What are your kids reading?

I am in the process of designing my new Intro to Literature class, which will include books typically categorized as "Young Adult" or teen fiction. Thus, I was very interested to read this article from the Wall Street Journal about the dark, disturbing nature of much contemporary teen fiction, along with this response by Professor Alan Jacobs.

Jacobs asks a helpful question--can we say that some books are better than others, and some are simply bad for you to read? In our relativistic culture, the answer is almost always "no." Even among people who are willing to make quality distinctions, the argument is often that even though the kids may be reading low-quality books, "at least they're reading." I do not buy this argument. I am about as staunch a supporter of reading as you could find, but I think we make a big mistake if we place the act of reading above all considerations of content and quality. In our screen-dominated culture, the temptation is to worry when we see kids glued to the TV and rejoice when we see them sitting down with a book. But as much as I value it, I cannot say that reading in and of itself is a supreme good. If a book contains neither truth, beauty, nor goodness, the time you spent reading it would have been better spent elsewhere. Even watching, dare I say it, a movie. (If that movie contains a modicum of truth, beauty, and goodness, of course.)

This is not to say I believe children should only be exposed to rainbows and roses. As I've written elsewhere (here and here), depressing or even "dark" literature has an important place in portraying our fallen world as it is--in need of a savior. Literature cannot be redemptive if it doesn't portray the fall; an unfallen world has no need for redemption. "Dark" literature can teach us a lot about the depths of the human heart, and about what it takes to fight darkness. (C.S. Lewis has a great discussion of this in his essay "On Three Ways of Writing For Children" when he argues against the idea that children's literature should contain nothing frightening.) But I think we can acknowledge that this type of darkness can be portrayed in a helpful way or an unhelpful, even dangerous, way. Wisdom should direct our reading choices.

Even if the issue isn't one of quality, there is simply the question of age-appropriateness. This is particularly tricky with children who are prolific readers (as I was) and likely to read anything they can get their hands on, whether it is suitable for their age or not.

Each family will take a slightly different approach on this "wisdom issue" of what your kids should read and when. But I think a good rule of thumb is this: Be involved. Be wise. Talk to your kids about what they read.  

Comments

[Muddled Muse]

Very well stated, Melodee. I always have a vague sense of unease when someone says: "At least they're reading." It's like feeding a child a porridge containing rat poison. You can't just say: "At least they're eating..."