Is Twilight Appropriate for Young Girls and Tweens?

Is Twilight Appropriate for Young Girls and Tweens?

By Twilight Fan

Twilight Fan. "Is Twilight Appropriate for Young Girls and Tweens." Always Twilight. 23 December 2008. Web. 11 February 2010.

Summary: This article starts by asking if Twilight is appropriate for young girls and tweens and says that parents need to consider this before they let their kids read the books and watch the movies. This author says she is the mother of three and is a “HUGE” Twilight fan. She goes on to say that the movie Twilight is PG 13 and although it is a pretty innocent parents should stick to the age 13 and up guidelines.

After talking about the movie she says that the books are completely different. The first and second books are very innocent. There are a few passionate moments, but nothing actually happens except for kissing. She then says that since Bella and Edward’s physical relationship cannot progress because of the human/vampire problem it would make it easier on young girls to see that this cannot exist in real life. She then explains how the third book gets a little less innocent. She says Bella thinks a lot about sex and tries to take off her clothes when they kiss. They also talk a lot about Edwards’s perfect body. They never have sex in the third book, but there is a longing for it. The fourth book is the one to watch out for. She says that they have a ton of sex in the fourth and it goes into lots of detail. Since Vampires do not sleep the use their time by having sex and since they are immensely strong they end up destroying furniture. After explaining all four books she says how the 4^th book is very much an adult book and she would not recommend this for young girls. She wants her daughter to wait till she is 15-16 to read them.

She concludes her article saying that the movie is okay for kids 13 and the first two books are ok, but the third and fourth should wait till kids are around 15 and there should be parental discussions while they are reading. She said that it would be a good idea for parents to read them as well so they can get a feel for what their daughters might be thinking about sex and relationships.

Analysis: From this article I get a sense that the author is for Twilight and teens should be able to read it, but parents should be cautious and monitor them.

Response: I thought this author gave a lot of great advice. She is a fan of Twilight, but agrees that parents need to be responsible and monitor what they let their children read and watch. The movies do have rating for a reason and parents should know what they are letting be put in their children’s minds. I think there is enough R rate material in schools and in public that I don’t think the Twilight Saga is going to introduce kids to sex and relationships. I think they already know about that at a young age.