From an opinion column:
During the lazy, long, hot days of summer, which activity would you rather see your son or daughter engaged in — playing a video game or reading a book?
A silly question, right? After all, nearly every parent will say, “Reading a book.” But whether that’s truly the better activity depends on what book your child is reading. And as I’ve told readers of this column before, plenty of books designed for today’s pre-teens and teenagers undermine the traditional moral values most parents struggle to teach their children.
This time of year, kids of all ages come home with the oft-dreaded Summer Reading List from which they make their choices. Many of the lists are created from the recommended reading lists of the American Library Association. Opinion column continued here.
Morality check
She’s right. Scrap the reading list and go with the video games. Give the kids a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Adreas, Manhunt, or Hitman instead. Blood and gore are fake, after all, so they must be much better for their morals than, say, frank talk about sexual issues.
Twain and Morality
I always love it when people refer to Twain in the context of fine, upstanding books with moral and rightous characters. My mirth is probably overshadowed only by the indignation I imagine Twain would have felt at being so grossly misunderstood.
And now back to a session of good, wholesome America’s Army fun!
Re:Morality check
After reading the entire column I don’t get the feel that this author would let their child play San Andreas. They also comment that they should be a good role model. Don’t forget that your child notices what you read, too. Throw out the trashy women’s magazines and sleaze novels and opt for material you’d be comfortable for your child to stumble across. I think libraries and librarians need to be careful mocking the moral code of other people.
Fools
The same people who say they’d rather see their children reading than playing video games are the ones who never taught their children how to enjoy reading. The parents who did know damned well that they won’t be able to stop the kids from reading. Oddly enough, this will create the paradoxical situation of those parents trying to get their kids to stop reading and out of the house to socialize and to chase butterfies and bullfrogs.
Compared to….
many of the Young Adult novels and children’s books available today, his books are more wholesome reading.
Is there objectionable material in them? Certainly. Were Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn always model citizens? Certainly not.
However, the point of the article is to educate parents as to what materials children and teenagers are being advised to read on summer reading lists. It is up to the parent to determine which readings are unacceptable, and make alternatives.
We should cheer Mrs. Hagelin for advocating more parental responsibility in both setting an example for their children and monitoring what their children are reading.