Whats Wrong With Harry ???

[SilentEyz]

Gwinnett County, Ga Wants to ban Harry Potter in school libraries..WHY

Some parents say kids can't tell fantasy from reality and will try casting spells on classmates. They also say Harry contributes to school violence and indoctrinates kids in the Wicca religion. In December the state school board will consider a ban in Gwinnett County.



First Off I so absolutly do not believe in banning books, I think if there is something in print you yourself do not agree with, then fine, you don't allow YOUR child to read it, but I don't believe in denying litrariry(sp) rights to others due to ones own personnel issues. and books are the most wonderous world a child can enter, and to limit that because of our beliefs is unfair to the mind of that child.

Secondly, based on their reasons for wanting to Ban the potter books, Seems to me they are the ones who can not tell the diffrence between fantasy and reality, not the children.


Your thoughts, opinions?

 

[BlueKitty2]

Hmmm. Can't tell fantasy from reality? Casting spells on classmates? Sounds like a healthy imagination to me. Indoctrinating children into the Wiccan religion? Maybe they should actually learn something about the Wiccan religion before blaming Harry Potter on that, since the two have little in common. It feels a lot like fear and intolerance driving this request. After all reading all kinds of books fuels imagination and creativity.

 

[lemon]

heh - some one is scared of their high and mighty position in that city/county. haha

stupid idiots.

 

[Peter Parka]

Personally I think there are a lot more dangerous religions around than Wicca. I don't see Wiccans trying to blow up thousands of people!

 

[trope]

If they ban Harry Potter, wouldn't they have to ban a million other books, too?

Catcher in the Rye? Kids can't read that. They'll think skipping school is a-ok!
Of Mice and Men? Nope. There's a murder in that. Can't read it.
Romeo and Juliet? Naw, kids'll think it's okay to commit suicide.

Banning books is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. What happened to artistic expression? Freedom of speech?

 

[Peter Parka]

If they ban Harry Potter, wouldn't they have to ban a million other books, too?

Catcher in the Rye? Kids can't read that. They'll think skipping school is a-ok!

Not to mention thinking it's OK to kill one of the Beatles!

 

[Tim]

I personally beleive that school libraries should have guidelines and be "censored" I don't think books like "The Kama Sutra" should be available to grade school kids. With that being said, censorship is a fine line to draw. If the books are in question, then ban them and let the parents know. Let the parents of that school confront the school board to put them back on, it's their kids. If their isn't enough support to put them back on the shelf, then good, leave them off. The parents then know which books to get from the public library for their children if they want them to read them. This way the parents have the final say and not the schools by making everything available to young children.

 

[Mrs Behavin]

My kids want to watch it on TV and read the books but it happening in this house. I dont want them getting involved and knowing about witchcraft. Nope, no way.

 

[PrincessJettMicheyl]

My children will be allowed to pursue whatever religion they choose, be it mine (Wicca) or any other religion they feel fits for them. They will be given an impartial description of what each believes in thanks to the internet.

As for books, they will be allowed to read whatever they choose, and encouraged to read as much as possible about any subject they choose so long as it is within their capacity. No need to allow a child to read a book that has thousands of words that they wouldn't understand unless they crossreferenced a dictionary.

I will never hold my children back from something that cannot hurt them. Harry Potter stories are simply that. Fantasy stories. They contain extremely possible situations (boy losing parents, raised with nasty relatives, going to school, learning, making friends/enemies, ect.) wrapped in a fantasy container. It doesn't make it bad, it just makes it more entertaining, which is why those books exist.

 

[sharpies]

Unfortunately there must be a way to ban books otherwise you end up with books like;

The Terrorists Handbook
How To Entice Children Into Your Car
Building A Better Car Bomb

Asking some people to use common sense in the banning of certain books is also a problem - "The Al Quaeda Guide To Killing American Filth" may be a big hit in Afghanistan but banned in America.

This is not as simple a subject as it seems, but I do agree that getting children to read is a great thing & stories like Harry Potter get the imagination going.

Allan

 

[White2000GT]

My kids want to watch it on TV and read the books but it happening in this house. I dont want them getting involved and knowing about witchcraft. Nope, no way.

It's not that big of a deal Amy. My kids have watched them all and they aren't the least bit curious about Witchcraft. My ex and I make sure that we explain to our kids the difference between reality and fantasy. I really don't think there is any difference in Harry Potter these days and movies like Clash of the Titans and Neverending Story and the like back in our day. I watched those movies as a kid and I turned out just fine.
Besides, Harry Potter doesn't portray Witchcraft as a religion anyway, so I really don't see what the big deal is.

 

[sharpies]

I must agree with Steve. My daughter grew up watching Wizard Of Oz (man she must have watched it a million times) & there are witches, wizards & a death. Every nursery rhyme that you read has witches & monsters (ogres, giants).

We all grew up with these things & most of us are not affected

Allan

 

[BlueKitty2]

I agree. There are many reasons to ban books, but to want to ban a book because something you don't agree with happens in a fictional setting is a little hard to swallow. Millions grew up watching and reading fantasy and turned out perfectly okay. I'm sure the kids reading Harry Potter will do the same. If it's something that you are strongly against, by all means don't let your kid read it. That's your right as a parent, but it's not your place to take that right away from other parents. The truth is that the Harry Potter phenominom has gotten American children reading again for pleasure. Something that was on the decline with things like television, the internet, and video games. How can you find anything bad in that?

 

[White2000GT]

Good points BlueKitty2. I would much rather have my kids reading books than sitting in front of a video game all day long.

 

[Haus]

i never got into the Harry potter stuff so i dont know what is with all the fascination with it is

 

[White2000GT]

It's just typical parenthood. Like when I was a kid my mom hated that I listened to Heavy Metal because she thought it was all satanic. She even went so far as to throw some of my cassettes away.
It's the same with those books. Because the stories are centered on a school for witchcraft and wizardry, some parents, I guess, think it will get their kids interested in witchcraft. I do think the parents have every right to censor what their YOUNG kids read, but these people are trying to have them banned from public libraries. And that is just not right.
I agree with BlueKitty that the one good thing that came from the books is that it got the younger generation of kids to turn off the video games and start reading books again. So what is bad about that?

 

[lemon]

disney might have something to do with it - they want their books to be forever instilled in the generations that come along. so, they might be backing the move to remove newer books that portray fantasy that allow kids to imagine, other than what disney wants them to imagine. not quite sure if i made a point there very clearly - but its there somewhere

 

[Tim]

It's just typical parenthood. Like when I was a kid my mom hated that I listened to Heavy Metal because she thought it was all satanic. She even went so far as to throw some of my cassettes away.
It's the same with those books. Because the stories are centered on a school for witchcraft and wizardry, some parents, I guess, think it will get their kids interested in witchcraft. I do think the parents have every right to censor what their YOUNG kids read, but these people are trying to have them banned from public libraries. And that is just not right.
I agree with BlueKitty that the one good thing that came from the books is that it got the younger generation of kids to turn off the video games and start reading books again. So what is bad about that?

No, it's school libraries that are in question here.

 

[White2000GT]

Yes. And are those not public libraries as well? Granted, you won't have homeless people sleeping on benches there, but the concept is the same.

 

[Tim]

School libraries are not open to the public. They are only available to the students that go to that school. That's why I say certain books should not be allowed in school libraries. Because they are available to young children without parent supervision. Put the questionable books in public libraries. That way they are available to those that want to read them, but not available to young children who don't have a parent with them.

I don't believe in censorship of books for adults, but I do for children. Children in public schools should be censored from questionable material, this will give the parents control over what their children are reading and not the school.