Parental notification and Princess Diaries

[handy]

Like most teen girls, my daughter loves "The Princess Diaries" and I have to admit, I like it too, the movie at least, I've never read the book.

My daughter brought home a book today by the same author, Meg Cabot, called "Ready or Not: An All-American Girl Novel". Since it was by the same author, I was expecting a nice story of teen love...

No, it was a no-so-nice story of teen sex. The whole thing was about whether or not the girl (a junior in high school) would have sex with her boyfriend. They do. And, it's portrayed as a very positive experience for her and her boyfriend. A campus group that is set up to portray abstinence values is the heavy with the girl who heads up the group (called Right Way) being, naturally, a mean type who calls girls having sex slut, but is also, naturally, a hypocrite because she has done IT.

Any kind of values that it's important to wait are more or less ridiculed and the only important considerations about whether or not to have sex is that you "love each other" (yeah, what teen girl doesn't believe that she's in love) and that it's important to use both spermicide as well as a condom. "Just Say No" was lampooned when the girl states on MTV that she says "Yes to Sex" and the idea of parental notification of minors having sex was totally dissed.

So, just be aware, in case your girls love "Princess Diaries" and bring home any of Meg Cabot's other books that there is a lot to check out before letting your daughter read it.

I talked things over with my 13 year old (she checked the book out of the school library) and let her know that I'm not letting her finish reading it. She's a bit miffed as this was for AR points, but she's ahead of the game on AR. She's just too young to get into books where teen sex is portrayed in such a positive, witty, "great fun" light.

 

[PouringRain]

Thanks for the heads up. My daughter hasn't brought home any of those books yet. Apparently there are tons of books out there these days that are on girls losing their virginity, and most show it in a positive light.

There is a book that my mom read, and she liked it so much that she had my daughter read it. It does not show teen sex in a good light, and the mother of the one girl had even been molested when she was younger. I just wanted to caution you on that if you decide to check it out. I have not read the book personally, but I do trust my mom's opinion since she tends to be even more strict than I am on what is acceptable reading material. The book is called Dear Big V. Here are some websites with reviews on it if you want to look at it. If you think you might be interested, you may want to read it first just to make sure you know what is in it and are comfortable having your daughter read it.

Amazon.com: Dear Big V (9781934813102): Ellen W. Leroe: Books

Book Review and Discussion Questions: Dear Big V by Ellen Leroe | Mother Daughter Book Club


Another book that I have gone through with my daughter is Every Young Woman's Battle. I bought the workbook to go with it also. I would certainly recommend it, but I will also give you a warning that it can be quite blunt and graphic.

Amazon.com: Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World (The Every Man Series) (9781578568567): Shannon Ethridge, Stephen Arterburn, Josh McDowell: Books

Amazon.com: Every Young Woman's Battle Workbook: How to Pursue Purity in a Sex-Saturated World (The Every Man Series) (9781578568550): Shannon Ethridge: Books

 

[lone_pilgrim]

Hi Handy,

I would just like to add a couple of books to watch for. Don't let your daughter read anything by V.C. Andrews. When I was 16 I bought "Flowers In the Attic." It doesn't just have teen sex in it...it has incest with the young girl and her brother.

I know that Twilight is really popular now, so your daughter might want to read The Vampire Diaries as well. I read the first two books. There is NO sex in the books, but there are some references to witchcraft; however, that shows up in lots of books (Harry Potter), but they were published in 1990 and are a lot cleaner than most books popular today. Use discretion.

I would also not let her read Anne Rice books when she gets older. They are just dark and no teenager needs to fill his or her mind with that.

 

[Cheyenne K]

As an avid reader, thanks for the heads up. .

If this has not already posted, I'd advise against anthing by P.C/Kristin Cast, such as the "Marked" series. It's like Pagan propoganda with nothing but teen sex, shallowness, and bashes Christianity every time it is brough up.

 

[Bugala]

Thanks a lot!

I have just been looking for this disney package in amazon that amongst others has princess diaries 1 and 2 and have been thinking that maybe years later my daughter can watch those movies (shes now 6 months almost only), but never ever did it even come to my mind that I should be aware of even more than just that the movie is proper, it never came to my mind that it is true, that if she likes the movie a lot, she might go and get the book and then the other books as well, and basically i have to be aare of what those books have inside them too.

but on the other side, this works other way round too.

Say you read some christian authors non christian based book and story is just so good, then you go and grab hes other books and get exposed to the message!

Anyone know if there are some such books / movies that by showing a movie girls would like so much they want to read the book, and book is so good they want to read more from that author and end up reading christian material?

 

[aprillove20]

Well, Sounds great that shows up in lots of book.