Critical Analysis (YA books)

The article "The 'sick-lit' books aimed at children: It's a disturbing phenomenon. Tales of teenage cancer, self-harm and suicide..." is written by Tanith Carey on the subject of young adult fiction. She tries to convince the reader that the new YA books and 'sick-lit' glamorize illness, depression and similarly morbid issues. She believes this fiction may corrupt the minds of children and offend or harm those suffering from the issues described within them. Tanith Carey describes some of the more gory details of several of these 'sick-lit' books and emphasizes the age groups by which these books are read. She also quotes several people who have experienced or come into contact with the trauma that has been supposedly induced by some children reading about issues from which they have suffered to prove the effects of YA books. The author quotes Emma Citron, a child psychologist who warns parents to if not keep their children from reading potentially traumatizing books; then to not let children read the books by themselves (without parental supervision). This proves her point well. Tanith Carey also directly quotes one teen, Jess, who struggled with this issue herself. This was another example the author used to try to persuade readers.
One of the literary devices that the author uses many times throughout the entire article is direct quotes. She quotes several people. As mentioned before, Emma Citron (the child psychologist) states that parents should not let "these subjects be consumed by young people alone", Jess, the teen who was directly affected by the 'traumatic' effects of YA fiction, as well as several other people such as a staff member of an online support group affiliated with Jess and self-harm. Another way the author attempts to prove her point is by trying to appeal to parents over the age groups of the children reading the  books which she describes, in a very detailed manner.
I was not exactly convinced by this argument. Although Tanith Carey did prove a particularly good point, it did not persuade me, as the reader, to fight for or even truly believe in banning YA books. This article was supported by a good amount of researching and evidence, but still seemed to focus on the idea that these books would directly affect your children in a way that was supposed to speak directly to the reader. However, this article only really supported the idea that YA fiction with subjects such as terminal illness or self-harm affect children suffering from these issues rather than the majority of all teens. This in a way limits the audience to which the argument addresses. Another part of the article that did not quite convince me was the theme of emphasizing the ages toward which the YA books so graphically described which did not seem as surprising as I think they were meant to be. As a teen, I don't feel like ages not so far from my own age was too young. The article spoke to a specific group of worried parents in a way that I don't feel like I could  really be convinced by.