The funny thing for me is that my kid is getting these books from the school library and the classroom! Teachers and librarians are recommending “lesser” series. I’ve spent hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and many hours setting up a home library, researching books, sourcing books from my own child, etc to put together a high quality reading environment. I converted a family room into a study and we don’t really watch modern TV or own iPads. And yet I’ve got a Minecraft manual sitting in his room and Diary of A Wimpy Kid in the living room, both checked out from the school library.

This was a good lesson for me while my kid was still young. I am an influence on my child, but even in early elementary, I cannot control what else influences my child. He spends a huge amount of time at school and he chooses his friends.

I figure if I can learn how to navigate those influences and still teach my kid to be respectful, kind, and make good choices… then maybe he has a shot at getting through the middle grades, high school and beyond as a decent individual who can be in charge of his own body and behavior.

My daughter read fish in a tree when she was in 4th grade. She was always against ally and really believed in Shay. I was no stranger to her reaction to this because in second grade she liked Cassidy from louder,Lili. It wasn’t long before I got calls from her teacher that she had been writing about ally and it was mean. I knew that it got worse. She caught onto Albert and Keisha and actually started writing down “Shay jokes”, which were the mean things Shay said, and I was even informed that my daughter was laughing when a character didn’t get enough lunch. Towards December she actually started making friendship bracelets that said “Ally is stupid.” Then the teacher asked if ally’s dyslexia had made her dumb. And my daughter said yes. So yeah if this happens just talk to her why it isn’t okay.

Yeah I’d rather discipline the behavior than limit their reading. My kids can read pretty much whatever they want but if that leads to bad behavior, the behavior will get them in trouble. My 7 year old reads dork diaries and has not gotten MORE sassy, fwiw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junie B Jones and the Weird School books were quickly banned from our house. Junie B Jones was problematic because of her awful behavior and how lenient every adult was. The kids were allowed to behave horrifically. Weird School had bullying, misogyny (look at how the male characters treated the female characters), and the Teachers were written to be complete idiots. I found them disrespectful and tolerant of awful behavior.

A lot of books for kids include a certain amount of teasing and bad behavior but you normally can see how that is balanced by kids getting in trouble for said behavior.

I have not bought the Dork Diaries but I am fine skipping them. They don't sound like a series that I would appreciate.

The books aren't written for you appreciate. Ypu are not the target audience. My kids read all these books and never became rude or mean.

Different kids are more or less susceptible to media influence. Moreover, some kids are more likely to follow rules and discontinue a behavior their parent disapproves of, whereas others will continue to push boundaries and do something in spite of their parent's disapproval. In other words, the same books and tv shows will not affect every kid in the same way. But many of us here are saying that we saw our kids begin to behave differently after exposure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, don't let your daughter watch Wednesday. It has turned my 12 year old into an sarcastic little too-cool-for-everything monster who now calls me "Mother".

Mother is now an insult?

Insult, no. Annoying (to me), yes.

Anonymous wrote:This happens to me when I binge watch shows. I start to talk like them/use similar humor.

It sounds like she's kind of processing them by acting them out. PP's suggestion of putting her in charge of controlling that is fine, but I might add a required "book club" with you. Read whichever one she is reading and discuss it in a non-sanctimonious way (like try to pretend you're really in book club together and make it fun). You're teaching her to process it without trying it out on her little brother. If it goes well but she hates "book club," you can drop it as the problem fades away.

Kids need literature that pushes their boundaries. Better books than some other sources.

Exactly.

Talk to your kid about what they are reading. You need to read it too. Making books forbidden is in no way going to solve your problem.

Isn’t this a form of using their imagination and play? I think it may be healthy in some way, but I think that you make it clear that it’s a story and discuss the difference between how people act in the books and how your family and friends act, and how what we imagine does not have to be acted out. They may even be able to tell you about friends who imitate the books and you could discuss that, and how people should not adopt behaviors without thinking about it first. I think this is a good opportunity to discuss this because it can help them learn how to not necessarily be influenced by what they read and see, and it gets more intense as they get older. See: cosplay, etc.

Anonymous wrote:When my DD was in kinder & 1st grade, the hot books were Junie B. Jones. And all the little girls reading them became super bratty, just like the main character. I told DD that these books were not good for her, and I would help her find books that wouldn't cause her to have bad behavior, because it wouldn't be fun if she got punished. And then we went to the library and did that.

Since your kid is 10, I would give her the choice. "Since you've been reading the Dork Diaries, your behavior has become unacceptable. You do A, B, and C, which I can tell you lift straight from these books. The Dork Diaries are a bad influence on you. I know you love them, so I am going to put you in control. If you can manage your behavior and stop doing A, B and C, then you can keep reading them. If you don't stop within two days, I am taking the books away, and we will find other books that are conducive to better behavior. Go think about what I said and let me know which direction you've chosen to go in."

This is ridiculous. My kid read EVERY Junie B Jones, and part of why she liked it is that Junie was cheeky. We often read them together and I'd ask my daughter what she would do when Junie did something "bad". It lead to excellent discussions. Because it's a work of FICTION. We also read Harry Potter and she didn't think she could use a broomstick to fly. If Junie was a boy, the series would be canon.

My kid loves ready about sassy characters. She knows the difference between how characters act and how she is supposed to act.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We saw this with Disney and Nick shows with kids being rude to parents and teachers.

Yes! There are some Disney shows (iCarly is one) where the kids are sooooo bratty. My first grader was immitating that. Cutting off her access to the material has helped a great deal.

She was too young for those tv shows

Anonymous wrote:My daughter got 2 of these books from the school library. The 6 book and the 7 book. I thought both were okay. But oh boy! SCHOOL DANCES AND YELLING AT PARENTS IN BOOK 6?!?!? Okayyyy! We tried the seventh book and there could have been not one but TWO scenes of kissing! Inappropriate in some books! My daughter is 4 YEARS OLD!

You got the Dork Diares for your 4 year old? That's on you

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, don't let your daughter watch Wednesday. It has turned my 12 year old into an sarcastic little too-cool-for-everything monster who now calls me "Mother".

Mother is now an insult?

Anonymous wrote:Junie B Jones and the Weird School books were quickly banned from our house. Junie B Jones was problematic because of her awful behavior and how lenient every adult was. The kids were allowed to behave horrifically. Weird School had bullying, misogyny (look at how the male characters treated the female characters), and the Teachers were written to be complete idiots. I found them disrespectful and tolerant of awful behavior.

A lot of books for kids include a certain amount of teasing and bad behavior but you normally can see how that is balanced by kids getting in trouble for said behavior.

I have not bought the Dork Diaries but I am fine skipping them. They don't sound like a series that I would appreciate.

The books aren't written for you appreciate. Ypu are not the target audience. My kids read all these books and never became rude or mean.

Whatever you do, don't let your daughter watch Wednesday. It has turned my 12 year old into an sarcastic little too-cool-for-everything monster who now calls me "Mother".

What about Diary of Wimpy Kid? Can kids pick up bad behavior with this one? I haven't read it, but my 7 year old is reading.

Anonymous wrote:This happens to me when I binge watch shows. I start to talk like them/use similar humor.

It sounds like she's kind of processing them by acting them out. PP's suggestion of putting her in charge of controlling that is fine, but I might add a required "book club" with you. Read whichever one she is reading and discuss it in a non-sanctimonious way (like try to pretend you're really in book club together and make it fun). You're teaching her to process it without trying it out on her little brother. If it goes well but she hates "book club," you can drop it as the problem fades away.

Kids need literature that pushes their boundaries. Better books than some other sources.

It's great to see a sane pp on this thread.