This is so interesting! I have a different take than Sarah regarding restricting children's reading, but I think she and I would agree that sheltering children entirely from ideas and books with which you disagree (and even think harmful) is not a good idea longterm. I do restrict what my children may read, but largely because I wish to introduce them to certain moral and sexual things myself in the time and manner that I think is best.
But as children grow, I think that it is better to enter into the adult intellectual world in conversation rather than act as though children are not entering into this world or should not enter into this world. They will be independent within this world at one time or another, and pretending that this world doesn't exist or that it can be entirely shut out is dishonest and abdicates parental responsibility, in my opinion.
I happened to write something in this vein today, here:
Yes I loved your post today and thought we must be thinking along the same lines about children’s reading! I vividly remember getting to ‘the end’ of children’s books and being a bit lost. I think for me that would have been the perfect time to read some classic novels, like Dickens, which are perfectly understandable and very enjoyable, and don’t risk introducing a whole world that not all teenagers want or need at that point. But this is a comment I should be leaving on your post!
My jaw dropped when I saw your post in my inbox. Great minds!
I remember having the same problem at 11 and 12 and my mom finding adult books for me. It helped! I remember reading Jane Eyre around then. I got bored when she grew up and stopped reading; but then a few years later I went back and read the whole thing!
Love the Steinbeck story! ha ha! Cracks me up. I do have one question for reading that I find a little tricky - is what can you do when you live in foreign countries/traveling or don't have access to libraries? I want to keep away from screens, but it can be tricky getting good books (especially when you are on the road) in English. We have sometimes ended up with some random books - as they were the only ones in English...
That is a tricky problem. I think reading real books is better than reading on screens, but on the other hand books on screens has to be better than not reading at all. And e-readers, I think, barely count as screens because you can’t get sidetracked and start playing games or browsing the internet, right?
We haven't tried reading much on screens tbh - but it means we read a few books sometimes a LOT of times. Or we pick up and leave books as we travel. So they aren't always of the greatest quality.
This is so interesting! I have a different take than Sarah regarding restricting children's reading, but I think she and I would agree that sheltering children entirely from ideas and books with which you disagree (and even think harmful) is not a good idea longterm. I do restrict what my children may read, but largely because I wish to introduce them to certain moral and sexual things myself in the time and manner that I think is best.
But as children grow, I think that it is better to enter into the adult intellectual world in conversation rather than act as though children are not entering into this world or should not enter into this world. They will be independent within this world at one time or another, and pretending that this world doesn't exist or that it can be entirely shut out is dishonest and abdicates parental responsibility, in my opinion.
I happened to write something in this vein today, here:
https://thehollow.substack.com/p/introducing-children-to-mature-reading
Yes I loved your post today and thought we must be thinking along the same lines about children’s reading! I vividly remember getting to ‘the end’ of children’s books and being a bit lost. I think for me that would have been the perfect time to read some classic novels, like Dickens, which are perfectly understandable and very enjoyable, and don’t risk introducing a whole world that not all teenagers want or need at that point. But this is a comment I should be leaving on your post!
My jaw dropped when I saw your post in my inbox. Great minds!
I remember having the same problem at 11 and 12 and my mom finding adult books for me. It helped! I remember reading Jane Eyre around then. I got bored when she grew up and stopped reading; but then a few years later I went back and read the whole thing!
I love this take, Dixie.
Thanks, Haley!
Love the Steinbeck story! ha ha! Cracks me up. I do have one question for reading that I find a little tricky - is what can you do when you live in foreign countries/traveling or don't have access to libraries? I want to keep away from screens, but it can be tricky getting good books (especially when you are on the road) in English. We have sometimes ended up with some random books - as they were the only ones in English...
That is a tricky problem. I think reading real books is better than reading on screens, but on the other hand books on screens has to be better than not reading at all. And e-readers, I think, barely count as screens because you can’t get sidetracked and start playing games or browsing the internet, right?
We haven't tried reading much on screens tbh - but it means we read a few books sometimes a LOT of times. Or we pick up and leave books as we travel. So they aren't always of the greatest quality.
I love that cartoon!