The Importance Of The Banning Of Harry Potter

Many parents believe that the Harry Potter series is a bad influence on children because the series involves magic. This is true to an extent, the series does involve magic but not the kind parents think. The magic of the series does not come from the devil or require drawings to perform. No it simply is a flick of the wrist and a correctly pronounced Latin word. These words are spells and these spells aid the witch or wizard throughout their daily lives.

In the bible it says that wizards, devils and demons exist and are powerful and dangerous. People have a fear that any books with good witches, wizards and good magic will lead people to take the bible’s teachings lightly and may convince them to become witches. Another reason that Harry Potter is banned is that it sets unsatisfactory examples for kids reading the book by Harry and his friends disobey, lie and break rules. People think that kids reading the books will think they can get away with things that they normally would not get away with. A third reason that Harry Potter is banned is it is too eerie and dark. The battles that the characters are required to go through and how the characters die is too

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.

Although it is ridiculous to ban books, it is somewhat understandable. Some books are extremely heavy on the controversial side, and include a boat load of inappropriate content. “My corduroys. My boxers. Two layers. I could feel the warmth of her cheek on my thigh. There are times when it is appropriate, even preferable, to get an erection when someone’s face is in close proximity to your penis” (Green). It is easy to see why someone with a closed mind would take offense to this kind of content being in a book for young

All it takes to challenge a book is for a parent or other citizens to file a complain against a teacher, library, school, or bookseller, for that reason many teachers and librarians choose to remove the books from the curriculum or shelves before an issue is brought up (Pitner). The fear of a lawsuit keeps many people from expressing their belief that banning books is unnecessary (Kennedy, Banned Children’s Books).

The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable. The censorship of books is a division of censorship that, apart from Internet censorship, receives the most publicity. Banning books is the most popular form of such censorship. Many banned books are literary classics, such as The Catcher in

Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from

The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling have been censored in many schools around the world for

Banned books are books to which free access is not allowed. The practice of banning books is a method of book censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. Catching fire the second book in the hunger games trilogy. The book is banned and I believe that is shouldn’t be banned. The reasons are it has excessive violence, causes nightmares in children, and some believe is anti-ethnic. I think Catching fire shouldn’t be banned because the book teaches a lesson to never give up. But high school students should be able to read the book because it’s very influential on young readers and gives readers that feeling that giving up is not an option and to keep pushing on.

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

The Banning of books has affected the world greatly. People have been banning books since they first started being written and are still getting banned today. Under the United States Constitution, people have freedom of speech and of the press. People argue that the government is violating citizens’ rights by banning books. It has been going on basically forever because governments feel the need to ban some things that are found in books (Zorea). The reasons for banning books are usually in one of four categories. These include religious, political, social, and sexual reasons (Dell 11). Books were censored greatly during World War I, World War II, and the Great Depression. The United States banned any criticism or opposition to the war or government. Governments and other organizations feared some books might endanger the country or government (Hanyok). “During a war, battle plans, troop movement schedules, weapons data, and other information could help the enemy.” Because of this, militaries often censor books and ban any that might help the enemy (Rupp). Many books that are popular with readers have been banned multiple

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.

Ari Armstrong’s “Religion in Harry Potter: Do J.K. Rowling’s Novels Promote Religion or Undermine It?” published in 2011, explains how the Harry Potter books correlate with religious faiths by explaining themes such as immortality, sacrificial love and by suggesting that the “concept of free will underpins the development of Rowling’s… characters” (53, par 16). As Harry travels through this new, foreign world, he has to face many unthinkable obstacles that explore religious and moral based principles. In the Harry Potter books, there are many explicit references to religion, immortality, and the battle between good and evil woven throughout the books. Rowling’s novels have been critiqued many times, such as by the Focus on the Family organization “acknowledge that the novels offer ‘valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil’; however, ‘the positive messages are packaged in a medium-witchcraft- that is directly denounced in scripture” (51, par. 2). Rowling believes that the claims that the novels promote witchcraft are absurd because Harry Potter novels clearly separate the muggle world and the magic world, the only time where the real world comes up is when Harry is with his aunt and uncle. (51, par. 2).

In my mind it is no different than so many other fantasy stories I have read. I can honestly say I had not read Harry Potter until this assignment, if for no other reason than it just didn’t interest me. Did I feel like the talk of wizards and spells affected my Christianity belief system? Absolutely not. I think those that worry their children will want to learn more about witchcraft after reading the book should be more concerned with prepping their child. My daughter is not old enough yet to read the book, however, when she is we will have an open honest conversation. I would hope that the ideals and beliefs that my husband and I have instilled in my child are far stronger than the power of a book. Yes, books are powerful, but more powerful than parents? When I took something away from my daughter when she was little it made it that object even more desirable. If we ban these books, are we not doing the same? We are infringing on their intellectual freedom to have them decide for themselves what they would like to learn more about. As parents it is our job to help guide them to what is right and wrong and then pray that we have done our job effectively. We give them out experiences and help them to identify between reality and fantasy. Maybe that is why some parents so strongly oppose Harry Potter. They are concerned they have not given their children the faith system that can sustain an outside perspective. I