Reading is fundemental. So is common sense.
APK | June 12, 2008 | 9:43 amI have always read books. Tons of them. Of all types. When I was a kid I went from Dr. Seuss to Heinlein in one easy step (with a short stop at Simak in between, to be fair) and that worked for me. Sometimes I read or have read things that are aimed at the age group I sit in at that moment. Sometimes I don’t. A good story is a good story, and never a mind minds. We all find our own entrance points into stories. We always have.
Except, of course, the UK Gov. doesn’t want that to continue. They want to introduce age bands onto children’s books. This way, they reason, parents and children alike will know what books are considered appropriate for their kids to read.
I feel queasy just typing that, to be honest.
Because let’s look at the side effects:
* Children don’t like things aimed at their age group, they want things aimed older than them. It’s simply true. No 17 year old kid reads 17 magazine, ya know? So slapping a notice on a book that says “For 13 year olds” is a great way to ensure no 13 year old reads it.
* Some children read above or below their “age group.” No shame in it, either way, but now they have to be shunned for it, either way, because that’s what kids do.
* Doctor Who, that show you probably love, is a kid’s show. Think about that. It is aimed at kids by being smart, adult at times, and exciting. If it was a book, or just take the Dr. Who books really, will they be aimed at the 10 and 12 year olds who adore the thing, or will they be labeled much older because of what they deal with even though younger children have no problem with the material?
* Books are unique. Children are unique. Putting things in tiny boxes does not make them magically fit the boxes.
* When I write a story I want people to read that story. Same goes for any author or any story. Slapping labels on the books limits who will actually read them, unfairly and with extreme bias. And fuck that.
There is a website, No to Age Banding, that you want to go to and mail them from and become a supporter of. It costs nothing. It could help a lot. So please. go there. Help stop this before it entrenches. Because the UK knows better. And if we don’t help them remember that then you know the US will follow. And so on.
Please. For the sake of every story you have ever loved. For every tale you wished on as a child. For your own children, around or yet to come. STOP THIS.
The USA will not follow. We have led the way. We have had age banding here in this country for over ten years. It started shortly before I had to retire which was in 2001.
Some publishers just print the suggested age or grade level; others use various codes.
Level 2.9 = Second Grade 9th month
It gives you an idea how age appropriate it is so you can check a child’s reading score and not give a child a book that might tax their intelligence, bruise their ego or actually teach them something.
We are also a country that publishes “Watered Down Classics”. These are books with minimal text and many pictutes. So a 7th grader can say he read “Dracula,” all 40 pages of it, and believe that he read Stoker’s book.
It’s scary out there. I miss teaching, but I know I’d end up in trouble if I still was in a classroom. You MUST conform or face charges. Raise a question and they raise Hell!