A Disturbing Irresponsible Trend or ... ?

[regdog]

If you have written your book in such a way that it is crystal clear those things were wrong and were in no way ambiguous about it then, no you aren't responsible. But not all authors are crystal clear. They cross the line into ambiguity, and then it is justified by authors and publishers and many commentators as 'these issues are relevant' and 'you can't protect kids from reality' and 'we aren't responsible for how some react' etc. This is not good enough for me. What the heck are adults here for if not to protect kids? Why bother with age restrictions on books and movies? Why do we fuss so much when parents /guardians fail in their duty to protect? It is a false argument to say there is no responsibility in how things are presented to kids. There is absolutely responsibility and if the best care has not been taken to be responsible in how sensitive issues are presented then there jolly well is moral responsibility for the consequences.

Again, it is subjective. What one person sees as crystal clear, either or, some people will see differently. I remember doing book reports in school and a huge discussion/argument happened between the class and teacher when one of the questions we had to answer was the symbolism of a dirty river versus a clean river. Almost everyone in the class got the answer wrong and the teacher went on and on about what we were supposed to say it was. The class argued it wasn't how they saw it. It meant different things to us. Several said they meant one thing others something else etc.


You mention age restrictions on movies. Parents bring young children to PG 13 and R movies. A friend was n Target and a mother had a kid with her no more than 6 and she holds up thongs to the kid and says "Which will make me look hotter?"

Why put the onus of responsibility on an author rather than a parent.

 

[regdog]

So, just to be clear, you wrote the book because?

I was watching a documentary on WW2, in one scene the Germans marched Jews from a village and the villagers dogs went trotting happily along beside their owners. I looked at my dog and wondered what would she think if something like that happened to us. The more I thought about it the more the story took shape.

So I wrote the book about what a dog might think about as war affects her and her family.

 

[Meadow337]

Again, it is subjective. What one person sees as crystal clear, either or, some people will see differently. I remember doing book reports in school and a huge discussion/argument happened between the class and teacher when one of the questions we had to answer was the symbolism of a dirty river versus a clean river. Almost everyone in the class got the answer wrong and the teacher went on and on about what we were supposed to say it was. The class argued it wasn't how they saw it. It meant different things to us. Several said they meant one thing others something else etc.


You mention age restrictions on movies. Parents bring young children to PG 13 and R movies. A friend was n Target and a mother had a kid with her no more than 6 and she holds up thongs to the kid and says "Which will make me look hotter?"

Why put the onus of responsibility on an author rather than a parent.

I do not absolve parents of their responsibilities, but that does not absolve the author, the publisher, teachers etc either.

 

[Peder]

I was watching a documentary on WW2, in one scene the Germans marched Jews from a village and the villagers dogs went trotting happily along beside their owners. I looked at my dog and wondered what would she think if something like that happened to us. The more I thought about it the more the story took shape.

So I wrote the book about what a dog might think about as war affects her and her family.

Thank you very much. A good example, too, of where stories come from.