Who Should Decide Which Books are Suitable for Young People? (Question #3)

I disagree, therefor I say no. Television producers, by law, have to bleep out objectionable words because most daytime television viewers are under the age of 18, and most parents of those children, here in the U.S., do not want their children, under the age of about 16 or 18 at the most, exposed to profanity, objectionable words. Books, on the other hand, are a very different story. When a child, under the age of 18, chooses a book, its their choice, since they are choosing the book. When a child turns on the television, they are exposed to pretty much whatever happens to be on that hour, their choices are very limited. With books, its a much bigger selection to choose from.

Like I said, with books, children and teenagers have hundreds to choose from at bookstores, public libraries, and their own school library. With bookstores, the books are not filtered for profanity, publishers ship them out to different bookstores around the country. Libraries do select the books they want to carry, especially school libraries, and school libraries are usually very good at choosing books with no profanity whatsoever. But again, it is completely your child's choice when it comes to choosing a book they want to read, but don't get me wrong, parents do have a say in it, and I think they always should. But, that depends on the age of your child and the way your raise your child. Some parents choose to let their child be exposed to the real word, which includes profanity, objectionable words.

In conclusion, I do not think objectionable words or profanity in books sold or available in libraries should not be disguised in any way because getting a book, purchasing it or reading it is your choice, and parents have a say in it, so there is absolutely no reason to block out or cover the objectionable words in the book. But, with television it is very different because the television producers by law have to bleep out the objectionable words in their programs. So, with books no, and with television yes since a large fraction of day time television viewers are under the age of 18 or even 17.