How to Deal With “Bad” Books
What to do if your child reads a book you feel is inappropriate
First of all, let’s define our terms
There are books which are subjectively good or bad, meaning different people read them and come away with different opinions. They liked or didn’t like the writing, plot, characters, or concepts. There are books which are objectively bad, such as those with woefully out-dated ideas and books which perpetuate harmful ideals and misinformation.
Most books fall into the former category, along with most art and other forms of expression. Some books have stories or concepts which are very challenging, hard to read, or perhaps are emotionally heavy. We don’t have to read everything we come across, and we don’t have to like everything we read.
What’s important to remember is our opinions do not get to dictate the choices of others. Just as not all books are created equal, all opinions are not created equal. Some people have opinions based on as much information as they could gather, and are formed using strong logic and reasoning skills. Some opinions are merely regurgitated based on what we were raised to believe, or some other form of personal indoctrination we have chosen to retain for ourselves.
