Book Controversies - The Harry Potter Series
Yes you read that right. Today, it feels weird for me to even write the term controversy in the same sentence as "Harry Potter", but I remember a time in my early reading career when the Harry Potter series seemed like it was the most controversial set of books ever created. Let me explain:
The year was 2000. I was in the 3rd grade, the first peak of my avid reading phase: devouring books left and right, always on the hunt for the next amazing book to read. The third Harry Potter book had just been released, the fourth was on its way, and the hushed whispers amongst my peers were all I could hear. I had never heard of Harry Potter before, but was immediately intrigued, especially since it was the talk of the town, but not really paying attention to what the whispers were about. Imagine my shock and surprise when I went to the school library to find out more about them when I was promptly told by the lady in charge (we didn't have librarians, just volunteers or parents who helped manage the collection and were there to help us check out books) that they had no such books and that if I knew what was good for me I would never pick those books up. You see, I went to a small, Christian elementary school. Unbeknownst to me, a lot of the teachers and parents were taken up with some of the negative hype that the books were exposing children to the occult and witchcraft, and were thus dangerous for kids to read. There was a heavy ban put in place at my school that not only prohibited the books from being bought for the school library, but forbade any of us kids from having a copy at school or be able to read on school property. Suddenly, I started to listen more intently to the whispering that was going on by my peers and started to realize the controversy that was happening. Several students were reading the books secretly at home, having gotten the books from an older sibling or from the public library a block away. Several others had the same ban put in place by their parents at home. The overall consensus, though, was about how great this story was and how it was the best thing they had ever read.
As things tend to happen when something is banned, suddenly there was this huge interest in the books, and those that were allowed to read it had all the power and were the royalty of the class. It made me want to read them all the more, until the desire as so strong, it outweighed my fear of talking to my parents about it. They had never said anything to me about the books, but with my dad being a church leader and my mom being a kindergarten teacher at the same school, I just assumed that I would never be allowed to read them. Eventually, I worked up the courage to ask my mom about them. And I will never forget the conversation that followed: the one question she asked was if I knew the difference between fiction books and real life. She had always been incredibly supportive and encouraging of my avid reading, so I think she knew the answer before she even asked. It started a conversation between us and we talked about the power of reading and that some people were so afraid that their kids would not be able to tell the difference between stories for fun and real life that they would rather not have their kids read those things at all. And most importantly, she said that as far as she was concerned, that as long as I knew the these books were nothing more than a really good story, that she had no problem with my reading them (and as long as I didn't take them to school so I wouldn't get in trouble). A year or two later, my grade school (where my mom still teaches to this day) took away the ban and ended up encouraging the kids to read them, and many of the teachers could be seen reading them in their spare time at lunch. I have a suspicion that my mom was one of the main reasons why the school reversed it's policy on the books. A fun side note: the teacher that was most against them is now one of my mom's closest friends!
I will never forget that example my mom set for me. How having an open and honest conversation about a book that controversial did so much more good than just a blanket ban. Even for someone as devout in her faith and with a quiet peaceful personality, she knew the importance of reading and for encouraging her kids to think for themselves, and worked to help shape her school to be reflective of those principles. I'm so thankful that I will always have a piece of that to carry with me into this field.
I'm soo glad you shared your HP story. We still have parents that come into the library and won't let their kids check out the books and it hurts my heart. I've never heard of any kids picking up witchcraft because of the books! Thank you for sharing and full points! Glad your story had a happy ending and your mom let you read the books!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that we were introduced to Harry Potter around the same time- I was in the third grade when my teacher started reading the books to us out loud. My interest was immediately sparked, and I ended up renting the books on my own from te library and reading ahead. I was halfway through Prisoner of Azkaban, and the rest of my classmates still didn't even know who had opened the Chamber of Secrets!
ReplyDeleteI remember later that year the fourth book came out, but my teacher said she would not read it aloud to us because of some parent complaints she had received. We were all so disappointed! I would still read it on my own, of course, but it was more fun to read it with the group.
Harry Potter has seen many censorship attempts in its day... I'm glad your school reversed the ban and ended up embracing the series!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI do recall the book controversy of Harry Potter as well, there had been "whispering" in the catholic schools community that the book focused on witchcraft and the occult, so it should not be made available in the school library. I can recall the public library accross the street from our catholic school had purchased a few dozen books and made them available for checkout. I recall being fascinated to how the public library made this freely available, while there was a ban within the school library.
Thanks for sharing the conversation that you had with your mother, one that I wish more parents would have with their youngsters whenever there is a controversy, specifically one that relates to reading. I would like to think that parents would embrace and encourage their children's book interests and to share in such conversations, but in today's environment, it is very difficult to gauge how parts of society would approach banned books. I would like to think things would have changed since the Harry Potter controversy, but looking at the recent banned booklist online, things really have not advanced in some areas.