From: Lisa Ingellis
Columbus
Two school board members filed age-appropriateness complaints about library books — Jason Major challenged the book “People Kill People” by Ellen Hopkins, and Logan Schulz challenged “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. They have called for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. to adopt a book rating system similar to the movie rating system. According to Major, “We are working toward a profanity count similar to movie ratings … with content filtering for ‘age appropriateness’.”
As parents, how do you learn whether a book is considered age appropriate for your teen? Readers between ages 12 and 18 are called “young adults” where literature is concerned. Amazon and other book websites assess appropriateness and average ratings of book quality by readers. “All American Boys” is available at two middle schools and all high schools locally, and its recommended age range is 12 years and up (grades 7-9). “People Kill People” is at East and its recommended age is 14 years and up (grades 9-12).
The website Common Sense Media also reviews books, giving the recommended age and a star rating. It includes plot summaries and a 1-5 rating for language, violence, sex, drugs/alcohol, and positive role models. Ratings and reviews by kids and parents, and discussion guides for families are also included. Regarding the books Major and Schulz want removed, Common Sense Media recommends the same age and grade levels as noted in Amazon product details.
Major and Schulz have used the website, Book looks, as their exemplar. It is favored by the groups Moms for Liberty and Parents Rights in Education, and focuses on profanity, nudity, and sexual content, with their own definition of what constitutes “obscene”, “patently offensive” or “aberrant” sexual behavior. Plot and message are rarely summarized, even for award-winning books. According to their guidelines, the two books under review should be removed from school libraries, as should “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Forever,” “The Kite Runner,” “Slaughterhouse-5,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and many more. Book looks reviews are incomplete, slanted, and not the standard by which to determine age appropriateness of school library materials.
What parents view as appropriate for their kids is subjective and varies. If Amazon details and reading reviews don’t suffice, reading the book itself would be optimal to determine if a book is right for your kid. Given this is often impractical, some trust is needed between parents and those choosing materials for libraries. If that trust isn’t there, parents may provide the librarian with a trusted list of books for their kid.
I trust educators and librarians to use their professional judgment about age appropriateness, both for library materials and material to be taught in the classroom. BCSC’s long-existing review process is being updated to reflect state law as of January 2024. We do not need to develop or adopt a community rating system for our school library books. Let’s promote literacy not censorship and get involved with our kids and what they are reading.
