Anonymous #2 1d

Yes to all of this! Also it should really be a parent by parent decisions thing when it comes buying and checking out and not age verification in sweeping calls and categories. Because that only devolves into all queer/BIPOC/maginalized/anti-narrative in power books getting put behind red tape. That’s how school library bans are starting to happen and it’s not because of Haunting Adeline, it’s because of TKAM and other classic texts. Just can’t be pro blocking access to lit in any way personally

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Anonymous #3 1d

I agree to an extent but as a kid I only got books for xmas/birthdays. My parents would buy off my list and they def wouldn’t have if they knew what they were about. It wasn’t even anything real bad, a bit of sex/dark topics, but I still turned out all right and I might not be a reader today if I hadn’t (tastes have changed but im still reading) If you’d asked me back then I wouldn’t have seen an issue, and I’m sure teens today would be frustrated by adults making the decision for them

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Anonymous #6 1d

What did I do. All I said was we need age verification in adult fiction sections lol. Would you be ok with your 12 year old kid finding out about sexual acts?

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Anonymous OP 1d

Most 12yos already know some things about sex, as they should. 12yos can get pregnant. They should know the basics so they can not do that. I read True Blood when I was 12 and turned out very much okay too. I don’t think a 12yo should be reading HA but once again, it really should come down to parents’ decisions on what they think their kid can handle.

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Anonymous #5 1d

I don’t tell parents not to get certain books. I give them a heads up if it’s got significant sexual content—and a lot of this has to do with liability. In my town, a librarian was recently under attack because she checked out a book to a young teen that had sex in it. Dad said yes to the kid. Mom saw the book and freaked out. Luckily the librarian didn’t end up sued, because this was obviously a parenting dispute, but we do need to cover our asses out here in rural red state territory.

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Anonymous #5 1d

I don’t need my bookstore, the only one in town, and run by me (an lgbtq+ individual) closing because a parent was unaware of what they were buying and blamed me. I am in no way restricting what people buy. But I give a heads up when a 13yo is about to buy Lights Out just in case they or their parents are not ready.

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Anonymous #3 1d

My problem isn’t with you personally, just with the system I guess. You shouldn’t be blamed for what people buy from your store, and people (including kids) should be able to buy/read whatever they want. 12-13 yo’s aren’t exactly innocent and I feel like they know what they’re getting into. If they’re seeking out mature books instead of drugs I’d say they’re already on the right path

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Anonymous OP 1d

If your 12 yr old doesn’t know abt sex and has to learn from a book like that, then you as a parent failed. I’ve been reading above my grade level my entire life. Never did my parents tell me I wasn’t allowed to read certain books. Hell, I read VC Andrews and Stephen King probably at 10-12. Strictly prohibiting anything, including books, only makes the lore that much more appealing. If you don’t want your kids reading it, then don’t let them. But don’t you dare tell me mine what they can access.

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Anonymous #6 1d

*what mine can access. That’s my business not yours. Clutch your pearls somewhere else, Martha.

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Anonymous #6 23h

Dude, there is a huge difference between sex ed and an explicit romance book like HA (if you can even call it that bc the protagonist is a literal r*pist). I’d happily let my kid take a sex ed class before they turn thirteen.

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Anonymous OP 23h

HA is the extreme here, but my sister and her friends have been smuggling Icebreaker into school and giggling over it (she’s 14) and tbh I see nothing wrong with that. Kids are going to get a hold of smut. Just like some of them are going to secretly look up porn. The important thing is that parents discuss safe sex and fiction vs reality with their kids so they understand what they are reading in context.

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Anonymous OP 22h

Or…as the parent, you start teaching your kid about sex and their body way before 13 yrs old. It’s not a school’s or anyone else’s responsibility to ensure your child has a healthy understanding of how their body works as it pertains to sex. YOU raise your kids how you want, and I will raise mine. Your post is about restricting everyone’s access to a book because you have a problem with it. 😂 Have you read The Book Thief or Fahrenheit 451? Yea, the book police were not the good guys.

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