Harry Potter Good Or Evil Essays - Harry Potter,

Harry Potter: Good Or Evil Harry Potter: Good or Evil? Throughout adolescents, a child is taught to use his or her imagination. A child is read stories of a talking cat or a silly old bear while still young and na?ve. The child is read such stories to encourage use of his or her creativity. The ideas of such characters are for pure amusement and are obviously fictional. Unfortunately, today there are issues of censorship that stifle a persons creativity. The most recent book being criticized by censors is J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter series. Censors claim that the reading of such novels encourages witchcraft, and therefore should be banned. Although critics of the Harry Potter series are well intentioned in their ideas of banning this novel in schools, the actual banning of the novel is far more destructive. What these critics fail to recognize is that the reading of such an imaginative novel allows for childrens creativity to flourish, rather than allowing them to turn to negative forms of entertainment. The banning of certain novels in s chools is extremely important in todays society, but only when the novel is destructive to a childs upbringing. In past history, such classics as Maya Angelous I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird, and J.D. Salingers Catcher In The Rye have been banned. Critics justified their actions by stating that such novels are inappropriate for school age children. Critics have now targeted the highly creative Harry Potter series. At the beginning of the school term the American Library Association was bombarded with complaints from parents about potentially harmful content in the series. Unfortunately, opinions vary and there is no simple answer. Although citizens of the United States are given the right to Freedom of Press under the First Amendment, this does not allow schools to incorporate every piece of literature within the curriculum. Schools are torn because as Linda Harvey states in USA Today, No school includes everything. Few public schools would accept books advocating drunken driving, bulimia or rape. And its rare to find novels in school libraries about teens w ho proclaim salvation through Jesus Christ (Harvey). Reading material that encourages such horrendous acts as drunk driving and rape should be the focus of the countries problems, rather then a childs fantasy series that only encourages use of ones imagination. With larger issues such as racism and violence still in existence, it is ridiculous to think that parents are more concerned with a book that encourages a childs imagination and desire to read. Dominic Schmidt, a father writes: The manipulation, lying, violence and rebellion in Harry Potter books are without a doubt unfit for young minds that dont have a strong safety net at home. This book series has the same sugarcoating used by the alcohol and tobacco industries and, for that matter, your local drug pusher, as well as the clever marketing that the publishing companies use to lure us into thoughtless choicesmany with lifelong consequences (Schmidt). Rather than the Harry Potter books being unfit, it is one of the best influences a child without a strong safety net at home can have. When a child is engulfed in a fantasy story, he or she uses their imagination to travel to another word, where all troubles are left behind. The Harry Potter series uses descriptive writing to tell a story of pictures that move, the enchanted castle of Hogwarts, and a wonderful sport called Quidditch. Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a mans face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus DumbledoreHarry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledores face had disappeared. Hes gone! Well you cant expect him to hang around all day, said Ron. Hell be back But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos. Do they? What, they dont move at all? Ron sounded amazed. Weird. (Rowling Harry Potter And the Sorcerers Stone 102-103) Unfortunately because of the opinions of a few parents and religious right groups, many schools are conceding to the groups demands. Renowned author Judy