Should books have a content rating system like movies?

1. 86

   M. T. Dremerposted 11 years ago

   Should books have a content rating system like movies?
   
   My wife works for a publishing company and one of the frequent complaints they get is that their books (specifically the one the customer purchased) is too graphic in one way or another. Part of that is a lack of research on the consumers part, and part of it is that books aren't labeled with any rating system, outside of general genres like 'adult', 'young adult' and 'children's'. When I was a kid, I felt I got a hold of a lot of books I shouldn't have just because my parents didn't think the books could be offensive. Should they have ratings or would that spiral into rampant censorship?

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2. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

   No. I don't believe that books should have a content rating system. It's up to the consumer to find out themselves, publications like the School Library Journal and even Amazon usually suggest an age for books.

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3. 85

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   No, and I don't think movies should have the movie rating system, either.  I'm tired of everyone being so easily "offended" and wanting either the government or some other agency to step in and make their decisions for them.
   Adults should be perfectly capable of deciding on their own what they choose to see or not see; and parents, not some anonymous group of bureaucrats, are responsible for policing what their kids watch. Parents just need to do their jobs.
   As adults, we don't need these self-appointed "babysitters" making these decisions for us: it's dangerously close to outright censorship.

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4. 59

   Aarisaposted 11 years ago

   No...no....and no again.  If parents have concerns, they need to be more involved in their chidren's lives.

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5. 40

   Borsiaposted 11 years ago

   I don't have any problem with a rating system so long as it doesn't become a censoring system.
   Parents can't be expected to read every thing their children find.
   Many adults are offended by both books and films that are outside their comfort zone.
   I still remember when my Grandmother and aunt rented the musical "Last Tango in Paris".

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   1. 85

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Rating is the beginning of censorship:  it is the foot in the door.

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6. 59

   sonisonposted 11 years ago

   No i don't think it should be done because the every book like every hub has something new for a reader that can be lost before reaching to the reader because of a content rating system

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7. 52

   Ash15posted 11 years ago

   Yes I think books do need to have on them whether they are inappropriate but only to a certain extent. I work at a book store and I've had to sell a book about intercourse to a 12 year old and a book about how to make shots to a 15 year old. There was nothing I could do about it, I had to sell it to them. I think for books that are obviously not meant for kids there needs to be ratings on those so that people who work in book stores can ask for id when needed and say no. The book series 50 shades of grey is being sold to 12 year olds. I've had to do that 3 times. When it comes to smaller thinks like a couple swear words, that's up to the parents. It's moraly wrong though to make people who work in book stores sell, books like this to kids. If the book is obviously majorly inappropriate for kids there needs to be something to say this book is inappropriate so you need id or a parent.

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8. 60

   snowpussposted 11 years ago

   God help us if the thought police are given credibility. My Just William books were a treat and the mystery was in the book. If it was labelled half the fun has gone.

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