Forum Childrens,-Teen,-&-Young-Adult Age limits?

Hello everyone

(Hello Dr Shakka!)

Ok so I writing a series of novellas based (loosely) on events and setting from my senior school years. I want one of my Characters to have sex but he is only 15. But hay that's what happens now right???
What do you guys think? Is there a limit when certain things sex, drugs etc etc should be off limits (in literature that is!)

WHATS IS TRUE LIFE OR LITERATURE??

Wow, that is a good question. I know what I was doing at (ahem) 15! I will go ask my niece for you. She reads young adult books all the time, I will get back to you.

This is definitely not off-limits for people that age. Being the humble age of 15, i can certainly tell you that i was reading these things when i was eleven in Young Adult books. the "Alice" series, books like "On the other hand, my Boyfriend is a Sex God," and books that got VERY descriptive---i can't remember the name, only the cover, which depicted a young girl's legs---with intimate details. As long as the book isn't a full-blown under-aged stoned orgy, i think it'll be fine.

i think your right in the fact that yeah 15 year old are having sex now a days -- and a lot more...

i think the key for your story is that your not going to be writing erotica -- so you have to be very careful that you dont give too much detail of the act itself --

Yeah, sex is what the kids do these days. I know that there's quite a bit on the topic in YA lit. Some of it's good, some of it's bad. I think it's all a matter of how you handle the issue. Are you including it just to be shocking? Or are you going to seriously deal with the subject in some way (even by not dealing with it directly)? I personally say that if you're going to include sex you need to figure a way of being responsible without being preachy or lewd and still maintain artistic integrity... good luck with the balancing act.

I tend to read many young adult books, and I think that there is really no age limit in literature, so by all means include sex if you feel you should. Just think about these things first.

1. Is your character really the type to sneak off and have sex? Not many people are proud of their kids hooking up at that age, so obviously the characters will most likely be doing it in secret (I AM aware that the book may have an exception, such as no parents or a different year or something) but are your characters the type to misbehave or get sensual? You may also want to consider that while writing the scene.

2. What does the sex do for the plot? As far as I know, characters having sex with each other is supposed to help the plot. For example, it could end up with a character pregnant or it could be rape or such. By all means, you don't have to make it the base of the plot, but it should have some effect, otherwise it may seem like you are just writing erotica scenes for fun. Perhaps the characters are amateur and want to experiment, so this makes them a bit less curious. Perhaps the book needs a bit of romance, and you want to introduce it through sex. Go for it.

3. Will it be appropriate for the age you're writing? You would definitely not include this in a children book, like Judy Moody or Flat Stanley. It might be briefly included with very barren descriptions and rather brief if it's a young adult book (by young adult, I mean books such as Kenneth Oppel, David Clement Davies, etc. For young adults, like older teenagers, the scenes would probably be less limited.) and if it's a teenage book, you may have some graphic content but still suitable for teenagers (i.e. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)

Sorry for rambling- that's just my personal opinion towards sex vs young adult books.

I once heard someone say that there are only two things you can't do in YA: bestiality and boring, and if you must do one to go with the bestiality.

 

The important thing is that whatever you do should not be just there for a sake of it, nor should it be gratuitous. Just write as much as you are comfortable with. For instance, one of the characters in my book sleeps around a fair bit but I've avoided actually showing the sex. That's my personal decision. You might be comfortable with showing more.

 

edit: holy crap. I just realized how long this thread has been dead. Oh, well.