The Pros And Cons Of Harry Potter

Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit

The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

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.

Why do certain people rule over what each child can and cannot read? Is that not the parents’ job to determine whether or not is it appropriate for their child? When a book is considered banned, parents, teachers, and librarians are discouraged from providing the book to their children. Many of these adults then disapprove of the book without even reading it. Junie B. Jones is thrown from the realm of possibility for many children just because the loveable character has some flaws.

Books are a part of our society that entertain us through literature by showing us new experiences and characters that we may relate to or easily might despise due to how they are written, these are usually found in teen novels, comic books, manga, and many more. Books have also usually taught us through traditional means by teaching us about history and other things about society and overall morals we learn at a young age. However, some people have actually taken offense to certain books due to the content inside the book being “too offensive to them and have asked that these books be banned while other people want these books to stay. It’s a consistent debate of whether certain books should be banned or not and there are different viewpoints

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.

Books are sometimes banned also because a vocal group finds that particular book offensive and immoral. Parents also attempt to remove books from the school curriculum because they find it too offensive. However, local school books may not be removed from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books. Each book that is banned or censored is done so for the content within the pages. There are a few common reasons that books have been banned or censored in schools, libraries, and book stores. These include Racial Issues, Encouragement of "Damaging" Lifestyles, Blasphemous Dialog, Sexual Situations or Dialog, Violence or Negativity, Presence of Witchcraft, Religious Affiliations (unpopular religions), Political Bias, and Age Inappropriate.

Anyone who has worked with children will agree that they are very impressionable. Even young adults are influenced by the media, literature, peers, money, and paradigms which is why parents and guardians would also agree that any impressionable source their children come in contact with should include desirable, good-natured content, such as life lessons and morals. In the past two decades, Harry Potter, a famous work of J.K. Rowling, has become increasingly popular and well known, but sensations also come with reproaches from strong willed adults that claim simple fictional details are consuming and corrupting their children. Parents and guardians believe that Harry Potter should be banned from use in schools and libraries, but they don’t

"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

J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which have reached worldwide popularity have an effect on children has not been matched by any other book. The novels have encouraged children to read for entertainment instead of turning to television or video games. When a piece of literature inspires children as the Harry Potter novels do, limiting a child’s access to the novels seems ridiculous. Unfortunately, this is what is happening with Harry Potter. The books are challenged and banned in schools and libraries all over the world because parents contend that the content is unsuitable. The content, which revolves around a world full of wizardry and witchcraft, has some parents actively

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has become one of the most popular children’s series in the world over the past decade. Through these books children and young adults alike have delved into a fantastical world in which they explored the problems that their protagonist, Harry Potter, has faced. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, Harry dealt with the challenge of proving to his peers and professors that Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape were no longer trustworthy. Even so, Harry failed to realize that the author of the notes in his Advanced Potion-Making book was corrupt. In this book, J.K. Rowling uses point of view, style, and irony to demonstrate the need for people to be more analytical

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

Using imagination and creativity, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has defined literature as transformative. In this seven-book series J.K Rowling imagined and creatively pieced together a fantasy world of muggles, wizards, tyrants, and heroes to symbolically share with readers problems plaguing modern society. Similar to Shelley’s work of the past, never before have readers in the modern era seen teenage and adult mania surrounding an 11-year-old wizard. Some will argue that J.K. Rowling’s young-adult series lacks depth or wants to twist young minds by using magic and evil, but through close examination it is evident that

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.