systems for young adult literature simply don鈥檛 work. 鈥淚f it's got an 18 certificate for adults, then younger children will look it out when their parents are not around 鈥� Children are great self-censors. They know what they can read and they know what they want to read, and if you don't give it to them, they'll find it somehow.鈥�
The topic has stirred even more debate in the blogosphere and Twitterverse, where bestselling author Charlie Higson , 鈥淲hy was GP Taylor on BBC news suggesting govt introduce measures to keep books out of the hands of kids who want to read them?鈥�
What do you think 鈥� is it time young adult lit comes with an age rating?
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
