Problem with Potter reaches state

[tinkerlion]

ATLANTA — The Harry Potter books about children who attend a school of wizardry encourage young people to practice witchcraft, a Gwinnett County mother of four told a state hearing officer Tuesday.
But a lawyer representing the Gwinnett Board of Education said the series of best-sellers should not be removed from the school system’s libraries because the books foster a love of reading among students.
Laura Mallory of Loganville, whose children attend J.C. Magill Elementary School, is seeking to have the books by J.K. Rowling banned from school shelves.
She first brought her case before the Gwinnett board, which ruled unanimously in May that the books could stay.
Mallory then appealed to the state Board of Education. The officer who presided over Tuesday’s hearing will make a recommendation to the board, which is expected to issue its decision in December.
Presenting her arguments first on Tuesday, Mallory cited studies showing that some children who have read Harry Potter books or seen movie adaptations have become interested in witchcraft to the point of attempting to cast spells. She said an organization called The Pagan Federation has attributed an increase in interest in the group among young people to publication of the books.
“Witchcraft is being mainstreamed to our children today,’’ she said. “My children are the most precious thing in the world to me. I surely do not want them to be indoctrinated into a religion whose practices are evil.’’
Mallory also referred to research by the American Academy of Pediatrics that found young children cannot readily distinguish fantasy from reality and try to imitate what they’ve read.
But Victoria Sweeny, the Gwinnett school board’s lawyer, said the Potter books are clearly “fantasy fiction’’ and are kept in the fiction section of school libraries.
She said the books, some of which run longer than 700 pages, provide reading material rich in vocabulary with such wholesome themes as the triumph of good over evil and the power of a mother’s love.
Sweeny suggested that to ban Harry Potter from school media centers could lead to the removal of such classics as some of William Shakespeare’s plays, “The Wizard of Oz,’’ “Alice in Wonderland’’ and the popular “Lord of the Rings’’ and “Chronicles of Narnia’’ series.
“When you start removing books and access to ideas, you’d pretty soon have no use for a media center,’’ she said.
Since Tuesday’s hearing was akin to a court procedure rather than a public hearing, attendance at the Georgia Board of Education meeting room in a state office building was sparse.
Hearing officer L.O. Buckland timed each side’s arguments and interrupted Mallory and Sweeny only briefly to ask questions.


http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/ind...ange_well_id=2


since when did imagination become a bad thing? i know there's been all this debate since the books came out, but leave it to an idiot in georgia to keep fighting it. of course this is int the same school system that tried to cut $3000 funding for materials in spanish because it might be used for illegal immigrants. actually they did cut the funding then reversed the decision when the realization came that that was racist against hispanics.

[sway2sway]

That's ridiculous. They're afraid...of things they don't understand and of a world where everyone doesn't look like them and act like them, wasp, or some derivative.

Fight the power Tink!

Actually, it's really quite frightening that it could go so far, I think.

[tinkerlion]

things like this have been smacked down before, so i hope it will be again. it bothers me that the school board is having to waste time dealing with this crap. focus should be on other things.

and you hit the nail on the head talking about fear of non-wasp in any form. that's the type of parent that's never going to be happy until their child is wrapped in bubble wrap and can't be infulenced by anything non-wasp. ok, maybe that's a little over the top on my part. i understand wanting to keep your children safe, but you get hurt when you live. you try crazy things. the good isn't as good without going through the bad (at least that's what i've been telling myself lately.)

but this lady is a prime example of why i think the standards are too low in georgia. let's raise the bar a little.

[sway2sway]

It's everywhere. I like this writer's group which highlights books that have been the object of censorship. Sometimes it really seems true that what you hate says more about you than what you love.



March 1, 2006

Writers Decry School Board’s Withdrawal of Children’s Book

The Writers' Union of Canada has expressed its dismay over a decision by Ontario's York Region District School Board to withdraw the controversial children's book, Three Wishes by Deborah Ellis from its Silver Birch Award list.

"It is both sad and ironic that during Canada's annual Freedom to Read Week, we are once more confronted with a challenge to a controversial book," said Ron Brown, vice chair of the Union. "Books that deal with divisive issues should be allowed to encourage discussion, not choke it off," he added. "We urge the York board to return Three Wishes to its nomination list."

The book, which the school board has deemed "inappropriate" for grades 4 to 6, presents children's perspectives on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The book remains on the Ontario Library Association's list of Silver Birch Award nominees, although the Canadian Jewish Congress has been trying to persuade other school boards to remove it from their Silver Birch lists.

"The Freedom to Read Kit lists literally dozens of books, which groups in Canada have tried to limit or ban," added Brown. "I wouldn't be surprised to see the Ellis book featured in next year's kit," he said.

Freedom to Read Week, which runs until March 4, highlights challenges to books in Canada. Among the higher profile issues listed in the kit are the efforts by Vancouver's Little Sister’s bookstore to prevent Canadian customs officials from banning books at the border, and efforts by The school Board in Surrey, BC to ban children’s books on same-sex marriage.

The Writers' Union of Canada is our country's national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well being of all writers. For more information, please visit www.writersunion.ca.

[pfawnk]

so now they're trying to tell us what to read. they already own the radio, television, the news, etc... maybe this parent should devote more of her efforts into getting to know her children, and teaching them how to think and make appropriate decisions on their own. but i'm not a parent so maybe i'm just naive.

[sauce.baby]

yeah.. pegans are sooo horrible. they're sooo evil. witchcraft is only used for bad.

BLAHFUCKINGBLAH.

i'm sorry.. what's christianity based on again? what's that? paganism?
yeah, that's what i thought.

that lady needs to just go home, put on her horse blinders, wrap her house in cellophane and seal all the cracks with duct tape.

[lizbif]

I think this just makes her look stupid! If people did any research on what the fought this would not be a problem. Wiccan's believe in knowledge and taking care of the Earth what is so evil abought that. Someone most of told her it was evil!

[the duke]

Mate, I SWEAR!!! There's been studies done here that show that less and less kids are using their imaginations to keep them occupied and rely on tv...taking away books like Harry Potter etc will just make kids dependent on bullshit marketing...

And yeah, everyone seems to think everything is bad because it disagrees with religion...

PFawnk made a great comment...maybe the mother needs to deal with her own child and not take away the rights of other kids to read!

(WB pfawnk by the way )

[lietuvaite]

absolutely ridiculous. she should worry about raising her own kid according to her values, as stated above.