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badstarhttp://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article_wxia.aspx?storyid=78859 - no registration to read, but I'm going to put some of the text here- and by some of the text, I mean all of it- it's not a long article...with my own commentary. My commentary is italicized.
Harry Potter has a new foe -- a Gwinnett County parent who wants the popular boy wizard books banned from Gwinnett County school libraries.
On Thursday afternoon, parents and students spoke at a hearing that will ultimately decide whether the books will stay or go.
People who love the books say they are happy that kids are reading the books as much as they are. They say that the books are ultimately about good versus evil. But opponents say that the books with their magic wands and spells are all about evil.
“I’m a true example of how Harry Potter books can open your life to witchcraft,” said Jordan Susch.
Susch says she read the first Harry Potter novel when she was in the fourth grade. Two years later, she says, she and her friends were practicing witchcraft.
“We wanted to know if spells, potions and curses worked. By the seventh grade, I was so depressed, I set a date to kill myself,” Susch said.
Um...red flag here. Harry Potter books do not make kids suicidal. Learning about witchcraft does not make kids suicidal. If someone wants to kill theirself, there is something MUCH more wrong than reading the wrong book. This child needed and possibly still needs professional help and to eventually understand that Harry Potter and witchcraft did not make her feel that way. Something else was/is wrong.
Susch has joined Laura Mallory’s fight to get the novels removed from the Gwinnett County Schools’ shelves.
“I want to protect my kids, children and others from evil,” Mallory said. “Not fill their minds with it.”
It's a series of fiction novels. This is subjective. If you don't want your kids to read it, that's your issue, This is NOT something to force on the rest of the school/district/insert constituency here
Other students spoke in favor of the books, saying that it is a fictional book, and that they don’t confuse fiction with reality.
Yay! Common sense! Critical thinking and the ability to discern fact from fiction!
Fifth grader Jessica Grimes says the Harry Potter books are the very reason she enjoys reading.
“The Harry Potter books have helped me and other kids with our accelerated reading goals. So, really, the books help us rather than hurt us in school,” said Grimes.
Throughout the district, the Harry Potter books are the most popular books in the system. Some fear that if the books are taken away, younger kids could lose interest in reading altogether.
“Did you ever see kids get excited over the opening of a book before Harry Potter?” asked seventh grader Baillie Hill.
Okay...if students are ONLY interested in reading one particular series, there's also something VERY wrong. Something needs to be done about reading education. Harry Potter is barely a speck in the world. You can't just get by for life on 7 books. And there are MANY more interesting books out there.
Thursday’s session was just a hearing. The hearing officer will make a recommendation within five days to the school board. The board has another ten days to determine whether the book will remain in the school system’s libraries or not.
Good grief, I hope they display the same thinking abilities as the 5th graders who say that Harry Potter isn't real.
See the thing is...this issue IS about forcing a religious belief on everyone else. Put more/other book on other topic in the library. Police what your own kids are reading. You're their parent, that's not only your right, it's your JOB. But it's NOT up to you to say that other people's kids can't get those books from the school library.
Harry Potter has a new foe -- a Gwinnett County parent who wants the popular boy wizard books banned from Gwinnett County school libraries.
On Thursday afternoon, parents and students spoke at a hearing that will ultimately decide whether the books will stay or go.
People who love the books say they are happy that kids are reading the books as much as they are. They say that the books are ultimately about good versus evil. But opponents say that the books with their magic wands and spells are all about evil.
“I’m a true example of how Harry Potter books can open your life to witchcraft,” said Jordan Susch.
Susch says she read the first Harry Potter novel when she was in the fourth grade. Two years later, she says, she and her friends were practicing witchcraft.
“We wanted to know if spells, potions and curses worked. By the seventh grade, I was so depressed, I set a date to kill myself,” Susch said.
Um...red flag here. Harry Potter books do not make kids suicidal. Learning about witchcraft does not make kids suicidal. If someone wants to kill theirself, there is something MUCH more wrong than reading the wrong book. This child needed and possibly still needs professional help and to eventually understand that Harry Potter and witchcraft did not make her feel that way. Something else was/is wrong.
Susch has joined Laura Mallory’s fight to get the novels removed from the Gwinnett County Schools’ shelves.
“I want to protect my kids, children and others from evil,” Mallory said. “Not fill their minds with it.”
It's a series of fiction novels. This is subjective. If you don't want your kids to read it, that's your issue, This is NOT something to force on the rest of the school/district/insert constituency here
Other students spoke in favor of the books, saying that it is a fictional book, and that they don’t confuse fiction with reality.
Yay! Common sense! Critical thinking and the ability to discern fact from fiction!
Fifth grader Jessica Grimes says the Harry Potter books are the very reason she enjoys reading.
“The Harry Potter books have helped me and other kids with our accelerated reading goals. So, really, the books help us rather than hurt us in school,” said Grimes.
Throughout the district, the Harry Potter books are the most popular books in the system. Some fear that if the books are taken away, younger kids could lose interest in reading altogether.
“Did you ever see kids get excited over the opening of a book before Harry Potter?” asked seventh grader Baillie Hill.
Okay...if students are ONLY interested in reading one particular series, there's also something VERY wrong. Something needs to be done about reading education. Harry Potter is barely a speck in the world. You can't just get by for life on 7 books. And there are MANY more interesting books out there.
Thursday’s session was just a hearing. The hearing officer will make a recommendation within five days to the school board. The board has another ten days to determine whether the book will remain in the school system’s libraries or not.
Good grief, I hope they display the same thinking abilities as the 5th graders who say that Harry Potter isn't real.
See the thing is...this issue IS about forcing a religious belief on everyone else. Put more/other book on other topic in the library. Police what your own kids are reading. You're their parent, that's not only your right, it's your JOB. But it's NOT up to you to say that other people's kids can't get those books from the school library.
