In the comments section of the August 28th This Week in Publishing, a few people were discussing whether children’s books should be rated for sexual and/or violent content in the same way as movies and video games in order to help parents decide what is appropriate for their kids to read.
And while I wasn’t able to participate, this subject also came up in the weekly #kidlitchat on Twitter.
What do you think: should children’s book publishers rate the content in their books so that parents can determine which books are age-appropriate? Is this censorship or at the very least, could it aid censorship?
And, also importantly: would this help sales? Would a publisher who voluntarily rated the content of their books see a sales bump or would there be an outcry?
If you’re reading via e-mail or in a blog reader, click through for a poll.
When I was in high school, I wished for a content advisory. I remember picking things off the list, mainly Ordinary People and thankfully reading the first few pages and realizing I wouldn't want this because of the language. That one showed up right away. But I loved historicals, so my teacher suggested The French Lieutenant's Woman call me naive that I didn't catch from the title that sexual explicitness would be involved, but a teacher had recommended it, that would make it PG right? I vividly remember reading in the middle of the book on my couch with my mother vacuuming next to me, hoping she wouldn't look up at me and see how red my face was, that I was reading such explicitness right in front of her. But I couldn't back out cuz I had locked the title in for the quarter. It was so bad, I thought, "If they made a movie out of this it would be rated R" and sure enough, it was.
So, I am all for giving a Mature rating for books for children (I understand that the books in the above examples are not YA lit), just like video games. You can choose to ignore them or not, but to not put them on there because you don't want the reader to censor it before he picks it up in ludicrous. We all censor things, whether we think it's boring, unbelievable, etc. we stop reading it if its bad. But if someone wants to avoid certain things, that's his prerogative, help your reader get what they want.
Maybe an advisory for what its for: Mature for Language, Mature for Sexual Description, etc. Of course, sometimes that may make the teen want to read it when parents may be hoping it keeps them away. But let the reader make an informed decision and not stuck trying to hide in the couch cushions because you had to read something you didn't want to in front of your mother to pass the Book Essay looming next week.
I thought it was a bad idea when I was a teen. Now that I have kids I'd like to know what's lurking between the covers. Don't some romance novel's include a spice level? if it's appropriate for adults, why not kids?
Nathan,
I obviously didn't read your last line correctly. I thought that was your opinion being stated:
"Just content, not rating or censorship."
My apologies.
I haven't read the comments, so sorry if I'm repetitive with others.
I think that it doesn't need to be required, but as a parent, I would sure appreciate it. Helps to scan through quicker.
My oldest could read very early and I had to work hard to find him a CLEAN book at a good enough reading level. He wanted to read 250 page books in the 2nd grade, but certainly couldn't understand the topics of girlfriends, cheating in school, vampires, being mad a parents, etc. I had to search long and hard for more Henry Huggins type of stuff. Not easy.
Now my second child is the same, but a girl…searching for clean books with lots of words and big words, but not grown up themes. A little sticker with an age rating would be helpful.
Of course….it requires that people rate appropriately AND it also requires that publishers pick up some books with youthful topics that have more than 64 pages. PLEASE somebody do that!!!
I'm torn on this one. Aren't kids more likely to want to read something they're not supposed to read?
The big controversy (and I'm dating myself as I type this) when I was in junior high school was Judy Blume's book 'Wifey' which contained strong sexual content. Bookstores were told not to sell the book to anyone under 15. I was 14 at the time. Did that stop me from getting the book? Heck, no. A friend of my older brother worked at a 7-11 and let me buy the book. Why did I buy it? Uh, 14, strong sexual content . . . Why did I really buy it? Well, because I was told I couldn't, so I did . . . and that's pretty much the mentality of most kids: tell me no, and I'll do it, tell me yes and I probably won't.
On the other hand, most toys have age limits on them (Age 3 and up, etc), so why not books?
On the other hand, I really resist – TV Watchdog groups, etc. – determining what is best for me to watch. I'm an adult capable of rational thought, therefore, I can decide whether I want to watch something or not.
On the other hand . . . who decides what is appropriate and what isn't appropriate? Should total control of a rating system be given to, perhaps, narrow-minded individuals with their own personal agenda? Who is going to police the rating committee so that personal bias doesn't come into play?
On the other hand . . .
Well, I've run out of hands. I just think this is a very slippery slope and one that should be approached cautiously. A system is only as good as the people running the system, and human history has shown that the people running the system have no clue what they are doing.
S
"kids know when they're ready for something."
"I decided I could deal with it so I 'borrowed' it from their bookshelf and read it. And it was graphic but then it was over and I dealt with it, as I knew I'd be able to."
"Children are quite often more sensible than we give them credit for."
You're right kids will ultimately find a way to read and watch what they want.
But that's the key-what better way for them to know what they want if they can read what kind of content is in a book, right on the cover.
Someone else mentioned not be able to read Puhlman because of someone else's opinion. They are already being censored by their parents, how is a rating system like those on movies any different? Puhlman would probably be PG-13. That parent is already extreme. Is seeing PG-13 for violence going to make them worse?
Oh, heck, let's just censor it all. You wouldn't want your child to watch a movie about a mother involved in the murder of her husband, and a young woman who gives herself to a guy, only to be betrayed and eventually kill herself. Oh yeah. That one was mandatory reading when I was in grade 9.
But, seriously, a rating system would most certainly enable censorship. Librarians would be pressured from PTAs and school boards.
What would be the means for qualifying these ratings? Based on content. I think all of us writers know that it isn't what happens, but how it is presented, which just might be a little too subjective. On the screen sex and violence means you will actually see that. On paper, it means you will be led to imagine it. There is a big difference.
Meanwhile, the Pussy Cat Dolls are marketed to preteens, and it's ok, because they're only mock strippers, not real ones. They don't drop f bombs and are not overtly graphic, so everything is all right.
I read THE WHITE HOTEL at 15 or 16 and was far less corrupted by that, than the young women of today who have become part of a new surge in teen pregnancy, due to celebs (especially young ones) having babies at a higher rate.
I'm just not sure that proper ratings can be qualified in literature (though any art form is hard to judge). There are far more powerful negative influences slipping through the cracks and not only making it to our youth, but being marketed to them.
I think it is a parent's responsibility. I get that you can't monitor every single thing they are exposed to, but by the time they are teens, one would hope you've helped your child build a strong enough foundation that they can differentiate between the types of influences they are under. You can't keep them in a bubble, and I think that at least books invite more interactive thought, as opposed to just being shown and told.
I also worry about books like THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK FOR GIRLZ (Annick Press). It is a sex education book for teen girls and by teen girls on their sexuality. There are no holds barred. The girls talk about everything, but the content is presented in an educational manner. A ratings system could kill such a book. And, it is an important one.
Hey, it was just a different Nathan, Nathan.
I'm not as mixed up as I thought!
karla-
Ha — that explains it!
I don't believe content rating is a good idea. For one, who is to decide what content is appropriate and what is not? I'm pretty sure not all parents have the same point of view on this. For one, I know one of Maureen Johnson's book was labeled "adult" at a library because there was a gay relationship in it. Is that adult? Are you only capable of declaring homosexuality over the age of eighteen?
Personally, my parents let me read whatever I wanted when I was young, and I happen to think I'm still okay. Reading is about exploring. One person's caution is another person's censorship. There's no way to make a rating system and have the "levels of appropriateness" be agreeable for everyone.
I think where the book is shelved in the library or bookstore is the first good indicator of how graphic the book will be. Also, there are usually hints on the back of whether or not the book is violent (the words war and sword, for example, are tip offs) or highly sexual.
If parents are concerned, then they should do what parents are advised to do about PG-13 movies: Read the book before handing it to your kid.
Maybe I need a pseudonym when I comment on this blog. Just call me "The other Nathan".
Bethanyintexas –
I agree with you. Everybody only gets one childhood. Being a child without having to worry about the adult world actually allows a person to become a stronger adult. During childhood, a great deal of development takes place, one stage at a time; and imagination and idealism thrive when there isn’t too much pressure to get ready for the adult world. Being forced to grow up too soon often backfires, for example child stars out of control as adults trying to reclaim the freedom they missed in childhood.
"They are already being censored by their parents, how is a rating system like those on movies any different?"
The thing is, when a lot of people talk about parents censoring what their kids are reading it's generally in that kind of context – the Harry Potter/Dark Materials sorts of books which some people believe are 'irreligious' or 'dangerous'. And I think that's wicked and reminds me horribly of Nazi book burnings.
Actually, if I'm being honest, I loathe censorship of any kind. Yes, I know it's not a good idea to expose small children to scenes of violence and gore and sex so I understand the need for film ratings, but I wish we didn't have to have them.
But then I don't think you can compare books to films. Films are graphic and obvious – if you're sitting in a cinema and someone's being brutally murdered, it's right there in front of you. The image is completely impressed upon you and short of walking out of the cinema there's no way to avoid it. Whereas with a book things aren't so graphic. Seeing someone get killed on-screen is far more intense and disturbing than reading a description – it's illegal for a 7 year old to buy, say, The Shining on DVD. As a bookseller, legally there's no reason not to sell a 7 year old the novel. I might advise them not to and could probably get away with refusing the sale, but if their parents came and got angry with me I'd have to sell it to the child because books are typically not as disturbing and scarring.
Of course I don't want 7 year olds to read the Shining. I don't want them to read graphic sex scenes or books full of swearing and violence. But I equally don't think I should have the right to stop them, or that we should write on the books that they shouldn't. Nobody I know has ever had nightmares from reading a book (I'm sure some people do, but I expect it's a minority.) Millions of people have them after seeing films. They're completely different mediums and to try and compare them like this is too hard.
Laura,
I agree with you. When I had my ms posted on Authonomy, my biggest pet peeve was having my work referred to as erotica. All because the protag is an exotic dancer who falls into bed with the wrong guys, a little too ofetn. However, the thoughts of the character are all that is really explored in any given sex scene, and body parts are not mentioned in descriptive detail or by cheesy names. All I'd need is a few stuffy types on a bad day, and… ok, I guess I could be an overnight success in that case. But, I have worked very hard to flesh out a scene (pun intended) without being Harlequin, and haven't included anything that isn't imporatnt to character development. But, if you went down a checklist saying, is their violence-yes, sex-yes, drug and alcohol abuse- yes.
https://rewritingthewest.blogspot.com/2009/08/gypsy-hunting-tomorrow_2956.html
If people who are writing really miss the difference, people I assume are well read, forgive me if I don't trust a censor to be cultured enough to make a correct distinction.
Laura, I've seen the movie — very informative and wholly unsurprising. I do think there needs to be some sort of qualification metric (for books, movies, drivers, people, etc. — stamp 'em all), but unless we do it computationally, it'll always be facocked by us idiot humans 😉
Anon 12:52-It does not matter what your political affiliation is. I think this is about haveing less labels, not more. Might want to take that lesson to heart.
I skipped reading the comments because I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach it.
COME ON!
We should start labeling food in the grocery store for potential allergens, too. Right? Oh wait, we do. It's called the fine print.
Like everything else in life, put down whatever idiotic junk you're wasting your time with and KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE READING. It has fine print, look into it.
The end.
only if it comes from industry and not from government
Personally I don't think a book rating system would be censorship, I just think it would be impossible. Trying to assign objective ratings for violence, sexuality, thematic content, language, etc., would be about the biggest can of worms that the publishing industry could open. So, no, I don't believe it's that great of an idea.
No, no, and hell no.
My mother allowed me to read anything I could get my hands on as a child, therefore I always read above my age level. I am very glad I read books that were for adults and YA because I got to "experience" more mature themes that I otherwise would have been ignorant about, thus it would have hindered my social and economic progress in the real world.
In my opinion, you are hindering your child's education and socialization by not allowing them to read the books that interest them. If you have an issue with the book, always be open to discussion after they have read it. Otherwise you could potentially hurt your child emotionally by making them feel guilty and dirty for secretly reading what you told them not to. "Oh, but my child wouldn't read something I told them not to!" Yeah, and I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.
One more thing.
What are we paying librarians for?
Aren't they there to do more than just catalog books?
No, they shouldn't.
Personally I don't like to see kids' books with really explicit sex scenes, but now that YA is more often being shelved with adult books, there's less risk of a small child reading that stuff without expecting to. And most such books don't seem to end up being very popular anyway.
When I see that people would like to have warnings if the book contains gay characters or kids whose parents are in jail, I see that there's no telling where the lines could end up being drawn. What's objectionable about these things? I can't imagine!
As a writer of kids' books I also don't like the idea of having to keep a mental scoresheet of what taboos I'm breaking.
I don't really know how to answer this one, for several reasons:
One – I was ten when I first read Dean Koontz, tweleve when I read Stephen King, and fifteen when I read Jude Deveraux. So I never had guidelines put on me.
Two – to me if you really don't want your kid reading books with "mature" or "violent" material, read the dang book yourself. How do the raters know what to deem good and bad? If my parents haven't seen a movie that has a higher rating, they won't let my younger brother see it until after they do.
Three – Ummmm…okay, so I only had two reasons, but I guess that I disagree with the ratings because if the parents want to find a "clean" book, they can pick it up.
I just finished reading all the comments. Interesting discussion, especially about whether ot not ratings lead to censorship. Personally, I think ratings along with descriptions of why each rating was applied are simply helpful guides – and, not only for children, as many adults don’t like to see certain types of movies. Censorship of books and other school materials frequently has nothing to do with sex and violence ratings, but is often more political in nature. Think about all the school districts that didn’t allow President Obama’s back-to-school speech to be shown to their students.
(PS– my next book has a gay couple *and* a kid whose parent is in jail.)
As both a teacher and a former gifted child, we need ratings.
Like heather sunseri said, parents do their best to monitor but it's impractical to screen every book they can lay their eager little hands on. A simple system would be beneficial.
Also, any 2nd grade teacher who snagged Eric Carle's Draw me a Star off the shelf and found an illustration of a naked man and woman halfway through read aloud would REALLY BENEFIT from some judicious guidelines 🙂
Lora
litdiva.blogspot.com
Also, lack of content ratings may have been an issue in my childhood.
I read waaay above grade level and discovered the Sweet Valley High books at age 9 (inappropriate) and had read Ken Follett by the time I was 14 (BEYOND inappropriate).
Admittedly there were fewer excellent YA books available back in the day, but a simple age appropriateness sticker on the cover would've been helpful.
Lora
litdiva.blogspot.com
More thoughts:
Parents can check out TV shows, websites, and movies for content. In that same vein, they can actually READ the book their children are going to read. Hell, you can even opt your kid out of sex-ed or listening to the President talk. My point? Parents who actually parent their kids have choices.
Labels don't fix these issues. If you don't want your kid to hear some language or see some content, then PARENT THEM. Manage your own family. But don't put constraints on what artists can say or do.
It's already happening, though. Walmart won't sell music with a content warning. Some groups, like Green Day, say fuck 'em. Some are forced to sell out. Honestly, artists already have enough problems getting their work to market without labels.
I say let the marketplace decide.
Censorship is an adult thing.
Censoring what children read is called Good Parenting.
No, we can't do everything, but we sure as heck can try. Good parents try their darnedest to do their best the best they know how.
Also, give kids some credit. My 10 year old knows far more about sex and violence and swearing than he lets on to me. He's also sweet and well-adjusted.
Nathan (the other one!) argued for content descriptions on books and said: 'Leave the "too" to the parents. They'll determine what's appropriate or not, and to what degree for their own children. As parents, that is their right.'
No! It's the child's right to decide what they want to read. The parent may want to read the book too, and discuss it with the child. But it's not a parent's job to impose restrictions and censorship. If a parent tries to control everything about a child's life, including its access to literature, then the parent is far too involved in the child's life. Children need the freedom to learn, think and form their own opinions.
Anyway who would administer the ratings? How would limits be set? Would you ban children from reading un-rated 'adult' books? Or make all adult literature 18? Would bookshops ask children for ID?
I was looking at a book that my 13 year old daughter loves the other day. I didn't really like all the bad language in the book. But I know she hears much worse at school every day, and I know that she knows not to use language like that at home. And the book gives us a different way to discuss these issues.
I also think that Crystal's comments show that there's no way that people could agree on what ratings should rate. Bad language? Sex? Parents in prison? Gay couples? The supernatural? I find the very idea offensive – as a writer and as a mother.
I think that as a reader (and when I'm a parent some day), I would welcome content labels (not ratings) like the ones that now show up as extra info with film ratings and tv shows. However, I'm not sure such a thing could be implemented without a hue, a cry, and tons of drama.
A couple of commenters said that a book isn't the same as tv or a movie because it isn't visual. I completely disagree. A well-written book is far more visual than half the stuff we view onscreen.
I do want to agree with this quote though. I strenuously disagree with the assertion that movies or visual images are always more striking or affecting than the written word. A book describing in detail the experience of being tortured or physically injured can be far more disturbing than a movie with cheesy special effects or even more realistic ones. Writing can take the reader into the mind and experience of various things in a different way than movies usually do.
Also, romance novels provide far more info (even for a relatively naive reader) than a rom com with two movie stars under a sheet.
For those who think children should be able to decide what they want to read without restriction, should they also be able to decide whether or not to go to school?
Kids need some direction (Hell, adults need direction, too, just, hopefully not as much) and that's what parents are for (and you just hope they don't cock it up too much).
When I answered this question, I was imagining my children between the ages of 8 and 12.
What age ranger are people talking about here? I mean, can the kids drive themselves to Borders and buy their own books?
I get the impression that some people are talking about five year olds and others are talking about high school seniors – and some, are talking about themselves.
And I distinctly get the impression that some writers do not want parents to interfere with children buying their books. Which is insane. Who do you think drives the kids to the bookstore or the public library and encourages their children to read?
Whereas, I respect everyone's rights to write and read about anything they want, I personally don't want my children reading a book about a pair of gay, murdering parents that some marketing- ad-employee has cleverly billed as "a charming coming of age novel that explores today's complex social issues." Talk about subjective!
How do parents make decisions about books? We read the very subjective jacket and pray that that ALL of the content is suitable for our children.
For those of you who think there should be no rating, but also think parents should read everything before their children do – do you hear yourselves? You don't want intelligent guidance but you support a dictatorship?
And for those that say – that's just the real world – please . Your children may hear profanity in school, and they may hear about sex from your cool friends' kids – but my children do not.
Some of these comments sound like their coming from writers with no children – or – from parents that have thrown in the towel.
As a mother of six children, I'd love it if there were some way to know what kind of "content" is in a book I'm not familiar with. Parents are *supposed* to censor for their children; it's part of our job.
As a writer, why would I have a problem with that? It would avoid receiving a certain amount of unhappy mail from readers or parents of readers.
I don't like censorship for adults, but books for children do need some sort of age or content rating.
What one family considers age-appropriate may differ from another family when you consider the other factors like religion, region of the country, rural or urban, etc.
My husband thinks the term 'children's books' should identify what is appropriate, but that means we are expecting that the writer has a certain code of ethics or adhers to some vague code of age-appropriateness.
Each generation has certain expectations of what is appropriate, but as a parent of two daughters I know I always liked some indication of what books and toys were appropriate for the age.
We must remember that these are minors that we are dealing with, at an impressionable age. What damage can be done if there is no monitoring on what they are reading?
I agree with the folks who want to know the content. Each child is different. A "judge" may give a book which contains farm animals mating a bad rating whereas a kid brought up on a farm would think nothing of it. I'd want to know the exact content to choose for my kids (if I had any which I don't).
Actually many of the books hidden from me as a child, when I did get around to reading them, had nothing shocking that I could find. Disappointment!
Bad language should be commented on as kids can easily pick those words up and use them without thinking. If I were a parent I would eschew those books before any other
Lora96,
I do think we need to rely on librarians in this area. I was also labelled gifted, as a child. I attended a school that ran grades 6 through 12. There were two sides to the library. I was allowed to cross to the other side in my first year. The librarian took me straight to a section of classics, and I wondered very little from it. The odd time I did, she would suggest that I try something different. That was the single biggest year of literary discovery for me, and I wouldn't have made it through the next six years, if she hadn't done that for me.
The other major source of books is the bookstore. Mom and Dad are forking the money out there. If you don't know what your children are spending their money on, you have a lot more problems than what books they're reading.
Yes, it's hard to know about every book your child is reading, but there are usually blurbs on the back that can give you a good indication.
As for curiousity, there is no fighting it. Anyone remember the one kid in school who stole a Playboy from his dad and charged the rest of the kids a buck to see it? It happens.
Kids are more influenced by what goes on in the home of their parents and the parents of their friends, than by a peek here and there.
I put yes not so that parents could tell their kids what to read, but because I would rather like to know what I'm getting myself into when I start a book. I worry about rating systems, though, and who makes them, and how accurate they are.
Kids should choose what they want to read. Parents should trust them to not choose anything they aren't ready for.
The problem with rating systems is that they're subjective. Even if one board thinks a book is only appropriate for a certain age, other people might disagree. And when it comes to movies and video games, I know a great many kids who want to view/play the more mature titles only because they're more mature and thus "cooler". I don't think a rating system constitutes censorship, but I wonder how it would be set up and enforced. (Would we refuse to sell a nine-year-old a book rated 10 and up, even if it's a mature nine-year-old who would have no problem with the content? What if they try to check out the book at the library?)
If anything, maybe a "mature" label would work for books with graphic sexual and/or violent content that is meant for adult readers would be OK, without too much division below that. I don't think I'd have too much of a problem with a content advisory (say, a warning that a book contains a broad theme that some parents might find objectionable, e.g. sexual content, violence, drug use, etc.), as long as there weren't prohibitions about who could or couldn't purchase a book. They'd have to be more informative than legislative. (Although, working in a library, I can foresee how many more books people would try to ban if we did have such a system…)
I have a thirteen year old, and it's almost impossible for me to figure out what books to buy her. I don't want to INTRODUCE her to ideas if she's not ready for them yet! It would be great to know a little bit more about the kind of content these books have.
As a school teacher, I am pro rating books. Some of the material the kids bring to school is way beyond what I think they should be dealing with at the age of 11 and 12. I'm sure half their parents have no idea what they're reading about.
I was teaching narrative writing in a Grade 7 class the other day and one of the students presented me with a story idea that involved a father raping her daughter. Some may disagree with me here, but I don't think a 12 year old should be coming up with ideas like that. She said she had based it on a book she recently read.
Now rating this particular book may not have stopped her from reading it, but it would have given her parents a heads up.
I don't think sales would be drastically affected by rating books. Movies certainly don't suffer.
Rating system for books? Groan. It's bad enough that many schools won't let kids check out books which are not on the "right" lexile or quiz level; let's not stifle the reading experience further by rating content.
Ratings of content are wildly subjective, anyway. On mommy's PG rating is another's XXX.
If my little darling stumbles upon something too mature, we put the book down and find something else. I don't feel the need to label the book.
No, no, no, please no…I shudder to think of book ratings.
This has to be a NO. A clear NO. Please don't let go down this road. There is one question which pretty much covers all of it – who decides? Who sits down and decides that 16 year olds can buy this, but 15 year olds cant? This is what parents are supposed to be doing, right? There is so much to be said on this subject, so much, that there is in fact no point even beginning to have a discussion about it. The whole idea should be off limits.
Rating system for books? Groan. It's bad enough that many schools won't let kids check out books which are not on the "right" lexile or quiz level; let's not stifle the reading experience further by rating content.
Ratings of content are wildly subjective, anyway. On mommy's PG rating is another's XXX.
If my little darling stumbles upon something too mature, we put the book down and find something else. I don't feel the need to label the book.
No, no, no, please no…I shudder to think of book ratings.
Rating and censorship are not the same thing at all. One is information, the other is inflicting your judgment on other people. I like to read YA and I have a son who reads YA. We don't have the exact same tastes, which is good, because some of the YA I own I wouldn't want my son to read and some of the YA out there I don't even want me to read. There have been very few times I have told my son I don't want him to read a book, and those times have always been after I've read a book that he has already read and I wasn't comfortable with where I thought the series was going. As a mother, I would like the heads up on explicit content so I could check it out and judge for myself.
Okay, I realize the issue here is BOOKS, but I have to pose a question. To the commenters who believe that a child should be allowed to read whatever they want and be trusted to know when something isn't appropriate….
Are you also opposed to using parental controls on the internet or your cable television box?
Do you call this censorship or responsible parenting?
Let's be realistic. Even the most involved, hands-on parent can't pre-read, pre-watch, and pre-approve every little thing their child ABSORBS. Unless there are more hours in the day than I was aware of…
Nathan, I think you need to expand the poll and add demographic qualifiers the next time you ask this question 🙂
Movies have them, why not books? I have a seven year old and rely on ratings and reviews to tell me whether or not the content is appropriate for her. I am in NO WAY whatsoever supporting censorship. Everyone has the right to be heard, I also have the right not to listen/read and to decide what is appropriate for my child.