By Jake Mokris
Teen Takeover staff
It’s easy to be cavalier about some issues, especially important ones. Censorship is one of those issues. In debates about censorship, statements like these abound: “This book corrupts our children.� Or, “If you ban this book, you have to ban Clifford (the big red dog) too� (these aren’t real quotes). Or, “All restrictions violate my freedom of expression.�
I don’t like it when people don’t stop to think about what they believe. To deal with issues like censorship, thinking is mandatory. So here I go:
In Gwinnett County, Ga., a group of parents is trying to remove Harry Potter books from school libraries. They say that the witchcraft in the books can be a bad influence on students.
Perhaps they are right. Maybe Harry Potter books will influence some kids to become witches, or to do whatever it is the parents think might happen. Why can’t the parents just tell their kids not to read Harry Potter? The parents don’t have to keep everyone from reading the books. If Harry Potter gets banned for witchcraft in the story, then that’s the same old slippery slope, leading to an outrageous conclusion like banning Clifford or “Star Wars.� All books were burned in Ray Bradbury’s novel, “Fahrenheit 451.� As Beatty the “firefighter� explained in the book, society started burning books because the ideas offended certain groups. Soon, every book was offensive, and they all had to be burned.
Every opinion is offensive to someone. There’s probably someone out there who’s offended by Clifford. If a book is banned for its ideas, then all books have to go.
But I think there’s something to be said about the idea that some books “corrupt� the youth. There are probably books that are truly disgusting, that will influence some kids for the worse. Graphic and explicit books shouldn’t be in the school library. But that’s not a hard decision. The hard decision is drawing the line between what is and what isn’t acceptable for a school library. I’m not sure what schools should do when it comes to books that aren’t graphic but still might be very inappropriate. But Harry Potter is not one of those books.
I have a lot to say on this subject, but I'll keep it short: do it to your kids, as you're the parent, but telling the general public is a complete violation of freedom. If these people would actually read Harry, they'd find a plethora of morals in it. Don't believe me? Check out "What Our Favorite Hero Teaches Us About Morals."
I have very, very much to say on this subject, but as above, I will keep mine very short also.
If these parents would read the Harry Potter books, perhaps if they had at least a minor significant intelligence, they would understand that the protagonist uses magic for good. And even so, it is never encouraged in the books that witchcraft should be tried out in real life; and even if children did test out such witchcraft, nothing would consequently happen. If anyone picked up a stick and yelled a Latin verse, nothing would happen; are these parents, perhaps, afraid that something might? And if this is the case, then it is not the books we should be worried about, but the parents' perception of possibility and even faith.
As such, I provide a counterexample to the statement that Harry Potter is one of the sole bad influences in children's pop culture. I am hazarding a guess that nearly every child is familiar with the Disney film "The Little Mermaid." Whilst it is a touching story and, I suppose, a 'classic', the underlying theme of it is almost despicable. Young Ariel sells her soul to Ursula for legs. Were children ever in a situation, such as a kidnapping, where an adult offered them candy so that they could ride in their car, they could possibly be persuaded that it will end happily and they will marry a prince. This, I am afraid, is a most unlikely outcome of said situation.
I really could go on and on in an argument, but seeing as the writer complies with me, I think this is enough.
Great article, by the way. (: