Is Darkness really that Visible?

In the article Darkness too Visible the author, Megan Cox Gurdon wants to persuade people to think that YA literature is not suitable for “Children ages 12-18.” She thinks this because they contain dark and mature material. She also does not promote young-adult literature because she says that they influence teens to indulge in a some of these dark topics such as; drugs, alcholol, self harm etc. She believes that these books are not interpereted correctly by teens and should not even be acsessable.

Megan Cox Gurdon took from real experiences mothers had while looking for books for their children to support her belief. The mother Amy Freeman, who she interviewed, also agreed that these books where troubling and shoul not have even existed. “ Nothing, not one thing could I imagine bringing my daughter. It was all vampires, and suicide and self mutilation, dark dark stuff” Megan Cox Gurdon included this to show how strongly she feels and how other people such as parents coud feel the same way.

 

No, I do not think that 7 years olds should read about suicide or murder or anything like that but I do have to disagree with Megan’s claim stating teens should not be able to read about those types of things. Young Adult literature was not written with intentions of hurting people, it was to show kids that consequences come with doing bad things and most importantly, they are not alone. If anything these books are acting as mentors and guids, they are helping not hurting and that should be recognized. Also I think that parents should not shelter their kids from things like this because being aware of such dangers can keep you out of so much harm and most young-adult books are there to help.