Should Harry Potter be used in the classroom?

[hernyaccent]

In a college literature class. Sure.

In grade school. No!


The bible says, "Raise up a child in the way he should go; and when he grows old, he will not depart from this way." (I am a Christian worshiping arts teacher and I own a Christian Arts School.)


Personally, I don't want my children raised on Harry Potter and experimenting and/or believing in the things that he does. Children are too vulnerable. They don't distinguish fiction from reality well. And for an elementary school age child, everything imaginary becomes real! Children act out what they see in movies, on T.V. in books, ect. They even mimic adults. I do not want my children mimicing Harry Potter!


But an adult age student; who wants to study this as a piece of literature, Fine.

Just a note:
It is not up to the teacher's to raise our children and teach them the moral difference between Harry Potter and some other character. We should not put that kind of moral responsibility on our teachers. It is up to us (the christian parents) to decided what we want our children to learn!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0887532799/shakespearemagazA/002-1921708-4535245
So if assigned these books in school you wouldn't let your children read them?
Shakespeare studies almost always start in high school.

So sheltering your children from the "world" is something you promote?
As a college age student I can tell you from personal knowlwedge many christian young adults who come to my university ( NYU) that once they are exposed to things 99% of the time they turn to these things while away from home. There have been six students who committed suicide at my school in the past year and all due to the PRESSURES they now face being away from home. One girl even did so because she was pregnant and didnt want her father who is a baptist minister to find out.

 

[hernyaccent]

In a college literature class. Sure.

In grade school. No!


The bible says, "Raise up a child in the way he should go; and when he grows old, he will not depart from this way." (I am a Christian worshiping arts teacher and I own a Christian Arts School.)


Personally, I don't want my children raised on Harry Potter and experimenting and/or believing in the things that he does. Children are too vulnerable. They don't distinguish fiction from reality well. And for an elementary school age child, everything imaginary becomes real! Children act out what they see in movies, on T.V. in books, ect. They even mimic adults. I do not want my children mimicing Harry Potter!


But an adult age student; who wants to study this as a piece of literature, Fine.

Just a note:
It is not up to the teacher's to raise our children and teach them the moral difference between Harry Potter and some other character. We should not put that kind of moral responsibility on our teachers. It is up to us (the christian parents) to decided what we want our children to learn!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0887532799/shakespearemagazA/002-1921708-4535245
So if assigned these books in school you wouldn't let your children read them?
Shakespeare studies almost always start freshmen year high school.

If you don't agree with Harry Potter ( witchcraft) that is in fact fine so you write a note to the teacher not allowing your child to check these books out of the library but if they attend public school remember that not everyone feels like you. You cant push your views on other parents and students.

I came from a christian family who didn't censor me and I have never drank,done drugs,done a crime, or slept around. A close friend of mine however who came from a sheltered life in a small christian town in Oregon has done all that and more because she wasn't allowed too see what life was about until she went to a big city alone fell into the pressures.


So sheltering your children from the "world" is something you promote?
As a college age student I can tell you from personal knowlwedge many christian young adults who come to my university ( NYU) that once they are exposed to things 99% of the time they turn to these things while away from home. There have been six students who committed suicide at my school in the past year and all due to the PRESSURES they now face being away from home. One girl even did so because she was pregnant and didnt want her father who is a baptist minister to find out.

 

[hernyaccent]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0887532799/shakespearemagazA/002-1921708-4535245
So if assigned these books in school you wouldn't let your children read them?
Shakespeare studies almost always start in high school.

So sheltering your children from the "world" is something you promote?
As a college age student I can tell you from personal knowlwedge many christian young adults who come to my university ( NYU) that once they are exposed to things 99% of the time they turn to these things while away from home. There have been six students who committed suicide at my school in the past year and all due to the PRESSURES they now face being away from home. One girl even did so because she was pregnant and didnt want her father who is a baptist minister to find out.

Not all parents are christians so shouldn't they also have a right to what there children learn as well? Or do only christians have rights?

People also used your arguements to keep blacks out of school because the white children would learn the negro ways.

 

[morningstar2651]

"Harry Potter is Satanic!"
Prove it or stop flinging unfounded claims.

"Harry Potter is clearly a thinly disguised satanic book designed to lure impressionable young children away from God and into the practice of witchcraft."
What does a witch stand to gain by "luring your impressionable youth away from God"? Nothing. That's paranoia speaking.

Ironically, the author of the books is a Christian. [font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]She is a member of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). She is not a Satanist.[/font]

The Vatican's approval of Harry Potter
The censorship timeline of Harry Potter
Deconstructing Rowling

 

[hernyaccent]

"Harry Potter is Satanic!"
Prove it or stop flinging unfounded claims.

"Harry Potter is clearly a thinly disguised satanic book designed to lure impressionable young children away from God and into the practice of witchcraft."
What does a witch stand to gain by "luring your impressionable youth away from God"? Nothing. That's paranoia speaking.

Ironically, the author of the books is a Christian. [font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]She is a member of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). She is not a Satanist.[/font]

The Vatican's approval of Harry Potter
The censorship timeline of Harry Potter
Deconstructing Rowling

Exactly. They are afraid of things they have never been exposed to. I have been to wiccan and santeria gathers with friends of mine and to be honest I enjoy attending. There is no negativity or talk of the actions of others.

 

[Living Soul Dance]

So sheltering your children from the "world" is something you promote?

Yes, Shelter the children from the world!
As a Christian that is being in the world but not of the world.

A child broke his neck and died because he tried a wrestling move he saw on T.V.!

We have metal detector in our Washington, D.C. public elementary schools because of all of the violence children are exposed too!

Would you send your child into a gang infested school if you had a choice, or would you Shelter Them?

We may not be able to stop them from experimenting or being curious about the world, but we can teach them right from wrong as the bible says!

Our Heavenly Father shelters us!
The Holy Spirit teaches us right from wrong, that is one of the ways God shelters us!

We should be the type of parents God is to us.
Now if you don't beleive that God is a sheltering father,
I feel sorry for you.
But that is the way I know him!

 

[Living Soul Dance]

You cant push your views on other parents and students.

Jesus pushed his views on us! Why can't I?
Everyone pushes their views. That what life and this forum are all about.

Anyway,
As for the young lady who killed her self because she couldn't tell her father (who was a Baptist preacher) she was pregnant; I believe she did not have a close relationship with either one of her fathers, her heavenly father or her natural father. Having a close relationship with either one of her fathers would have prevented her death. And, the death of her baby. Unless her natural father was abusive.

That is not the results of being sheltered, that is the results of not having an intimate relationship with God.

 

[The Seeker]

We have metal detector in our Washington, D.C. public elementary schools because of all of the violence children are exposed too!

Or it could be because of insane paranoia propagated by media scare stories...

 

[Living Soul Dance]

Not all parents are christians so shouldn't they also have a right to what there children learn as well? Or do only christians have rights?

People also used your arguements to keep blacks out of school because the white children would learn the negro ways.

Son!

I am a middle aged Black Woman!
What does that have to do with Harry Potter!?

I just don't want my kids trying to fly a broom off the roof because they saw a crazy Harry Potter Movie or their teacher taught them Harry Potter in school.
A high school kid learning Shakespeare, should know better than to try to stab someone because he reads MacBeth!

That has nothing to do with pregant girls killing themselves in college and blacks not being able to go to school with whites!

 

[CrownCaster]

Yes. I am. That's funny?

Yes, in a way. In another it is very sad. On one hand I get visions of the wizard of oz and a bunch of kids gathering in their makeup and acting realllllly spooky. On the other hand I see the enemy laughing about the tricks he plays on people.

 

[CrownCaster]

I guess he's never heard of Wicca...

Oh, I have heard of it. I have fought it's being introduced to kids at a facility I worked at for quite some time. Luckily I was able to prevail.

 

[tcampen]

In a college literature class. Sure.

In grade school. No!


The bible says, "Raise up a child in the way he should go; and when he grows old, he will not depart from this way." (I am a Christian worshiping arts teacher and I own a Christian Arts School.)

Private schools can make determinations on what literature to read based on religious preferences - public school cannot, at least in America. We have that pesky 1st Amendment thing.

Personally, I don't want my children raised on Harry Potter and experimenting and/or believing in the things that he does. Children are too vulnerable. They don't distinguish fiction from reality well. And for elementary school age children, everything imaginary becomes real! Children act out what they see in movies, on T.V. in books, ect. They even mimic adults. I do not want my children mimicing Harry Potter!

You know,
He lies to his teachers, sneaks out of his room at night, chants over a crystal ball, makes potions, and jumps off the roof trying to fly a broom!
I don't want my children trying to do that! Do you?

Gee, ever read Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer? Those are staples in elementary school literature, and the main characters therein display far worse acts of disobedience than Harry Potter. As for potions, crystal balls, etc., I guess that's why its called "Fiction." "Fiction" means it's not based on real events or people - it is not history, a biography, or anything of the sort. If magic is off limits for literature, then you've wiped out a bit of Shakespeare as well, including McBeth, A Midsummernight's Dream and The Tempest. Are we banning all of this too? I read this stuff in school before becoming an adult.

But an adult age student; who wants to study this as a piece of literature, Fine.

Just a note:
It is not up to the teacher's to raise our children and teach them all of what is right from what is wrong. We should not put that kind of moral responsibility on our teachers. It is up to us (the christian parents) to decided what we want our children to learn!

P.S.
Whether you beleive that there is something morally wrong with Harry Potter or not is your opinion. I just don't want my children trying to do the things he does!

Sincerely...

That's a fair comment. Personally, I don't think Harry Potter should be part of the school cirriculum for the entire class to read, since it is has not yet attained such literary status. The content of the story is in no way troubling to me, especially when one takes a look at other accepted books already used in school. But if a kid wants to do a book report on a Harry Potter novel. Great.

P.S. How many childred have been ruined by Harry Potter? Any?

 

[The Seeker]

Oh, I have heard of it. I have fought it's being introduced to kids at a facility I worked at for quite some time. Luckily I was able to prevail.

How was it going to be "introduced" to them? Why did you oppose it?

 

[morningstar2651]

I have fought it's being introduced to kids at a facility I worked at for quite some time. Luckily I was able to prevail.

Hmm...introduced to kids at a facility? Can we be any more vague than this? What kind of "facility"? How was it being "introduced"? Why was it being "introduced"? How old are these "kids"?

Furthermore, Harry Potter doesn't teach Wicca.

On a sidenote:
Thank you for stereotyping my religion, insulting it, mocking it, and belittling me Crowncaster. Now I see how wrong it was for me to have beliefs contrary to your own. You've changed my life! *sarcasm*

If this is what you call God's love, I'll gladly go to Hell. An eternity without insults from the righteous would be a paradise in my eyes.

If you want to start a new thread and debate about Wicca and Christianity I'll gladly participate.

 

[morningstar2651]

If reading a childrens' fictional book converts a person to Satanism, they obviously didn't have all that much faith in Christianity to begin with.

 

[hernyaccent]

Son!

I am a middle aged Black Woman!
What does that have to do with Harry Potter!?

I just don't want my kids trying to fly a broom off the roof because they saw a crazy Harry Potter Movie or their teacher taught them Harry Potter in school.
A high school kid learning Shakespeare, should know better than to try to stab someone because he reads MacBeth!

That has nothing to do with pregant girls killing themselves in college and blacks not being able to go to school with whites!

"A child broke his neck and died because he tried a wrestling move he saw on T.V.!"
This child could has taught a christian child this move at school and the same thing could have happened.

"We have metal detector in our Washington, D.C. public elementary schools because of all of the violence children are exposed too!"
We have the same things in elementary school in New York City...What is your point?

"Would you send your child into a gang infested school if you had a choice, or would you Shelter Them?:
If I felt the school was gang infest I would send them to private just as my family did with me.

I am not saying throw your child into a pack of wolves but let them be aware of what is out there. How do you respond to new environments and people if you aren't ever exposed to them. My good friend was told that lesbians were women with short hair cuts and flannel shirts. She came to New York City with these beliefs attending a university were people are openly lesbian and insulted lesbians not realizing she was standing among them because they looked " NORMAL" were her words.

If you as a christian chooses to keep your child sheltered fine but don't force the whole school system in your area to do things your way. You aren't the only one with rights in this country. If you have a problem with it perhaps you should do what my family did- sent me to private school until high school. Lucky for me though my family let me do things my way and let me be exposed and view everything and because of that I had no need to experiment with them.

I am a young adult black female. What does that have to do with anything?
I was simply saying the whites used the excuse that they didn't want their children to be exposed to NEGROS because they would influence their children just as you are saying harry potter would do to your children.

"I just don't want my kids trying to fly a broom off the roof because they saw a crazy Harry Potter Movie or their teacher taught them Harry Potter in school."
If you had seen the Harry Potter movie or read the books you would know that Harry Potter says nothing about flying brooms off roofs. The use of broom sticks in Harry Potter is used to play a game similar to soccer to get a ball into a hole and an instruction class on how to use a broom stick in which it shows a kid getting injures and warns the others not to do so. The brooms in the movie won't even move until you tell them to get up so if your child tells a broom to get up and it doesn't move what is the problem?

Perhaps before you bar your children from doing something you should exam it yourself. If you let your children run around the roof then perhaps that's is something that needs to be looked into.

I wasn't even talking about high school Shakespeare but Shakespeare for kids, which talks about suicide,"witchcraft" and murder as well. Who is to say your child wouldn't put a pillow over someone's head and suffocate them like in Othello?

 

[hernyaccent]

If reading a childrens' fictional book converts a person to Satanism, they obviously didn't have all that much faith in Christianity to begin with.

These are individuals who don't understand the " Church of Satan" and their believes.

The 9th rule according to Satanists is
[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]9. Do not harm little children. ![/font]

Satanists don't believe in God nor the Devil. They believe that GOD is themselves and the church of satan represents the eye for an eye tooth for a toot policy. I am sure on many things Christians and Satanists would agree on like taking Harry Potter out of schools considering it deals with the supernatural ( which satanists don't believe in) and it's against God according to christians.

 

[hernyaccent]

Oh, I have heard of it. I have fought it's being introduced to kids at a facility I worked at for quite some time. Luckily I was able to prevail.

What is wrong with Wicca? If it isnt your beliefs it's wrong?

 

[Zalnavris]

On a sidenote:
Thank you for stereotyping my religion, insulting it, mocking it, and belittling me Crowncaster. Now I see how wrong it was for me to have beliefs contrary to your own. You've changed my life! *sarcasm*

If this is what you call God's love, I'll gladly go to Hell. An eternity without insults from the righteous would be a paradise in my eyes.

If you want to start a new thread and debate about Wicca and Christianity I'll gladly participate.

Plese forgive crowncaster he isnt the best representitive of the christian faith. I for one enjoy havin all views represented here and i also respect those views.

 

[morningstar2651]

"I just don't want my kids trying to fly a broom off the roof because they saw a crazy Harry Potter Movie or their teacher taught them Harry Potter in school."

And I don't want to see my kids trying to crucify people because they read it in the bible...luckily, educated children tend not to be this stupid.

Harry Potter is for young teens...if your young teen thinks they can fly on a broomstick because they saw it in a movie or read it in a book then you should re-evaluate what you've been teaching them. They should know the difference between fantasy and reality by this age.

Calling the movie crazy personifies it...it puts human traits on an inanimate object...it belongs with the other crazies in the insane asylum.
No it doesn't...it belongs in theaters.

Harry Potter is not a subject to be taught in school...it is a fictional book. Children don't read enough these days as it is. I've been asked which there/they're/their to use by college students. This is something you should probably know before college.


Metal detector because children are exposed to violence?
Children are exposed to violence. -- passive sentence, excludes how, where, and who exposed the children to the violence.

Also, that's not why there are metal detectors in schools. There are metal detectors in schools because parents are afraid that other people's children are violent.