Young adult novels are filled with foul-mouthed characters—and those who spew the most profanity are the best looking, richest, or most popular, says a recent study by Brigham Young University social sciences professor Sarah Coyne.
The report analyzed the prevalence of cursing in 40 YA books that appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers List for Children’s Books on two separate weeks in 2008. Coyne found that most books, or 88 percent, had at least one incident of offensive language, and on average, teen novels contained 38 instances of cursing, which translated to almost seven instances of profanity per hour spent reading. In fact, bestselling YA novels contain twice the rate of cursing of most video games, the report adds.
The “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” series have fairly tame language, compared to Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars (HarperTeen), which has an above-average amount of profanity, with 80 curse words in the 298-page book. A few, like Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (Knopf, 2008), contained none, while Cecily von Ziegesar‘s Gossip Girls, The Carlyles #1 (Little, Brown, 2008) serves up 175 instances of swearing. The YA book with the most profanity? Nic Sheff’s Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamine (Athenaeum, 2008), a disturbing memoir about the author’s personal struggle with drugs and alcohol.
Coyne was most concerned that characters with the most offensive potty mouths were often portrayed in a superior light. “We tend to imitate behavior done by characters with desirable characteristics,” Coyne said in an interview. “The characters that swore were rich, popular, and beautiful.”
Coyne decided to conduct the study, “A Helluva Read’: Profanity in Adolescent Literature,” because of the abundant research on video game and movie content but not on her favorite form of media—books.
While there’s no denying that profanity exists in YA novels, many authors says it’s an integral part today’s teen culture and to exclude it would offer young readers a sanitized version of the real world that many couldn’t relate to.
“It’s the way kids talk,” says Beth Ann Bauman, the author of two YA coming-of-age novels, Jersey Angel (2012) and Rosie and Skate (2009, both Random), whose characters use some swear words.
“What I did include, I needed to accurately reflect the characters,” says Bauman, who adds that critics of using curse words in teen books makes her “cranky” because “if you’re trying to get kids to read, the reason it’s there is it’s actually the way kids are. You have to reflect kids’ world in the truest way you can.”
A Mormon and mother of three children between the ages of one and seven, Coyne acknowledges that “kids definitely swear” and says an author has the prerogative to include curse words “if she wants.” Mormons are advised against using profanity and try to avoid movies, music, and reading material that contain swearing.
While Coyne doesn’t advocate rating books aimed at teens, she does favor a “content warning” so parents can feel empowered by knowing what’s in the novel. Coyne denies that these type of warnings are a form of censorship and contends that parents today are left adrift when it comes to assessing appropriate books for their older kids.
Others disagree, like Beth Yoke, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association, who explains that these warnings pose a danger to first amendment rights. Coyne’s suggestion that book have labels, like video games and movies, is a “short-sighted approach to connecting young people and books, and is always a cause for concern among the many individuals and organizations that value and defend first amendment rights,” Yoke says.
It’s not just profanity in YA books that’s stirring up controversy. Blogger Kate Hart recently conducted her own informal survey of 624 teen book covers and found that 90 percent feature a white character, while only 1.2 percent features African Americans.
As for the role of librarians to guide adolescents to the appropriate book content, Coyne says she’s more concerned about bookstores. “I trust my school librarian,” says Coyne, who adds there’s a lack of information being offered at bookstores “when it comes to teen books and cursing.”
Yoke wonders whether librarians need to get the word out that they play a very important advisory role. “Everyone needs to know that librarians are there to help find the right book for the right teen, and they won’t know unless we tell them.”
About Laura B. Weiss
