American Youth And Literature In The Gilded Age

Danny Glover stated that literacy’s standards were changing. He said, “If we talk about literacy, we have to talk about how to enhance our children’s mastery over the tools needed to live intelligent, creative, and involved lives.” Literature has impacted the world greatly. From the time of the Enlightenment to modern times, literature was (and still is) one of the most prominent forms of media. With the changing expectations throughout history, literature has been impacted by the majority of its readers: the youth. Likewise, the youth has been affected by literature’s everlasting and significant words and meanings. The American youth and literature have shaped each other throughout history through the effects of ever-changing definitions
Over time, the definition of what is appropriate or inappropriate for children to read has changed. In the 1900s, a classic written by Harper Lee called To Kill a Mockingbird was deemed inappropriate due to the racial slurs and prejudices stated throughout the novel. This novel is a beloved classic today, but gives a baseline of what was inappropriate in that time period. Racism is still constantly complained about, which means that some conflicts are not easy to stop even over long periods of time. However, banned books are also a prime example of showing that what was deemed inappropriate before can be seemingly innocent today. An example of this is The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. According to the Tiki-Toki Timeline of Banned Books, The Bridge to Terabithia was banned in 1986 for the repeated use of “Lord,” which upset the devout religious. This reason of banning is reflective of what was extremely important to the youth and their families at the time: religion, especially Christianity. Today, “Lord” and “God” have been used in multiple texts to enhance the reading experience and have not been complained about due to the changed measure of inappropriate literature. The
Many parents are guilty of blaming the television for making their kid obsessed with the wrong things, or for distracting them from school. On the other hand, National Public Radio suggests that television actually makes children better readers. They argue that literacy not only means being able to read, write, listen, and speak, but also to understand the different dimensions of these features. These dimensions include digital media and complex skills building to create a more well-rounded individual. They state that to achieve this, television can be used as a medium for kids to experience the “new” literacy while their parents help them achieve the “old” literacy goal. National Public Radio also believes that adults need to get past the more traditional approach of "no screen time" and use more modern approaches for their children to understand since they live in the 21st century. This shows that the author believes that the parents are at fault at times for underdeveloped children literacy, which is the opposite of what other people believe. Television should still be used in moderation, but adults have to understand that keeping their child from this device only hinders their development of what is called a “21st century” literacy. “21st century” literacy refers to being able to interpret other things such as images and emotion, not just being able to read, write, listen, and