Well, then those laws need to be repealed, don't they? As to what needs to be marked adult and not marked adult, there is a children's category anyway. I hardly look at it because I am not interested in reading children's books, but unless mistakes have been made, which is quite possible, it should be pretty safe to assume that everything in that category has been written with an audience of children in mind. If it is not categorized in the children's section then I would assume that the primary intended audience is adults. Even though I might not be interested in reading children's books I know that some adults are. Those adults may download the children's books any time they want to and it is good that they can. The ability is not reciprocated though. Children can, if they are interested in adult books, download most of them, but there are a good many that they can't download. Those that they can't download are the ones that have been specifically checked as adult. I don't have any idea how many children would be interested in the adult books. Depending on what age they are it may vary, but I am pretty sure that the younger ones who might be interested would be in a small minority. I would have suspected that the number of adults who are interested in the children's books would be pretty small too except that I am aware that there are a number on this list, so it may be moore than I would have thought. Those adults have an advantage though, They can actually understand the children's books. Children on the other hand, again the younger ones especially, are not likely to understand the books intended for adults. However, some might. Some might think they would be interested and once they try an adult book they would lose interest and go back to the children's books. They might find some adult books interesting while finding most of them not interesting. The point is that they should have the freedom to find out for themselves. Adults are free to choose any book from the collection that they want. Children and even some people who are children only by law do not. It is an injustice that they do not have the freedom to explore wherever their interests might lead them. After all, reading a book is not going to do anyone any harm whether they are adults or children. There is the question of whether a certain book is appropriate for a child or not. Well, there is a test that will let you know real easily. Make the book available for the child to choose. If the child does not choose it or does choose it and becomes bored with it then it must be inappropriate. If the child does choose it and becomes interested and continues to read it then it is appropriate. And you know what? That same test can be applied to adults to gauge appropriateness too.
_ _ _ "As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the world" Virginia Woolf The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com Pathfinder Press: http://www.pathfinderpress.com Granma International: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamie Yates, CPhT" <mirxtech@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 9:17 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: the adult content issue and check boxes
Roger, I think part of the problem is that US laws prohibit certainmaterials from being available to persons under the age of 18. Those books I listed would definitely fall into that category. Most of the books currentlybeing marked as adult, don't. There's a reason why you have to be 18 to subscribe to or buy certain magazines in stores or to even go in the adult video section of a movie store.I suggested a long time ago that Bookshare decide on an age, like 8 or 9 or10 though I think 10 is too old, and let those subscribers only download books marked "childrens" books without additional parental consent.But some things do HAVE to be marked adult. Just most of the things that arecurrently being marked adult are not TRULY adult materials. -- Jamie in Michigan Currently Reading: Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass Earn cash for answering trivia questions every 3 hours: http://instantcashsweepstakes.com/invitations/ref_link/49497 See everything I've read this year at: www.michiganrxtech.com/books.html
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