There are some things that should be absolutely banned from public school. For example, the reading of pornography. One of my fellow education students said he had a teacher bring in Playboy because the articles were well-written and the teacher thought they would interest students in reading. The argument that allowing students to read anything as long as they are reading has its obvious logical limits. The problem simply becomes where to draw that line.
But when you’re teaching in a public school, there is a need to be consistent with accepted standards. While I don’t believe that Harry Potter should be included in “accepted public standcards,” I don’t control that. They are partly responsible for the growth of interest in witchcraft and I personally believe that that’s a problem. I frankly have a problem with a lot of what is taught and introduced in the public schools today, but I think I can have a much greater influence by trying to be a force of reason in the midst of the insanity than by always complaining about it. Teach kids how to think calmly and rationally. Some things clearly deserve a public “rant,” but you can’t do that often and I want to preserve that for the worst of the worst. Otherwise, you destroy your credibility.
Plus, I’m also aware of how my Heavenly Father has dealt with me over the years. I haven’t always been the most obedient or loving of children, but He has always been patient, never hateful, forceful or raving. He speaks and moves gently in my life because he wants my mind and soul, given by my choice. I think I have a responsibility to do the same to the young charges who come my way.
Were that there were a million teachers like you.
The current mal-education goal is to teach innocent children to feeeeeeeeeel not to think, NEVER to think.
On what do you base this statement? Seriously--I know that this is a point on which many folks deride the books, but so far no critic has yet been able to prove to me in any way, shape or form that there is growth in witchcraft. I'm talking actual withcraft here--the so-called Wiccan religion or anything else that can actually be named witchcraft.
If you are referring to more kids dressing up as witches or wizards, playing with fake wands (as opposed to the real ones), and casting imaginary spells at friends who respond with imaginary outcomes...I call that being a kid. I call that playing, imagination, whatever. My kids love the books because they're great stories--they know they're not real. My boys haven't turned their backs on God. They have expanded their vocabularies far beyond their grade levels from reading the series, that's not a bad thing in my book. They like looking up the etymologies of different words so they can create their own "spells"--again, enriching their vocabularies as well as getting them to read the dictionary. As much as they might like to, my boys know that they will never be able to turn one another into newts, and none of them shows the slightest interest in giving up Christianity to go worship trees and dance naked in the moonlight.
I'm not trying to be critical of what you have said, and I applaud you for your plan to read the series to better understand what your future students are reading. That's why I read the series in the first place--so I could decide if the HP books are suitable for my boys. I believe they are, and I'm glad that we discuss the books as a family.
After you've read them, please--seriously--let us know what you think.