| The loud accusations against the Harry Potter books worry me greatly. I am a huge fan of these books. I know quite a few people who are Wiccan or Pagan, and I even know a Druid. And they are some of the best people I know. They don't lie, cheat, steal, or break the rules unnecessarily. One of them is an EMT. As a matter of fact, the worst people I know are strict fundamentalist Christians. They lie, make excuses, judge other people harshly and unnecessarily, and are completely hypocritical. My freshman year of college, a good friend of mine was molested by a guy that was almost nightly brought into the basement of our dormitory by doting girls who would stare at him rapturously for hours while listening to him "preach" to them about evils in the world and what terrible things people did when they weren't saved. I'm not saying that all religious people do this; I'm just saying that good and evil work both ways. You must judge a person by all of their actions, not just what you see them do on Sundays. It's my view that adults don't give kids enough credit. And where the children don't deserve the credit, it's generally because the adult in charge of them has held something back. I learned to read when I was four years old and instantly jumped from "baby books" into bigger things. While I've always enjoyed those baby books for beginning readers, my favorites have always been meant for an age group between 10 and 15. They're just the most interesting -- younger books are too childish, and older ones start dealing with depressing, annoying adult situations, and they always bring in relationships with other people in a romantic way. Boooring, and it's been done. I began to read books for the young adult age group when I was five years old. I can safely say that I have read an incredibly large sampling of these books, and I own a tidy lot. I know my fair share about them, and can safely say that they will not warp your child's mind. Believe me. Witchcraft isn't real. Never will be, no matter how many times a child points a stick at a feather and cries out "Wingardium Leviosa!" or points their hands at a person and says "Forget, you will forget..." There is no harm in letting your children read about something that doesn't exist. They've heard fairy tales, haven't they? They've read any number of books about situations and people that have never been in existence. Some arguments against Harry Potter say that the main characters lie to adults when in a sticky situation. A child will do this anyway. You mean to say that in all the time you were growing up, you never lied to anyone? I find this quite hard to believe. And if that's your only argument, read any number of other books out there, watch any number of other movies. Notice children lying? You should, as they do it in most every book. Children go through stages: too young to know the truth, too young to lie, and too old to tell the truth. It's instinct to get yourself out of a potentially harmful situation: fight-or flight. Ever taken psychology? You should. Someone even argued that in the beginning of the Goblet of Fire, Harry disobeys his abusive relatives by eating sweets. Answer me this: You're fourteen. Your guardians are starving you. Literally starving; they give you meager amounts of food every day, and you are losing weight rapidly and are constantly hungry. If all you have to eat are sweets, wouldn't you eat them? I'm sure you would. So sure that I'm willing to bet that if I locked you up in a closet for three months and gave you a pint of cottage cheese three times a day (granted, I've bought quite a large container of cottage cheese and haven't bought a new one, all three months), but put a nice saffron cake full of fruit in a tupperware over in the corner, you're not going to so much as take one bite? I'll give a hundred dollars to the first taker. If you don't think Harry Potter is for young children, you're right. These books are written for people eleven and older, or by intelligent younger ones. No child needs to read about such dark things as occur in the fourth book; it makes me sad, reading it, and I love them. It's meant to be read by someone who is older and can cope with the thoughts of a friend dying, of people who will do anything for the sake of saving themselves, even cutting off their hand. Not for the faint-of-heart. As for the Potter children doing bad things to a good end (i.e., sneaking out to help save a friend from harm or possibly death), think of Jesus on the cross. Was this not bad? But he died that all of you might live. He died for your sins, which I know are many (no matter who you are; it is well-known that no person is perfect and therefore everyone sins). A gross comparison, I know, but what more recognizable one is there? Children are seeing much more about death and sexuality by simply turning on a television (or seeing you turn on a television) that they ever could by reading this book cover-to-cover and memorizing every word. Even children's movies that you have deemed "safe" have references and innuendoes in them that your child will repeat wherever they go -- perhaps ones so shocking that they would make you blush. How does fasting make you more capable to defeat evil? All it does is weaken you. You may find strength in prayer, however, this is true. What of the assertation that these children work on their own powers, never calling on adults to help them? Well, first of all, there are a number of adults who they do need to help them. In my eyes, Dumbledore is a Godlike figure, always there when they need them to aid them in ways they could not have thought of alone. Secondly, adults will not always be there when your child needs help! They must learn somehow that sometimes it is necessary to fight themselves for what they know is true and right in whatever way possible for them. And what of when your children get older? They will be so soft from always depending on adults that they will be lost when they are adults themselves. Whenever there are shockingly pagan things such as blood sacrifice and rituals, these are always being carried out by the evil characters. The good ones never do anything like that; they always acheive some sort of bright, cheerful help, such as the bright Patronus coming to aid them from the Dementors. Regarding the Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper, people say that it is terrible that the Light is referred to as cold and unrelenting. But isn't it? People who do good are persecuted for their actions, ridiculed, taunted. Doing good is not easy, and that's the point. If doing good were easy, everyone would do it. But part of what makes it hard is that the Dark has the same strength, and they paint a prettier picture. Light tells it like it is, not trying to trick or deceive people into trusting it. We can't go on thinking that if we do good, everything will automatically be wonderful. One of the best, nicest, most blessed women I ever met was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I don't know if she's even still alive this day. But it just shows that no matter how good you are, bad things still happen to you. Why else would there be any need for people to speak of "God testing us"? Bad situations are given to us to see how we respond to them. Some people's entire lives are spent struggling through difficult situations, and they always choose the right way, but never come out of it. They will get a reward in the end, certainly, but not those people who begin to curse others and try to find the easy way out; the easy way out is to the Dark. It's simplest to forget your fellow man, but best and most rewarding to welcome humankind as a whole. Once again, I have to make a Christ comparison: it was terrible that he had to die for our sins, but he did nonetheless. If the Light was not cold and unrelenting, surely he would not have had to die for things he had never done himself. But he did, and we are all the better for it. In short, I think it's necessary to see this literature not as a device to corrupt your children and turn them against all that is good, but to teach them about the world and let them see good life lessons, while also expanding their imaginations with a fun tale about very special people with supernatural powers. As it has been said, "That's what a writer does: enlightens while he entertains." And hopefully, your kid's getting both right about now. Laura E. Jordan |