[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Again, i never stipulated any sort of ratings from any ratings board. I do apologize if it came across that way. I was only interested in a small box on the back of the book.

A "rating" doesn't necessarily mean a scaled number. A label of "this book contains lots of sex" is a rating.

One the back of the book, where you read a small blurb of what the book is about, at the bottom, perhaps there is a box stating whether or not sex, drug use, or language is included.

Who gets to decide those are the only warn-able content?

I don't want my kids reading books with overt monotheism in them, at least not without my discussing it with them first. Are you thinking they should warn for that?

You don't mention violence. I want to know if there are violent deaths on every other page. I *really* want to know if there's torture and mutilations, which are much more likely to cause long-term problems for my kids than sex scenes, which they won't understand and get lumped under "weird grownup stuff" in their minds.

How about racism? I don't want my kids reading The Turner Diaries anytime soon.

Instruction kits for bomb-making, religious propaganda, kooky diets designed to prey on the fears of the young, hate-filled rhetoric, How To Cheat guidebooks, suicide methods... I can think of plenty of things I want to steer my kids away from that aren't sex-and-drugs books.

As for drug use, I mean LSD, pot, cocaine, heroin, etc. not cigarettes, pipes, beer or wine or any alcohol. I know those are still drugs, but it should have been apparent.

Why should it have been apparent? I worry a lot more about my kids getting interested in alcohol than in pot. And I don't know what you include under "etc."

What about sci-fi books... should drugs that don't exist today be exempt from a drug warning? Is it the particular *drugs* that get a warning, or particular *types of use*?

By gratuitious sex, I mean very prolific in the book. Not just a one or two time occurrence.

That's not gratuitous; it's just prevalent. Gratuitous means unnecessary or excessive. If it's intrinsic to the plot, it's not gratuitous--but there can still be an awful lot of it.

I'd like to know if there is sex, and if so, is it prolific, does it encompass the story? What about the drug use? Cocaine, Heroin? If any of these feature heavy in the book, then frankly, it should not be directed at children.

What age "children" should not be exposed to these topics... and why don't you include violence in your list? At what age are they ready to read about decapitations but not copulations?

What do you think of books like Go Ask Alice? Should they not be available to children?

As for other books, such as Grapes of Wrath, for example, which was mentioned earlier. Yes, this is read in many english lit classes, however, the book itself is not geared as a novel for young adults. They can read it, sure, but it's not marketed towards the YA sect.

I think you lost me. You're only talking about tagging books that are specifically tagged Young Adult by their publishers? So, any books not so labeled, would be exempt?

I suspect it wouldn't matter much to me, then; my 10-year-old still reads some books marketed to YA, but my 13-year-old has discovered fantasy novels and is off & running.

I'm having trouble thinking of any marketed-as-YA books that you'd think would need these warnings. And I'm confused at the idea that any parent would expect their children to refrain from reading anything that wasn't tagged YA to start with.