Social Question

JLeslie's avatar

Should books be rated like movies?

Asked by JLeslie (65424points) July 31st, 2023

Should books carry ratings like G, PG, R, and X, and should libraries and book stores have restrictions regarding what age you need to be to buy a book with a certain rating?

How are movies rated? Who does it? If you thnk books should be rated, who would do it?

Regarding your children did you let them read anything they wanted to, even if the material was sexually advanced for their age or very scary or violent?

Parents would be able to buy any book for their children but the child could not take it from the library or buy it themselves if they were too young for the rating.

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10 Answers

canidmajor's avatar

Aw, hellz no.

zenvelo's avatar

Nope. And anyone who proposes such censorship is anti-American because they do not support or protect the First Amendment.

I was a pretty advanced reader when I was a kid. Having read most of the Nero Wolfe mystery novels by the time I was 14, I read The Godfather by Mario Puzo in anticipation of the movie coming out. I would have been flabbergasted if anyone told me I was “too young.”

I don’t think movies should be rated either, but that is a different issue.

elbanditoroso's avatar

Certainly not. Movie ratings are way off base because the MPAA are a bunch of conservative clods living in the last century. To give some group authority to label books would be disastrous.

Libraries believe in Freedom to Read – meaning that a person can check out books that are ‘above’ their level if they want to. It’s the parents who should be guiding the kid, not some officious censors.

Libraries wouldn’t buy into this concept. Precocious kids like to read. Unless you’re planning on dumbing down America.

Forever_Free's avatar

Only if they come with a little area that says:

Strike Match Here

Nopers!

LifeQuestioner's avatar

We should definitely not give books a rating, and then try to put age limits on them. I read The Hobbit when I was five, and was reading at a college level by the time I was in fourth grade. I can’t imagine if somebody had tried to tell me that there were certain books I couldn’t read yet because I was only a certain age.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

No, period.

Caravanfan's avatar

Movies shouldn’t be rated.

cookieman's avatar

I’m not a fan of movies, shows, and music being rated either — so, no.

If you’re an adult, figure it out. Read synopsis, watch trailers, read reviews — make an informed choice.

If you’re a parent, consume the thing before your child does (at least a little bit) if you’re so concerned about their innocence.

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