Frankly, I think the whole idea of banning books is ridiculous. Period. I do agree with Mr. Trelease, though, that there is plenty of material that is inappropriate for children and this is a serious consideration when determining what to use in the classroom.
I will be the first to tell you that I ADORED the Harry Potter series, read them all, and saw all of the movies to date. I was happy when Morgan got into them as well and we were able to discuss them. Harry Potter is children’s fantasy, heavily involved with themes of prejudice, morality and the battle of good and evil. I think the messages here are valuable. I will also tell you though, that I personally would not use Harry Potter in the classroom as an assigned read.
I understand Trelease’s commentary on the people who see this material as an infringement on their beliefs but I believe that he was guilty of the same rush to judgment. Evil doesn’t necessarily announce itself, “Hi, I’m evil!” Evil is insidious and that concerns people; it’s their right. I don’t think they should be held in contempt for their beliefs. I do agree with him though, that while I respect their right to make the decision for their own children, they do not have that liberty with mine.
Finally, while I would not use Rowling’s books in my class, I would include them in my library and I would probably refer to them as examples of certain effective literary techniques.
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ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteI like the point you make about the incidious nature of evil. I understand everyone has their own personal definition of what evil is. I know I would face some opposition from parents for using the Potter books in a classroom, but I think I would make parents aware of the fact that I would be doing a group lesson on the book and offer alternate options for students whose parents object to their child being exposed to its content. Perhaps I could provide a center with an audio-book version of Shadowmancer, a high fantasy book with a distictly christian theme, for the group of students that could not read Potter. This would still segregate the students, but not completely isolate them.
I really like how you said that evil does not always announce itself. Everyone has their own definition of what evil is and their own beliefs about what their children should be allowed to read.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that the majority of us think that this whole banning idea is crazy. There are books out there that are not appropriate, but i belive that people are getting carried away. Children can sit at home and play violent video games all day but they can't read Harry Potter. That doesn't make any sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about not forcing the books on the students. Also, I think that you have a point about lettting the student make their own judgement on the books instead of the tachers.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on books shouldn't be banned because some may find them appealing, since we all have our own differences. I wouldn't use the Harry Potter series in my room either; but if I see a child reading the book in my room, I'll be fine with it. So much reading is put on children in school that it's okay to see them enjoy reading what they like.
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