Why Slate's Article is a Societal Problem

Ahem.  *Steps on soapbox*. 

I have something to say. 

Maybe a few different things, but they all wrap up pretty neatly. 

1.  An article is raging over the internet today. Part of me doesn't want to link to it, but a bigger part of me does.  Because everyone has a right to be heard, and I respect this person's opinion; she has done her research, she believes her opinion to be well-considered and well argued.  Fair enough. I'm a Voltaire kind of girl. 

2.  I work with teens.  I work in a non-profit, and I've spent the past year earning my Masters in Education.  Through all of these, one thing has become clear: people don't give a damn about teenagers.  I think people give even less of a damn about teenage girls, but I'll leave that alone for now.  Schools and learning are rarely built to accommodate the voice of students; rarely do students have a say in the ways they learn, communicate, express themselves or lead. 

Which isn't for lack of trying.  "For the kids!" is the rallying cry of every educator.  Every parent wants their child to succeed.  "Youth development" is a hot topic.  I was recently at a summit discussing youth development, and there were about 10 teens for the 400 or so people in the room.  They were a token, a nod--a start, but not an accomplishment.  And one of the teens spoke up and said, "You realize all of you are sitting here talking about what 'the young people' want and no one is actually asking us."

People want to hear the voice of teenagers; we just forget to ask them. 

3.  The conclusion that you may think I'm getting to at this juncture may be this: adults love reading YA for this purpose, and that is why adults should read YA.  Because it's the voice of the teens. 

But that's bull.  YA is not the voice of teenagers--I mean, occasionally it is; there is a smattering of authors actually published in their teens--but it's largely the voice of adults.  So lets get this clear--when adults read YA, they're reading books written by adults about teenagers. When you diss this genre, you're dissing the work of adults that a lot of people enjoy. 

Which is fine.  I have no problem with that.  I think you're wrong, but Voltaire me up. 

Here is the actual problem--when you say that YA as a genre is just for teens and adults should be ashamed, you're saying the things that matter when you're a teen don't matter when you're an adult.  You're saying that adults should be ashamed to care about what teens care about.  You're saying their hopes, dreams, passions and experiences are shameful to adults. 

And all you're really doing is stealing their voice from them.  Again.  Tell a kid her dreams don't matter and you sabotage her confidence, her curiousity, her future.  By so doing, you sabotage our collective future. 

I don't believe allowing other people to have a voice diminishes your own.  I don't believe allowing people to care for and love young adult fiction diminishes the love you have for mystery novels.  And I really don't believe that stigmatizing reading, learning, discovery and joy is ever a good call. 

*Steps off soapbox.*

Thank you.