Comments on: Common Sense Media

By: Sandi Saunders

Sandi Saunders — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:13:54 +0000

Literature is too personal and subjective for much of any “rating system” beyond strong language or sexual content IMO. I do not like it and never felt the need to go beyond the age ranges the publisher suggested for my own children. I was just so happy to see them reading, which should be goal #1. I always read above my own age level, and feel I only benefited from that.

It takes a lot for me to ever leave a negative review and when I read some that others have left, I wonder at the venom and insult leveled. If something is “not your cup of tea” that should be sufficient. We no more know that we should like the same tea as we should like or dislike the same book IMO.

By: Dana Bailey

Dana Bailey — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:34:50 +0000

I don’t like the idea of a rating system either, but I do wonder what can a parent use to help decide what reading material is appropriate? Unless the parent reads the book and really knows what it’s about, how would they know if it is appropriate or not? Normally if you look at the book in an online bookstore like Amazon, you can find a suggested age range, but is that enough?

By: Pirengle

Pirengle — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:41:01 +0000

I think it’s a terrible idea. The MPAA rating system for films doesn’t work. Why try to put it on books?

I agree with Vickie. It’s up to parents to decide what reading materials are appropriate for their children.

By: Vickie

Vickie — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:02:24 +0000

Common Sense Media is now saved in my “Favorites.” I’ve never heard of the site before, but will definitely be using it in the future. It would be wonderful to have a rating system for books, but would be very difficult to implement. As you say, there are just too many ways to categorize books. It would have to be done by a company not affiliated with publishers and every book written would have to be read by that company, then rated on several points. Also, what is inappropriate to one person may be completely acceptable by another person. I think it would be almost impossible to do. Another part of me wonders if rating books would be the beginning of censorship to the point of banning certain books to all readers. Maybe we should just trust our own experience to decide what is age appropriate.