WARNING! Personal Opinion Ahead...May Piss You Off. You've been Warned

[cleanwriter]

The woman dropped her head into her hands. Images of her daughter flooded her mind. Her 5-year-old daughter, with her messenger bag slung over her shoulder, ready to set off for her first day of school. 11-year-old daughter celebrating her first successful overhand serve in volleyball. Finally, just last year, her 16-year-old daughter, resplendent

Comments

[kellypolark]

I do have mixed opinions on this. Of course I want my daughter to be smart and hold off on sex as long as possible. But some books like the paragraph you had in the beginning, could show negative consequences and the reality of it. Though I do have a YA idea swimming in my mind, and the main character is a high school virgin, a few of her friends aren't, but the main character is and I myself probably couldn't write a main character doing something other than that.
This is a tough call, but if a teen reads a variety of books with a variety of situations, I think it is okay. Unfortunately it is reality, and I think the teens parents and peers have more to do with that final decision about when to have sex than a book or movie.
Great idea for a discussion, Kai!

[cleanwriter]

Hey Kelly,

Thanks for chiming in. I know there are so many other factors to how a teen decides what to do and what not to do but I'm trying to raise awareness to the romanticized version we see so often on t.v., in movies and in books. In the example above there are consequenses but so many times there aren't. Wouldn't it be great if we, as parents, had all the time in the world to monitor each book, movie and tv show our impressionable teen reads and watches. We don't. There comes a point we have to hope the message we've been teaching is stronger than any other message. How do authors discuss this with their children? A: "Well, honey, this character is in love." Kid: "So am I!" A: "Well, their relationship had progressed to this level." K: "So has ours!" A: "It isn't okay for you to have sex." K: "Why?" A: "Because the character isn't my child and you are." K: ?!

[kimberleylittle]

Amen, sister, amen! I so agree with you. Underage and unmarried sex is never portrayed with all the potential and harmful consequences. I'm so sick of hearing things like you said already: "We're in love", "We plan on getting married later so what's the big deal" "We're committed", etc. No TEENAGER is that committed or mature to make a decision that has permanent and lasting consequences - consequences that they haven't even *thought* about yet

[cleanwriter]

Perhaps you are a mother facing it

[kimberleylittle]

The points you bring up just add to the fact that teenagers don't know all the unintended consequences and cannot see them because they're lacking experience and immaturity

[anonymous]

I hate hearing ‘the story just wrote itself that way.’ We are responsible humans who are attempting to raise STRONG, responsible future adults. There is a beautiful story I’d love to recommend my daughter read but I can’t because there is underage sex in it. If I recommend it, it would be like I’m condoning it.

So when you're recommending HUNGER GAMES you're endorsing the idea of teen gladiators?

This is ridiculous. You don't create YA literature by starting with a set of rules that flatter a parent.

[cleanwriter]

I had a talk with my son the other night about the temptations of gladiator arenas and if he absolutely couldn't say no, that he should be sure to put on his helmet before entering.

Really the post was about the welfare of impressionable kids and the relaxing of standards. Obviously, you can write what you want. If it involves underage sex, I won't recommend it. I probably won't even call you ridiculous in the process. But thanks for the sentiment.