I recently received an e-mail urging me to reserve my copy of the newest Harry Potter book. This is the seventh book in the series by J.K Rowling and is titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Last semester I wrote a research paper about banned books. Harry Potter was at the top of the list and continues to be. The American Library Association recently released the list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century (http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/topten2000to2005.htm). Harry Potter earned the number one spot. The ALA website says "Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information. Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful." In my high school english class freshmen year, we walked into class and were handed a list of the most challenged books for that year. One of the books at the top of the list was Catcher and the Rye. Our teacher then handed us Catcher and the Rye. We read this book from a critical approach to try and figure out why it landed on the list. One of the top reasons for challenging books is "protection." Parents, educators, religious leaders are among the top challengers. In 2006, parents attempted to have Harry Potter books removed from shelves in Georgia school district (http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=april2006ab&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=125123)
They claimed that children could not distinguish between fantasy and realty, and that they would be corrupted by the witchcraft present in the books. The appeal was denied (http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/january2007/malloryappeal.cfm) but the parents still fight the books. Censorship comes in many forms. Banning books, especially at an elementary school level denies children important opportunities to develop their curiosity and imagination.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I find this type of censorship baffling. It is apparent that the parents wishing to ban the Harry Potter books have not read the book. There assertion that children are unable to distinguish between reality and witchcraft is simply untrue. To my knowledge, and I’m sure it would be in the news if there were any basis in reality supporting, it no child has ever converted to witchcraft simply from reading a Harry Potter book. The witchcraft in Harry Potter in my opinion is in the background compared to the humanity, morality, and the coming of age themes in the novel. In fact, I would argue that reading Harry Potter (at the appropriate age of course) would be positive for a child/teen morality.
Post a Comment