Down with Harry Potter?

You're probably well aware that a lot of religious folks are against Harry Potter. I honestly don't understand the hoopla. Personally, the genre isn't my cup of tea, so I don't read them, myself, but I understand that it appeals to others, and certainly don't begrudge them their wish to read the books.

Enter Todd's school, a private Christian school. The kids in his class take part in a reading program whereby they have to read a certain number of books at home by the end of the school year. Parents keep logs and turn them in periodically. However, neither the Harry Potter nor the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books count towards this quota. Wimpy Kid I agree with-- it's got too many illustrations to be truly grade-level appropriate. And Harry Potter? Fine-- if they believe it's inappropriate, I can abide by that. I certainly don't agree with their reasons for not allowing the kids to count those books as part of the reading program, but hey-- it's their rules, and there's still a whole wide world of other books to read out there. Not a big deal.

However, here is where I take a bit of issue: book orders.

 

Do you remember those Scholastic book order sheets that you used to get in grade school? I remember being excited about the newest editions every month. Nothing quite like poring over the order form, turning it in, and then receiving a brand-new, shiny book! And now that I'm receiving them as a parent, I can certainly appreciate the good prices they have on many titles!

Well... apparently I can't quite order whatever I want for Todd. The restriction about HP is still there. In fact, the rule goes so far as to say that not only will they disallow HP books, but they won't let us order *any* books "dealing with witchcraft". 

Okay, first of all, I think the whole point of the HP series goes beyond just sorcery or witchcraft. I mean, I haven't read the series or seen the movies, but even I can figure out that it's a classic story of good triumphing over evil... which just happens to be in a fantasy setting. And okay, so maybe the characters misbehave-- isn't that true of a lot of youth fiction? That's where the parents and their explanations come in.

Second of all-- it's one thing to decide not to have these books available in the classroom or school library. That's well within the school's rights. But to restrict ordering a book? For HOME use? That should be at the parents' discretion. After all, it's the parents' job to educate their kids on what they're reading at home. It's not the school's job to police what kids read at home.

Third of all-- where do you draw the line? Vampires? Ghosts? (yes, I saw plenty of both in the October, Halloween-themed edition). How about a historically-based fiction about the Salem witch trials? And what about the Chronicles of Narnia? Oh, right. It's written by a Christian author and is supposed to be a biblical allegory, so it MUST be okay. Never mind that it's also full of fantasy and sorcery (and a bloody unicorn on the cover) itself.

It irks me that people can be so rash to put a blanket ban on something they probably never even took the time to investigate themselves. It irks me that I can't order the HP book on the Scholastic form (not that I would want to, mind you), yet on that very same page is some teenybopper magazine that's probably far less edifying than HP. It irks me that people believe that just *looking* at something they consider "evil" will corrupt them, when it's actually this kind of irrational, closed-minded, and downright mindless following that can lead to corrupt actions.

Sigh... will people ever figure it out?