The Banning Of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter

Many school districts do not have “manga”or “anime” banned (Debate.org). This style of literature is often considered non educational. Books should at least have censorship when profanity or have sexually explicit content are used. Reading this content as a student is 100% unnecessary. In a study done in 2000-09 by the American Library Association, about 1,250 books were challenged because of offensive language. Around 1,600 books were challenged in that same study for being sexually explicit (Butler.edu). During this, almost all books that were banned were either in school libraries or schools. A common example of a banned book is Harry Potter by J.Kk. Rowling. This book has a “presence of witchcraft”’(Butler.edu). In many people's’ minds, witchcraft is extremely bad, and completely unnecessary to discuss those topics. Since many people are against witchcraft, if that was to be discussed in schools, awful consequences for teacher as well as student could result.

The idea to ban certain books from schools and libraries is preposterous due to the manner in which the people trying to enforce these bans try to do so in. Banning books doesn’t help with the already present problem that our youth’s intelligence levels are already declining, and neither does allowing the freedom to all books. Banning certain books due to their constant use of inappropriate language, sexually explicit nature, and all around mature content has a respectfully reasonable reason to be inaccessible to younger audiences such as minors and teens; not young adults. The banning of books in libraries is outright inexcusable, unless the material is directly racist, subjective religious content, and all around hatred for a certain race or ethnicity; not if it’s used for fictional writing, in a softer manner mid you, to express the conflict in a story and/or to show real world problems, same go for non-fictional writing that expresses ideals in a manner of which isn’t disrespectful to other ideals and that do so in a manner of which isn’t so subjectively and deliberately showing hate for a certain race or ethnicity, especially

It is reasonable for a book to be banned if it is just not suitable for children as in its mature content. But if a book is being banned because of a parent who does not like the book or thinks it is a touchy subject, then it is just not reasonable and there should not even be a discussion about banning it. “Parents who don't like specific books can have their kids "opt out" of an assignment without infringing on the rights of others.” (www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005365). There is no reason for a parent to try to have a book banned because they do not like the content in the book.’’ Also, the parent can choose to have their child not read the book without having it banned from the whole school. Parents should censor their own child and not the entire

Teachers and librarians would reject work that is “emotionally inappropriate” for the kids at the schools. Banned Books says that banning books from kids is bad. Banning books only hurts the writer because you think that there book is unacceptable. If the privilege of writing something one believes in is taken away, then the privilege of believing has been taken away. We should not underestimate our youths knowledge. A student can't be sheltered from what is true or from ideas that can change their lives. “Everyone deserves an opportunity to be touched by literature. Censoring books in a school library is not acceptable.” said Kendall Anderson. Banning books does

Reason one; books should not be banned on the grounds of “they’re a bad influence”. The world is a bad influence and the people that inhabit the world are worse. In the cases of some books, some children have already lived through what has been banned. In other cases, it is just the parents being too over-proctective. They have already lived through some of the events, and do not want their kids to experience the same thing, which can also slow down how the child learns. In addition, if the students are desperate to find ideas for things because they don’t get the help from their parents, it means the parents are ignoring their kids

When people grow up a certain way, thinking in a certain way it’ll inevitably come to affect them later on in life. This is especially true in the cases of personal philosophy, religion or any moral code of ethics. But sometimes, one’s religion starts negatively impacting the education of one’s child and the education of the nation's youth as a whole. In Nancy Flanagan Knapp's article,“In Defense of Harry Potter”, she makes the argument that although the Harry Potter series has come under flak, and even been banned in places, it’s still a very useful tool in furthering the education of young people. Knapp analyzes this point using a plethora of well thought out, well researched, and exceedingly well worded rhetorical strategies, and in the end she uses ethos, logos, and pathos to effectively convey her arguments.

Many schools are taking books out of their curriculum because of the harsh and uncomfortable language and topics. The Biloxi School District had taken To Kill A Mockingbird out of their classrooms and Drake High School had even burned all copies of Slaughterhouse -Five. It is wrong that schools began taking books like that from their lesson plan because students should not be oblivious to these kinds of topics and it is sending the wrong message about the authors and their books.

Parents should have the right to decide what their child reads, but should not have the right to decide what is right for other children to read because not all parents have the same view on what is appropriate for their child to learn in school; as Jones stated, we must all respect each other’s differences. Educators should also be able to freely decide on what they feel is appropriate for their students to read. If a teacher chooses a book that has caused concerns in the past, they should alert the student’s parents of

Some say that all books should be there for all to read or books should not be banned in schools. While this could be teaching younger kids “damaging” lifestyle according

In addition, they believe that the content of the book could corrupt their kids’ moral sense. However, there are people that argue against the idea of censoring books in schools.

Parents have called for Harry Potter, a children’s fantasy story, to be removed from schools. The main argument these concerned parents have is that the magic-filled books encourage involvement in the occult and the practice of satanic worship. They are scared that the exposure their children experience through the books will cause them to accept this as normal and will “view the occult in a favorable light, abandoning any thought about the very real and present danger that interaction with the occult realm can and does bring” (Barger, n.p.). Adults are automatically assuming that something as simple and entertaining as harmless, magic spells will encourage young readers to start sacrificing animals to Satan himself, when really they are just simply amazed with the Latin-based words. Religious families in particular say that Rowling’s works confuses kids and draws them away from their faith that their parents have installed into them since birth (Dunne, para. 9). Many of the actions that Harry and his friends take clash with religious practices, but other parents say that they are setting a bad example by lying, breaking rules, and disobeying teachers then eventually getting rewarded for their rebellious actions. Parents seem to think that heroes are entirely good people, follow every rule in place, and show respect for every person. As the media has shown in the past years

"Harry Potter has been in the 1990-1999 and 2000-2009 “Frequently Challenged Books” lists and currently is on the “Frequently Challenged Children’s Books” list." (bannedbooksweek.org). “When it came out, some people said the book was about Satan and promoted witchcraft.” (LaRue, 2016). This reasoning cause parents to file complaint to schools asking them to remove the books from their libraries. Some school even had to require a permission slip from the children’s parents. Now not all parents were like this. Some parents did not see the comparison with magic as Satanic but as another fantasy book like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Other parents thought the censorship was absurd and a few of them took actions to voice that opinion. For example: Counts v. Cedarville School District. In this case, Cedarville school board voted that the Harry Potter books would require a permission slip if a child wish to check it out. This vote infuriated some parents so much that they took it court. The parents argued that this vote was against the First Amendment and won the case requiring all libraries in that district to get rid of the permission slips. Even though the book series has ended, there is still controversy over it

It is my belief that since by the time the child is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can distinguish between things that should and should not be said and it is the job of the parents to educate the child that just because they say it in a book does not mean he or she should.Another subject common to banned and censored books is sexuality.

The Harry Potter book series has gathered an international fan base, but has also generated a good deal of controversy with many religious groups and parents demanding that the books not be part of any school curriculum. Religious groups and parents argue that the books promote Satanism, witchcraft and anti-Christian themes. Additional arguments against the books point to the themes of child abuse, rebellion, violence, lack of respect for rules, and death. Concerned parents do not want their children to idolize characters who are rewarded when they break rules or challenge authority. Their argument is that hero worshiping Harry and his friends could lead to their own child engaging in similar dangerous pursuits.

In the past couple years, there has been a growing phenomenon in the world of children's literature, this phenomenon is Harry Potter. J.K. Rowlings series of novels about a young wizard and his years at "Hogwarts School of Wizarding and Witchcraft," has become one of the most successful children's book series of all time. Before reading any of the now four novels, one may find it hard to believe that a children's novel may be so entertaining. But once one starts reading any of the four books, it is plain to see why these books are so popular.