Talking Education

In what ways does the military genre, including war, war heroes, and veterans, affect young adult readers? Are they positive or negative affects? Young adult readers, typically ages 12 to 18, is a well known for coming-of-age and life-like problem stories where the protagonist identifies and over comes difficulties. The history of young adult literature begins as far back as writing itself:

"In the 1970s, what became known as the 'problem novel' came onto the scene. These novels addressed certain societal issues of the time, such as the use of drugs and alcohol, rape, suicide and abuse. They were called “problem novels” since the protagonist usually faced one or more of these issues. When these protagonists were written as teenagers, the young adult genre was born" (Miles, 2011).

Adolescents, also ages 12 to 18, are developing children on a journey into adulthood, who are identifying themselves and over coming problems that may be featured and talked about in young adult literature books. They are impressionable. They are easily influenced. Most importantly, they are absorbing information about everything they come in contact with. How does a genre of war, heroes, violence, veterans, etc. affect them?

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Negatively 

Books that cover violence and other "negative" themes are categorized as bad for children who are learning about the world. They play video games, they see new reports, they read stories, they have all kinds of access to violent topics that lead to developmental influences on young adults. According to Joy D. Osofsky, "The rate of known violent offenders ages 14 to 17 has risen from 16.2, out of 100,000 adolescents, in 1990 to 19.1, out of 100,000 adolescents, in 1994" (Children in a Violent Society). Of the books above, a good portion contain PTSD stories that include violent memories of the character written out for the reader to live through.

Speaking of PTSD, another negative thing about this genre of books is how it depicts veterans returning home. Something Like Normal, The Impossible Knife of Memory, and The Summer I Found You all feature the topic of PSTD or post-traumatic stress disorder. This disorder is well known to affect military personal returning home from war placed deployments and may surface as nightmares, hallucinations, negative changes, being jumpy, or avoidance (PTSD in Military Veterans). Standard procedure for returning personal include evaluations of both the body and mind, where doctors will determine if extended help is needed for whatever reason. According to the picture painted by these books, soldiers don't treat, talk about, or help their PTSD and prefer to figure it out alone. False, nearly 500,000 US soldiers report and are treated for PTSD on a yearly basis (Reisman, 2020). 

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Romance. A desire for all readers, young and old, to find and capture and have as their own with that one special person. The above books; I'll Meet you There, Something Like Normal, and The Summer I Found You, all romanticize "veterans," "survivors," and PTSD. Why? How? One of the largest tricks that people use is the "I'll fix you" or "I can help you" trick because it will lead to dependence and eventually "love." The idea of romanticizing loss of limbs or mental health issues is a sad reality in our current society because it places the people who deal with these issues in an odd place of insecurity and often it is not to be romanticized (Phillips, 2018). Yes, love is a good topic for young adult literature (or any kind of literature) because it leads to interesting plots and story lines, but not if it's for the wrong reasons. 

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Positively

An entire genre dedicated to the joining of a military branch can be a really positive thing for some young adults. Often the military is credited for giving people a place to go when they have nowhere else to go, depicted in the above mentioned books; Rites of Passage and Fallen Angels. Any branch recruiter will tell you about the opportunities and chances that can be found in the military and how careers can be forged through the hard work provided and practiced. The first three lines of the Army's website states "Benefits that last a Lifetime: The Army offers you money for education, comprehensive support groups, special pay and cash allowances to cover the cost of living" (Go Army).

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Growth and development are really big topics in the world of young adult literature because they are relevant things that the readers deal with personally. A young girl might read Rite of Passage while dealing with oppression from others and discover inner strength like Sam that gets her through her own struggles. A young boy may read The Things a Brother Knows and discover how to connect with his sibling(s) on a personal level and further their relationship. These stories present problems, that are real life problems, and then feature solutions to these problems further leading to the growth of the reader either through failed solution or correct solution to their own problem. 

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Then there is the basis of every genre, the impact of a good story. What a good story brings to the table is the love of adventure and reading in young adults. Often times adolescents have preferences on reading topics, authors, styles, etc. and the military genre may might be that preference. This is confirmed in many research studies, "Seeking out books that match your child’s interests and keeping your child excited about the reading material can go a long way toward fostering a love of reading" (Bennecke, 2012). Some boys (or girls) grow up playing solider with friends and dreaming of becoming a solider as soon as possible their entire childhood. These are the types of young adults that thrive in the reading world with this genre of book.