So when are you giving little Sally that copy of the Satanic Bible by Anton LeVey?
That's an extreme stretch...is all television inappropriate for kids just because some lout on the WWF grabs his crotch? The point here is for parents to be aware of what their kids are reading and keep the communication lines open; something all kids crave of their parents. Just because I think a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts a parent can impart upon a child doesn't mean I'd buy a Playboy for a 6 year old boy.
Let me give you a little story about parents paying attention to what their children read and are given to read in school. When I was in Grade 2 the Gideons were still coming around to schools in Ontario (that's Canada, not CA) making little presentations and handing out copies of the New Testament. Now, being Jewish I knew that this was the "Christian" bible but who cares? My mother was raised a French Canadian Catholic and at that point in my life I had probably been in more churches (family weddings, etc) than I had synagogues. My teacher, knowing I was Jewish and having not yet met my parents (early in the school year) was concerned that maybe bringing a Christian bible home would be an issue with my parents, so she told me I could quietly bring it back if there was a problem. Made no sense to me but then I was just an impressonable youngster that would want to throw out my yarmulke the minute I finished revelations, right?
When I got home after school and we were having dinner I mentioned that the Gideons were in the school and Dad asked what they did (there was still a fair bit of "Jews killed Christ" thinking at the time) and all I could remember was the teachers (admittedly compassionate) concern. He said that we had no problems with any G-d fearing faith in oour house and then sent Mom with me to get a crash course in the New Testament using the bible as a study guide. End of story, right?
The next day I see my Dad coming out of the principal's office at 8:45. Turns out he went in and tore a strip off the principal for, get this, "putting ideas in my son's head that somehow we might have an issue with religions other than Judiasm." Since that day I've always had this voice in the back of my head that keeps saying "if a man means it from his heart when he prays the Almighty cares not his language of his prayer. That's what parental involvement results in.
If I had brought a Satanic book home when I was a kid my parents' response would have been something like this: Where did you get that stupid garbage? Why are you reading it? Here's a better book. Read this and put that junk on a shelf and forget about it.
I read the Watergate tapes when I was 12. All it did (to I'm sure Woodward and Berstien's horror) was teach me about the strength of America and how they could rip themselves apart so and come back and move on. Again, parental involvement and help with interpretation. Reading is good for kids if parents are involved. Period.