Do you agree/disagree that the book should be available in the classroom? Would you use it as a part of your instruction? Why or why not? What problems would it present? What benefits would it offer?
I think the book should be allowed in a classroom. I can see how some groups would complain because of the magic and spell casting, but come on. All books will have some aspect that people will disagree with and complain about. There are many great classic literature books around that at one time were banned or deemed inappropriate. A good example of this is the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Many people felt and probably still do that the topic of an interracial relationship, rape, and KKK activity are inappropriate for children to read. In some extent it is because some young children will not be able to understand the story. On the flip side my seven year old loves it because Scout curses. He loves the part where she asks for the ham. Today however, most people do except the book. I think Harry Potter is the same way and at some point in the future people are going to say what were they thinking about complaining. Many brilliant literature books have been lost throughout history because different groups came into power and decided certain books were not appropriate so the books were banned and then burned. I would use this as part of my instruction. I could assign a creative writing assignment, or talk about key values by reading a passage that required a choice and then reading the outcome. We could discuss if the behavior was appropriate or a better way to handle the situation for example when Ron and Draco got in a fight at the Quidditch match. Ask a question like how should Ron have handled the situation instead of resulting to violence. I would not require the entire book to be read. I think children should be given creative freedom when it comes to reading. This is how they will develop a love of reading. The only way we would read the entire book as a class would be if the class agreed to read it. I would use it as a read aloud book, and read it to the children myself. The benefit it offers is that it exposes children to another genre of literature they may not be experienced in. I had never read a fantasy book like this until I read this book; now I read all of the fantasy books I can find.

Write and post a detailed reflection about the book and the issue of censorship.
I love the book obviously. I think a wonderful job was done of developing the characters, and making them relatable. The story has a nice pace, and a definite goal that is being worked towards. I find myself most relating with Hermione, because she is such an overachiever. She always does the best she can, stress over everything to come, and blames herself if she doesn’t meet her own expectations. I can’t think of a lot to say about the book because this is about the third or fourth time I have read it. But, I can say I have been spoiled because after some of the other fantasy books I have read this one did not seem quite as good as it used too. I think it is definitely a parent’s responsibility to monitor and instruct their children on appropriate and inappropriate books based on their beliefs. More and more responsibilities are being taken away from the parent and placed with the teachers and school administration. The parents need to step back in and take some of the control back and do their job shaping the people their children are going to grow into. Enough ranting, I love the series from beginning to end.