Age “Appropriate”

Posted on | August 23, 2010 | 3 Comments

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I’m really excited about it. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. Tomorrow is the release day for Mockingjay, the third and final book in the wildly popular Hunger Games series.

Oh, what, you haven’t heard of The Hunger Games? Either I haven’t been doing my job as a literary evangelist or you’ve been living under a rock. The Hunger Games is one of – if not the – biggest book series since Harry Potter (yes, it’s even bigger than Twilight). It’s a thrilling and exciting dystopian adventure that has gained a lot of fans, including Stephen King himself. Oh yeah, and it’s technically a “YA” or “teen” book.

Just like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games transcends the limited, narrow age range determined, mostly arbitrarily, by publishers for the sake of marketing. It’s a huge publishing success with everyone ages 12 to 80. While I’m admittedly biased because I’m already a fan, it’s a book anyone can like, regardless of where it’s shelved in the bookstore or library.

One of my biggest pet peeves is getting stuck on or caught up with “age appropriateness.” I’ve written about this a lot more on my book blog, but it applies to more than just books. Suggested age ranges – for books, toys, activities, major life events, etc. – are there for a reason: to offer an approximation of the people who might get the most out of something.

But that doesn’t mean other people – those of us who fall outside the suggested age range – can’t also enjoy those things. Why should we be limited in what we can or “should” do simply based on age alone?

Somewhere along the way, for example, someone decided that older people can’t or wouldn’t enjoy swinging on a swing set. Well, screw that. Swings are fun. They make you feel like you’re flying. So what if I’m 28? I still like them, thankyouverymuch. I also still like board games just as much as I did when I was a kid – and, bonus! I have a lot more useless knowledge now, so I’m even better at the trivia games.

This defying of age ranges goes both ways, too. I know a lot of adults who tend to shy away from discussing “the tough stuff” with kids, when there are a lot of kids who could probably handle an in-depth philosophical or political discussion and might even really like it. My own parents never shied away from including me in so-called “big idea” topics, even when I didn’t always understand what was being said. As a result, I grew up with the ability to enjoy these kinds of discussions and with a greater awareness of the world around me. If my parents had stuck to “age appropriate” conversations, I might not be writing this post right now.

Yes, there are obviously some things that should be restricted based on age. But there are also a lot of gray areas in the world and we only do ourselves a disservice by limiting our chosen activities to those that are “age appropriate.” George Bush the Elder proves that every time he jumps out of an airplane on his birthday. (Hey, I may not like the guy’s politics, but you have to respect any octogenarian who willingly goes skydiving.)

People – most people, anyway – were given this wonderful gift known as common sense. Age ranges and/or limits may be helpful guidelines but I think we’re all a lot better off when we take those ranges/limits into consideration and then ultimately use our own common sense to decide what’s best for us, our friends and our families. Because I have a lot of fun playing tag with my nephews and talking theology with friends online – age appropriate or not.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

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