Aibu to think that stephen kings It isn't suitable for a 12 year old?

[chubbylover78]

My dh spoke to his son yesterday to ask what he had for christmas,(sent son a text christmas day as that's what son asked), loads of gifts as usual but mentioned he'd gotten It and Dr sleep in book form. I know he's seen It part 1 which is rated as a 15 but the book is considerably more graphic and contains in depth violence and sex as well as usual bad language(I've read it so I do know). Aibu to think that a 12 year old shouldn't be reading it unless a parent has read it first, films are easier as they could be watched and the parent then decide. The film is only based on the book and doesn't contain half of whats in it.
Yes- I am being unreasonable and a 12 year old should read it and make up their own mind.
No- I'm not being unreasonable and a parent should do more research first before letting a child read such books.

HulksPurplePanties I did read Gerald's Game at about 12 or 13!

I probably wasn't much older! I remember re-reading the Stand in my 20's and suddenly understanding the scene between the Trashcan man and the Kid in the mountains SOOOO much more.

Another one here who read The Fog by James Herbert as a young teen and the gym scene has forever stayed in my memory!

Without being unkind (it is not the intent), you really need to step away on this one OP

You would be seen as interfering, at best .

At 12 I had already read (though not seen, granted) Audrey Rose, The Omen and a fair few Stephen Kings . Harm done ? None (I don't think. ) . As an aside did anyone else read the books by John Saul ? Never come across anyone else who has .
He wrote things such as
Punish the Sinners
Cry for the Strangers
Comes the Blind Fury

among others.

I read SK from 11 onwards. What’s the issue?
His hooks are a bit sweary and sexual but because it’s so American it desn’t have the same effect as it would be in U.K. English. It annoyed me, I seem to remember.
The actual ideas aren’t too horrific and it’s less gory than TV.

I will say beforehand that I suppose it really depends on the child, some children are very young or sensitive for their age and others are not or are "older than their years"

if you have a child who would be too young emotionally then obviously you don't want them to read or watch things that would affect them.

I was reading all sorts of books at that age and younger. the librarian gave me special permission to take books out from the adult section which children weren't allowed to use. I liked nothing better than seeing the picture of the white skull on the spine!
My mothers side of the family are all very book obsessed. I remember being allowed to explore literature and have freedom to discover my own loves of themes and authors. My uncle especially always gave me a book for birthdays or Christmas, chosen by him so it was a way to discover a new genre or type of story I may not have considered.

Pan book of horror series, and a few other "vintage" horror short story collections, some of which were truly grisly stories!
Dracula. Which I absolutely adored!
Stephen king including misery which is more graphic than the film.
James Herbert.
Shaun Hudson.
Anne rice.
Are just a few stand outs from when I was 11-15.

It has given me a lifelong passion for reading. I had a lot of issues in my childhood but I will always be grateful to my mother and her siblings and parent for showing me from an early age that reading is somthing to be cherished and loved.

You shouldn’t censor books....

YABU. We should be encouraging kids to read, not censor books.

Well,I do think you should censor books,you don't want an 8 year old reading American Psycho , do you,or a twelve year old for that matter? But SK is ok for a nearly teen imo.

Oh I loved James Herbert books
I think The Rats was among the first horror books I read

The Dark effected me for a long time but Domain (Rats part 3) bothered me the most of all as it was the height of the 80s and the fear of a nuclear attack . Shudder.

Totally agree with @nowayhose I'd be more concerned about him seeing the film.

of course you should "censor books" that's your job as a parent!

Do you really want your 12 year old to read extreme porn, or just something like American Psycho?

I don't think for a minute SK goes into that category though, but it's not terribly suitable - I did read him - but it also depends on your own child.

I started on Carrie at 12 and read It shortly after, in all honesty although It scared the shit out of me I barely remember any sex, I would have been too young to fully understand that part so my brain seems to have glossed over it.
The only books I haven’t allowed my 13 yr old avid reader to read yet is ‘a song of ice and fire’ series because of the frequency of the bad language and the brutality of some of the scenes.

I read IT when I was 12, I was bored and unimpressed with the age appropriate books in the school library such as Point Horror etc and my mum had an enticing collection of Stephen King books on her bookshelf!

of course you should "censor books" that's your job as a parent

I disagree.

In a world where most song lyrics contain sexual references and swearing and 9 year olds are playing Fortnite, we should encourage children to read.

You cannot imagine something horrific if you haven’t seen it.

I agree with nowayhose and hulkspurplepanties that books don’t have the same effect as watching visual media. There is a lot of research about the effects of watching violent movies. Some says it does have make people more aggressive in real life, some says it has no effect but I don’t think any research has ever suggested books have a negative effect.

I was reading Stephen King at 9

You cannot imagine something horrific if you haven’t seen it

Of course you can,how ridiculous, you can read about a child murder and it doesn't affect you because you haven't actually seen it and can't imagine it?

We’ve got two teenage good readers in the house and I have struggled to keep them reading books with age appropriate content.

Stephen King writes for adults, so I agree with you. I don’t have any solutions to the problem though (I used to try and read questionable books first but stepdaughter lives with her mum mostly (who speaks English as a second language) so I don’t get that opportunity with her.

So you don’t allow your children to read the newspaper or watch the news?

So you don’t allow your children to read the newspaper or watch the news?

I do, but I don't allow them to watch porn, extreme horror movies (that they might watch with friends, but they do not have my blessing), or unsuitable videos online.

It's your job as a parent to check what your kids are doing, and a 12 year old is too young to be given unsupervised access to everything, even when they have a sleepover. Might as well leaving them with a tv and internet access in their bedroom, which I am strongly against.

The UK news doesn’t contain supernatural terror or graphic horror. It’s purpose isn’t to thrill through frightening. Silly comparison.

Oh I forgot about American psycho. I read that at I think 15 and really enjoyed it. I found the intricate description (a whole page on every detail of a table cloth or something equally not needed for the story) too much at times but very much enjoyed the book.

But leaving them with unsupervised access to books is totally different to allowing them unsupervised internet access or TV.

And there are plenty of sex stories and horror (war) in the news.

It’s your job as a parent to educate and guide.

See I think we are too hung up on defining books as "adult" I agree there are probably some that are unsuitable like 50shades and all that shite.

But our kids learn to reas with biff and chip fgs. Selectively incompetent father, cisntBt references to policeMAN fire MAN and creepy neighbours peering over fences.

We read then fairytales where the secret to helping an unconscious woman is not to call an ambulance but to kiss them.

Where women are poisoned or punished for being beautiful, where picking up after seven messy men is expected and step mothers are always evil.

And of course there the Stockholm syndrome thing.

That we read kids without a second thought.

A few vampires or creatures in the night which are obviously not real doesnt seem.so.nad after that really.

Clive Barker, i also read at a young age and they stayed with me

The short story series, think they were called books of blood, were pretty savage