I am in the middle of writing an article for another website(evil me). and the thought cam to mind "Do books have a rating system?"
I'm not refering to a quality rating system, but to a content ratings system. To me it seems that books are the only media without a system in place. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, so we can move on to better placed discussions. And for the most part I'm talking about American systems. I do realize other countries have different(if possibly MORE) systems in place, and that most are pretty much cut the same way, just different names. And that if it a R rated here, it could be some N/17-thing in say, Canada.
Films(again, for the most part American) have a system, G_PG_PG-13_R etc. Games have ratings, TV has a rating. even comics have a rating. But I've never been aware of a system for the ratings of Books.
I think a system should be put in place, if there isn't one already. As an avid reader, I've picked up books with innocent titles, flipped in a few pages and gotten, to put it lightly, graphic things.
For those who may say something like "Well, if you old enough to read, you should be aware blah blah blah.." I've been able to read since ever since i can remember(a pretty good length of time, as I rec-o-llect) and i remember being taking those tests in elementary school that graded your reading level, and i remember it saying i could read post-grad books when i was in 3rd grade(not stoking my ego, just saying)
And for otehrs who may say "Well, there too young" or something about not everyone on the same level as me, or you, or the holy-lord, or buddha, or your dog's shite pile in the back yard. That's not what's important, if we took that attitude towards other mediums WITH reviews/ratings, then we wouldn't need them.
I'm not saying some obtrusive, knock-down-the-door-if-your-doing-wrong system, Just a passive, on the inside cover of the book square with the rating, maybe a small explanation of why. That way nobody ever picks up a book and has to be genuinely surprised by what's inside
[small] I think this is horribly written, but i'm very tired, and i hope you get my point[/small]
I'm not refering to a quality rating system, but to a content ratings system. To me it seems that books are the only media without a system in place. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, so we can move on to better placed discussions. And for the most part I'm talking about American systems. I do realize other countries have different(if possibly MORE) systems in place, and that most are pretty much cut the same way, just different names. And that if it a R rated here, it could be some N/17-thing in say, Canada.
Films(again, for the most part American) have a system, G_PG_PG-13_R etc. Games have ratings, TV has a rating. even comics have a rating. But I've never been aware of a system for the ratings of Books.
I think a system should be put in place, if there isn't one already. As an avid reader, I've picked up books with innocent titles, flipped in a few pages and gotten, to put it lightly, graphic things.
For those who may say something like "Well, if you old enough to read, you should be aware blah blah blah.." I've been able to read since ever since i can remember(a pretty good length of time, as I rec-o-llect) and i remember being taking those tests in elementary school that graded your reading level, and i remember it saying i could read post-grad books when i was in 3rd grade(not stoking my ego, just saying)
And for otehrs who may say "Well, there too young" or something about not everyone on the same level as me, or you, or the holy-lord, or buddha, or your dog's shite pile in the back yard. That's not what's important, if we took that attitude towards other mediums WITH reviews/ratings, then we wouldn't need them.
I'm not saying some obtrusive, knock-down-the-door-if-your-doing-wrong system, Just a passive, on the inside cover of the book square with the rating, maybe a small explanation of why. That way nobody ever picks up a book and has to be genuinely surprised by what's inside
[small] I think this is horribly written, but i'm very tired, and i hope you get my point[/small]
