Are you happy this 'housewife' has the power to censor what any child reads?

Question

In a nutshell the new Jacqueline Wilson novel contains the word 'tw@t'.

Random house are being forced to reprint and change it to 'twit'.

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1047598/Housewife-wins-battle-publisher-remove-swear-word-book-best-selling-childrens-author.html

Do you think she should be able to do this?

Or are you just so offended by the word and it's appearance in a 'tweenager' book that you are happy with it?

Answer 1

I agree that it is not something I want my 11 year old repeating, and if she learns it in a book that I thought was ok, then she would think that the language used in the book was ok, and use it.

Answer 2

It doesn't bother me either way but Jacqueline Wilson is a very good author so why should she not be allowed to use this word in her books. She seems to have a great understanding of teenagers and to be honest this is the kind of language they use anyway so where is the harm

Answer 3

OMFG - another pathetic busybody with no life. She actually read the book to make sure "it wasn't too sad" Thank god she is not my great aunt.

Answer 4

Show me any "tweenager" who has never heard the word tw*t before and I will show you a child who has spent it´s life locked up in a cupboard.

And as for whether the word is appropriate in the context of the story........ it may well have been.

Jacqueline Wilson is an excellent author.

As a mother I would not censor a potentially good read on the grounds of one expletive.

Asa teacher I would have no choice because of people like this.

edit.

My Irish colleagues tell me that tw*t is not a swear word in Ireland and that the nuns at their school used to use it.....can anybody Irish tell me if I am being wound up here?

Answer 5

She has a perfect right to control what her own children read but she shouldn't be allowed to control what other children read.She is removing the right of other parents to bring up their children in a way that they see fit.

Answer 6

I have no problem with people censoring the language that is used. Especially when it comes to the children to teenager books. They learn these words in other places and books should not be one of them... Using adult language is not appropriate for tweens. Just because we (or children/tweens/teens) use adult language doesn't make it right nor should it be condoned.

To Bear: obviously that word is not used in the way that you have defined... :/

Answer 7

I think it was the right decision to have it removed personally. The books are aimed at 9-11 year-olds, who I'm sure have all heard the word before, but they may feel that having it printed in a book aimed at them gives them license to use it. It's not a word I would be happy with my children using. Newspapers aren't even allowed to print it so I am somewhat surprised it has been printed in a kids book.

Answer 8

How awful to find this in a children's book!!  

I don't even like to see this kind of language in an adult book, I find it abhorrent that it is in a children's book, and from such a widely read author.

How can we teach children good manners and high standards when this is the example they can see in a book?

Literature is one of our greatest assets and should not be demeaned in this way for the young and impressionable.

Maybe I am a prude but I don't think so. We can hear bad language all the time in the streets from young adults, do we want to hear it from even younger children who have been shown that it is acceptable just because a fictitious tweenager uses it in a work of fiction?

After all bad language is obscene language!!!

EDIT,

I have to add that I can remember Lady Chatterley's Lover  being made available through the courts and the the controversy surrounding that publication, ---  and that was for adults!!!  How times have changed!!!!  LOL

EDIT 2

Haz, you sound just like my daughter!  You're not a Leo by any chance are you?  lol

Answer 9

Obviously someone who doesn't know the true meaning of the word.

Tw@t - An ineffectual person.

Answer 10

How ridiculously petty. Wilson is not a modern-day Enid Blyton - her books are aimed at older children and teenagers, not toddlers, and they are supposed to be realistic. What child or teenager in the year 2008 uses the word "twit" as an insult?

I could maybe understand the concern if the book was peppered with f and c words, but "tea double you eighty" is hardly a major-league swear word these days. I remember using this word at school from the age of about 5 (almost 30 years ago), and it would certainly be considered suitable for a 12A certificate film - i.e. only a year or two above the age range this book is aimed at.

I mean, her great niece is nine years old, and she's worried about this one word? By the age of nine I was already reading adult fiction that contained far stronger themes and language, and it "never did me any harm", as the saying goes.

It seems that we now have a successor to Mary Whitehouse on our hands.

Answer 11

Hello Haz-maybe it's a good way to gain publicity!

Some teenager's may use that word but not all do and is she encouraging it? just my thoughts

Answer 12

Some people need to get a life. t**t is a harmless word these days.

Answer 13

i'm glad she won, i wouldnt let my daughters read that it is inappropriate i would have thought dame jacqueline wilson would have known better. x

Answer 14

Of course I think she should be able to do this!

The word t**t has no place in a book aimed at children

I'm not offended by that word in the slightest, i just wouldn't be happy to hear my 9 year old repeating it

Answer 15

It seems to adult supervision for child's reading and what they can and cannot read is a wonderful thing that a good parent does for thier child. too many bad reading books about sexual..crimes..murders..and other evil things can damage a child's mind and we must protect our children from reading bad material..as they become older they can make better informed decisions on what they want to read or not.

It is solely the parents choice to control what a children read.

Answer 16

I think it's a travesty!

I like Jacqueline Wilson and her books would be welcome in my house, my 10 year old would only have to ask me what it meant, that is no great problem.  Language used in the right context is fine, and I'm sure JW used it for a purpose and correctly.

That woman is a busy body in my opinion.

Answer 17

Hi Haz,

Why didn't she ask for a refund ? walk down the street in any city, town or village and you will hear a lot worse, do people still use the word t**t ?

Jomamo - Hi, I'm Irish and although t**t is slightly derogatory (certainly not considered offensive) but then again it's usually used in jest over here, akin to the term 'ya feckin ejit'. xx

Answer 18

Well, I actually agree that the use of the word is unnecessary in a book aimed at children that age. What happened to the innocence of the books we used to read? I know they are saying that it fits in with the character Jodie who is supposed to have said it, but just because some children of the age DO use that kind of vocabulary it doesn't mean that they SHOULD use it. I think 'twit' is more appropriate.