YA Argument Essay

Young adult literature nowadays has evolved into a monster. The progressing debate over whether or not teens should have access to all YA books has reached a point where parents and educators everywhere need to make a decision. The horrifying images and concepts posed in some of these books can corrupt teens’ minds and are not healthy for developing adolescents. Although teenagers need to be exposed to “real life” issues in society, in many cases showing them in books can normalize these pathologies. Young adult books should be regulated on an individual child’s level of maturity.

First of all, the gruesome details and inappropriate material contained in some YA books are causing negative impacts on teenagers’ lives. For example, the article “Should Young Adult Books Have Age Ratings?” by Husna Haq for the Christian Science Monitor says,“ a recent study by Brigham Young University found young adult bestsellers have twice the rate of cursing of video games and characters who are typically portrayed as wealthier, more attractive, and more popular than their clean mouthed counterparts.” Parents across the country are already concerned about their kids using video games because they are notorious for having crude language and explicit content. If parents knew that the books their kids are reading have twice the amount of adult material, their opinions on YA literature would be stirred, and they would want to restrict access to these books. Also, kids with low self esteem may find YA concepts a beacon of hope and may resort to cursing to feel important or “cool.” Cursing is also used to show worth in books, implying if you don’t curse you are an average person with little significance; whereas, if you do curse you are of higher importance and worth. Another example of this that I found was “Driven by the engines of commerce, adolescent curiosity and whatever is in the national water, these darker books reflect what today’s faster maturing teens routinely see in their multi-media world.” If teens outlooks and ideas on the world are so heavily influenced by what is popular or “in” at the time then they may not be able to have opinions that are true to themselves . The positive of having YA books is that they can teach kids about how to deal with the real world and their futures. But very frequently, kids just want to read the books to seem cool or follow popular trends. This is hurting our youth.

Second of all, certain images and topics in YA books make children uncomfortable with their contents and may trigger relapses in teens with the issues described in the books. One example of this is in the article, “Darkness too Visible” by Megan Cox Gurdon for the Wall Street Journal. She says, “a patron complained that the book’s depiction of cutting - the cover shows a horribly scarred forearm - might cause a sufferer’s relapse. Putting someone’s life at risk for the sake of popular book material is disgusting. Some form of warning system should be placed on the cover so kids don’t have to worry for their lives while reading. This can help protect kids from any questionable or risky material that may find its way into the book. Another example I found was from the article “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker,” saying that, “The parents job is to help children decide what they should read.” Many children can not correctly determine their maturity level in terms of books because they may want to believe they are more mature than they really are. Reading YA literature can be positive for some because it can bring up family discussions about serious topics, but many families are not open to discuss or confront these issues with their children. This can end with kids feeling uncomfortable reading a book. Parents can take action and set “flexible” boundaries for their kids based off of the discussions they have had on topics found in their kid’s books. By discussing, for example, how characters in the story may stay out late and are disrespectful to their parents because of it, kids and their parents can establish a curfew, but will understand if their are exceptions.

Lastly, I pose a question: will letting YA literature decide what teens believe in and help them become independent individuals in their futures? The answer is no. We have to think about how these moral conflicts are affecting today’s youth, and when we look at it closely, it has a negative effect. One example of this, from the article by Husna Haq is, “All 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.” Guiding teens towards more positive and less gruesome ideas and themes will help them be more prepared for their lives beyond schools and in the real world. It is our responsibility to support and help a new generation thrive. Teens need role models who are not supporting the common beliefs of the “teenage years.” Another example of this is, “So chaos in the world becomes chaos on the page.” By putting these topics in books, a place where teens can easily access and bring world issues closer to them, we may actually be helping them feel more powerful and independent. But we may be bringing these topics too close, close enough that teens can believe that some of the ridiculous fictional stories and ideas in young adult books are almost real. These real life issues are being glorified, turned into words, and pressed onto a page where millions of teens can freely read them. Teaching teens that some of the issues shown in these books aren’t as glamorous as they seem, or giving them a reality check, may help to protect these pathological parasites from infecting their minds.

Overall, modern day literature written for young adults is negatively impacting adolescents everywhere and should have some form of restriction. This issue does not just affect kids, but the future generations to come. These teens will be the people who are running the world in 20 years. As a teenager, I used to believe that reading YA fiction was harmless and wouldn't hurt teens. Taking a step back and looking at how it is affecting teens internationally has really changed my mind on the subject. Shedding light on the topics and issues that occur throughout these books, whether it’s age ratings or more detailed blurbs describing the book’s contents, will help kids gauge what they’re reading.

A Monster Calls: Reading Response

The book “A Monster Calls” by Patrick Ness Is about a young boy who meets a monster in his backyard and becomes friends with it. The monster comes to tell tales about his past, and tries to help the boy apply them to his own life. Conor, the boy, has a mother who has cancer, no friends or acknowledgment of his existence at school, and a dad who left him for his new wife and child in America. Overall these stories help conor become a better person and let go of his dying mother.

One lesson conor learned that sometimes being seen is worse than being invisible. throughout the book, conor is trying to find ways to be seen. In some parts he even enjoys being bullied because someone is noticing him. But when the bullies realize his weakness, they just start ignoring him. This is the most painful thing for conor. The monster tells him stories with the constant theme of characters not always seeming obvious or having straight forward intentions at first glance. Looking further into these characters and their motivations shows that each character is both good and bad, evil and innocent, and has many different layers in their personalities. This shows conor that he doesn’t have to be completely ignored or completely acknowledged but can find a middle ground.

Another lesson that the monster told conor was that sometimes people’s actions are not always clear and may have good reason behind them. The monster tells the parson tale to show that although the parson cared so much about his daughters, he would disregard religion the second they were in danger. This shows that although the alchemist may not have had good intentions, the parson deserved punishment for being disloyal to his own beliefs. This applies to the dream conor has of his mother where he lets go of her while she is dangling off of the cliff. He is in denial of what he was thinking, but his actions were clear and show what he really was showing be letting go of his mother. He wanted her to die because he couldn’t deal with the constant false hope that she always gave him saying that “this new medication would work.”

The last lesson that the monster shows conor is that the monster represents destruction itself. It arrives just as his mothers medications start to fail, his school life crumbles, and is father isn’t loyal to his real family. He assists Conor in destroying his grandmothers house and beating up the bully until he “notices him.” the monster, while creating chaos in conors life, shows him that destruction isn’t always bad, and can even help you start from scratch. Conor makes resolution with his grandma and mother at the end of the book, both saying that destruction and anger was okay and are all apart of grief and acceptance. This helps him accept that he called upon the monster and realises why he needed to learn this valuable lesson.

Overall, by telling conor stories the monster helps to not only teach conor but to fix him and put him on the right track for the future. The monster almost acts like the parent that he doesn’t have, with his dead mother and abandoned father. The monster helps him transition through major parts of his life when nobody else would.

The article Should young adult books have age ratings? by Husna Haq for the CS monitor faces the heated debate over YA books in 2014 and whether or not we should restrict teens access to them. Throughout the article she shows different perspectives and groups of people, therefore displaying many different opinions on the topic. Through evidence and opinions, the author gives enough information to make your own decision on this growing conflict.

            By using more than two different opinions (i.e black and white) she gives many different ones, creating room for the readers personal opinion. For example she writes about G.P Taylor, an english writer who, after diving into the young adult fiction genre was horrified and ended his exploration abruptly. He says, “I have changed my mind. I think children's literature has gone too.” For a writer who lives off of the literature that he creates, it is a major step for him to say that he doesn’t support that genre and is even avoiding it. This is an interesting and unique perspective that we may not have considered before. Another example was an author who is against rating books. When speaking about the things teens will have to deal with in their future, he states, “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?” The author uses a person of the same employment but who has a different view on this movement to show that a group of people will not all have the same perspectives but may have totally varying ones. Haq also has statistics from scientific research to further prove her point.

            Throughout the passage Haq was portraying how these issues would become even more relevant and debated in the next few years, so we should decide our positions now. She gave a sense of urgency and importance with the issues at hand. For example she says that “literature is on a move toward responsibility and oversight- or a slide into censorship?” This creates a connection between responsibility and censorship, therefore saying that censorship

is being responsible. I believe her wording shows subtle signs of opinion throughout the piece. She also puts in a quote saying that for parents to guide their children, a certification system is the way forward. Constantly stressing this idea of forward and the future, she portrays that we should jump on the book rating bandwagon now, before its is to late. She also states “Is it time young adult literature comes with an age rating:” She doesn’t ask the question if these books should have age ratings, but if the time has come to have age ratings. she is trying to push us further into the belief that the time has come to put changes on the way kids are reading.

  

            Overall, Husna Haq uses an array of perspectives and quotes to write a multi-opinion piece, while still subtly showing her perspective through her wording. By doing all these things helps to shed enough light on the subject for the reader to have a full understanding and form their own opinion which isn’t forced. This piece is well rounded but may show more opinion than fact.