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| Photo credit: Jennifer R. Graevell Photography (Flickr) |
The thing is, there isn't a straightforward right or wrong answer. YA writers face an interesting dilemma, because while we know that most teenagers do indeed use less than flowery language, some wonder if using foul language in books (or other media) just perpetuates the problem.
Personally, I avoid cursing. I make a point to keep this blog clean of any foul language and rarely do I share any posts on Twitter/tumblr/Facebook/what-have-you that contains any sensitive four-letter words. But as I progressed through my journey as a YA writer, I slowly had to come to accept that while I rarely cursed, that didn't mean that my characters couldn't (or wouldn't) either. My censorship of their language felt forced and unrealistic.
You see, we are not our characters, nor are we required to always agree with everything our characters do, think or say, however, that doesn't necessarily save us from the argument that cussing in literature can influence teenagers and young readers in a negative way.
It's a chicken-or-the-egg argument—do teenagers curse because they hear and read it in the media, or is the cussing that they're exposed to in books, music, video games and movies negligible because by the time they start exposing themselves to that kind of media, they've already heard it?
I don't have the answers, but I think it calls for an interesting discussion, so I turn it over to you guys.
What do you think? Is cursing in YA novels acceptable? Does it negatively influence readers, or is it just a part of creating realistic teenage characters?
Personally, I avoid cursing. I make a point to keep this blog clean of any foul language and rarely do I share any posts on Twitter/tumblr/Facebook/what-have-you that contains any sensitive four-letter words. But as I progressed through my journey as a YA writer, I slowly had to come to accept that while I rarely cursed, that didn't mean that my characters couldn't (or wouldn't) either. My censorship of their language felt forced and unrealistic.
You see, we are not our characters, nor are we required to always agree with everything our characters do, think or say, however, that doesn't necessarily save us from the argument that cussing in literature can influence teenagers and young readers in a negative way.
It's a chicken-or-the-egg argument—do teenagers curse because they hear and read it in the media, or is the cussing that they're exposed to in books, music, video games and movies negligible because by the time they start exposing themselves to that kind of media, they've already heard it?
I don't have the answers, but I think it calls for an interesting discussion, so I turn it over to you guys.
What do you think? Is cursing in YA novels acceptable? Does it negatively influence readers, or is it just a part of creating realistic teenage characters?
