Young adult fiction is often challenged because it includes content about suicide and depression. It is considered inappropriate for the audience it is aimed at. Supposedly, young adults are not ready to learn about such topics and may be influenced to be involved in these issues. However, they are ready and need to learn about these serious real- world issues. Access to books involving suicide and or depression should not be limited because they can serve as a teaching tool or guid to dealing with suicide and/or depression.
Young adult fiction should not be challenged if it contains information or content about suicide and depression because it can be used as a teaching tool. Young adults need to know about these issues, if they are not taught they will find out for themselves.Teens often go through depression and if they are not taught about it, they may act upon suicidal urges or explore the issue on their own. Young adults are frequently exposed to inappropriate content on the internet and sometimes real life. In the article "Should young adult books have age ratings?" by Husna Haq, Patrick Ness states; "Teenagers look at this darkness all the time, and I always think if you're not addressing it in your fiction, then you're abandoning them to face it themselves. Reading young adult fiction is a better alternative than letting teens deal with depression alone".Of course young adult fiction offers content about serious issues that may be considered heavy, but it also teaches teens how to deal with it. Books involving suicide and/or depression can actually be a good influence on teens.
Books involving suicide should not be banned because they help teens understand that they are not alone. Depressed or suicidal teens may feel like they are alone, but reading young adult fiction will help them to know they're not alone. In the article "The 'sick-lit' books aimed at children..." by Tanith Carey; Phil Earle, author of "Saving Daisy", states that when young people are lost in traumatic states, it is vital they don't feel alone. isolation makes the situation worse". Phil Earle clearly thinks that suffering teens need to know they're not alone, and reading young adult fiction involving suicide and depression may make them feel less alone.
Some people may argue against me saying that young adult fiction influences teens negatively and can give them thoughts about committing suicide. They believe that people who have never thought about committing suicide or self harming will give into self mutilation under the influence of young adult literature. However, this is not true. Books are not the only influences that teens have, Books do not influence teens to perform life changing things just by reading about them. Meghan Cox Gurdon states in the article "Darkness Too Visible" that "reading about homicide does not turn a man into a murderer". This shows reading about serious issues does not influence young adults to be a part of the serious issue or be involved in it in any way.
In conclusion, books that include material involving depression and/or suicide should in no way be challenged or banned. These books are actually good influences for teens. Whether they serve as a teaching tool or a companion, they are certainly a good alternative to having young adults experience and explore these issues on their own.