Full Metal Dust Jacket: Books Are Violent, Too.
Carvajal discusses the influence that violence in books has on our teens. In the article, Carvajal talks about the complaints that libraries receive about the content in the books that teens are checking out. The complaints are predominantly about the sexual material in the literature. One library in response to the complaints raised the age at which teens may borrow general circulation books from thirteen to sixteen. The library issued special cards to teens under sixteen that allows them access to only juvenile books. The article insists that there is a crucial difference in reading about violence and watching it on TV. The article says that a book gives a reader more complex information to understand the feelings and insights of characters, while movies can desensitize us to violence. .
I do not think that books are less influential on a teen than a movie. Violence is violence, whether it is read in a book, watched in a movie, or seen in a picture. I believe no matter where the teen gets the information, if he or she decides to reenact it that is solely their decision. I also believe that there are other issues with the teen other than just what they have seen. I do not believe that just seeing a picture will make a teen want to go out and do the same; something else has to be behind it. I do agree with the library system but I think that the age should be fifteen, instead of sixteen; at the age of sixteen teens are beginning high school and need access to a variety of different books about the sensitive issues that effect them in the world today. .
The Secret Life of Teens.
John Leland .
John Leland wrote this article in response to the shootings in Littleton, Colorado. Leland says that teenagers of every era have carved out their own secret world but the secret world of today is more severe. In the past, the toughest decisions teens had to make were whether to have sex or do drugs, but with new technology and the influence from the entertainment industry, issues have become more complex.