Harry Potter Ban at School

Hi friends,

You heard it, they have placed a ban on several books this year, supposedly via the government.

My son said that there is a large poster in his english class that explains it from a government level. He said that it was because it uses magic and spells.

I PROMISE I will get a picture of the poster and report back here.

Remember my son is in the STARS program (gifted) and feels this is a violation of the teachings he has received at home. We have every volume of the Potter series and always look forward to the opening of the new movies. We were very let down to find out from this site they have put off the newest movie slated for Nov. 2008 and that it was moved up to next July. we always like to kick off the holiday season with the new movie releases.

Other banned books were books he loves, The day no pigs would die, The Giver, Lord of the Flies, and a couple others he does not recall off hand.

What do you think? Is this a violation of their rights? Does this make me less of a parent for enjoying this literature?

I have to say my first impression was a vivid scene during the Salem witch hunts and the notorious burning of literature throughout the dark ages. If this is from the Government do they have a right to deem this unacceptable because of what they see as inappropriate content? Where will it end?

I am already considered the freakazoid parent for going before the board more than aptly ready and armed with 60+ pages of handouts to the board members, fighting for their right to eat no meat in a community which makes its living off of cattle, hogs and fowl.

What your dealing with is censorship plain and simple. ok, typically from what I understand such decisions are typically made at the school board level. You may want to investigate the school board and find out if they were the ones who made the decision. If not then find out who did. The I'd contact fellow parents and the media. Especially the media. There is no way that this should happen in this day and age.

Good luck.

wow... Lord of the Flies is banned now? I remember actually reading that one in school.

Pretty soon the only books allowed in school will all be endorsed with Orwellian "Ministry of Education" stamps.

So just to clarify here: when I was in school, "banned" just meant it was off the approved list for teachers to assign students. Are you implying that even bringing your own copy of the book to school would be met with some type of disciplinary action?

and just a guess here, that 1984 is on "the list."

[edit on 28-8-2008 by scientist]

reply to post by scientist

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Jeff said that they were removed from the library and they are not allowed to bring them on campus or read them for credit.

I will go tomorrow and take a picture of the poster, perhaps he misunderstood or something, he says no, that's the new rule, I will let you know of other books on the list when I bring the picture.

Again he says that it is like on a Government level, and that's what I found very wrong and strange.

That is odd, I can't see why any book that young readers would enjoy reading would be banned from school. Doesnt that just sound backwards? I remember when I was in school bout 15 years ago they wanted to ban certain books from the library. Everyone just laughed at the school board.

Course that's the benifit of growing up in a small community instead of a larger one.

I mean anything that gets a child reading is a good thing and should be allowed.

Ridiculous....I read Lord of the Flies for a class. It was lovely. It was a great adventure.

oy....how pathetic

-Kyo

Not only did we have to read Lord of the Flies, we also had to watch a film of it in class.

Surprising they'd now be banning the book. What's the point? As soon as kids hear a book is banned, they're off to find it and read it to see what the fuss is.

ha.. if it were me (as the kid), I would most certainly bring Harry Potter books to school everyday, just to see what the punishment would be for reading a children's book.

Or, I would probably take it a step further and bring in an actual book of Wiccan spells. I mean, kids can read bibles in school, right?

Not a big Harry Potter fan, but I do own THE GIVER. A fabulous book.
A song lyric comes to mind right now Antar..
"TEACH THE CHILDREN QUIETLY, FOR SOMEDAY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, WILL RISE UP AND FIGHT WHERE WE STOOD STILL."

YouTube Link

Take your children and yourself and hide out in the cellar.

By now the fighting will be close at hand.

Don't believe the church and state

and everything they tell you.

Believe in me

I'm with the high command.



Can you hear me

can you hear me running?

Can you heal me running

can you hear me calling you?

Can you heal me

can you hear me running?

Can you hear me running

can you hear me calling you?



There's a gun and ammunition just inside the doorway;

Use it only in emergency.

Better you should pray to God

the father and the spirit.

Will guide you and protect you from up here.

Can you hear me

can you hear me running? . . .



Show allegiance to the flag whatever flag they offer.

Never hint at what you really feel.

Teach the children quietly for some day sons and daughters.

Will rise up and fight where we stood still.



Can you hear me

can you hear me running? . . .



Can you hear me

can you hear me running?

Can you heal me running

can you hear me calling you?

Can you hear me running

can you hear me calling you?

Can you hear me

hear me calling you?

Can you hear me running

hear me running

babe!

Can you hear me running

hear me running!

Calling you

calling you!

Antar, where is "here"?

As for the banning, I guess they'll have to ban the Bible as well, with all those flying chariots and parting sea's and water into wine and live-human spitting whales and dudes raising from the dead ............. magic indeed !!!

[edit on 29/8/08 by Misfit]

Best post yet! I LMAO on that one! Excellent point. Where does it end? I was po'ed when the school chastized me as a room Mother for calling Christmas vacation just that. I was to say "Winter party"...I just said NO its Christmas! They shrunk and acted as if the walls had ears...

My son just cracked up when he read your post.




We live in a small community which has 276 on the poulation sign, the school itself has about that many, we also have more children of Government parents and Grandparents per capita than anywhere other than D.C.
As for no child left behind I agree totally. Unfortuneatly they used that to further their apparent control agenda and I see it as a barrier to reading rather than incouraging little ones to want to read. You cant force control something like the love of books it seems to work the opposite.



Agreed, and I will get pictures of the poster up later today. We can then discuss further what this all means in terms of censorship, as for parents getting involved, they do not want to go against anything they are sheeple at their finest.





That should be right, but in this case it is treated like smut, so give me a chance to get to the bottom of it. We live in a very small community.



That is what Jeff said too. It is now going to be a priority read.



I would have all my kids taken away and be placed up on some trumped charges. We did have a great laugh over your post though.


I never knew the lyrics of that song, at least not the important ones, we loved it.
And Jeff TOTALLY agrees about The Giver, he says that is the one he finds hard to believe, he says it teaches another way for society, a different path than what they teach people to follow.

Hi everyone I am back and sorry to say that I went to the school this afternoon to snap a photo of the poster I mentioned in the Op which is placed in the middle of the front wall in my sons English class at the local high school, however after getting permission to do so, with audience including the principal, my camera had low battery and I was unable to get the picture today.

I did however take the information and came up with this site which has much more information about the challenged books on their website and it is the site where the poster came from.

The poster itself looks like an ad for a popular upcoming movie, they type you see in the theater lobby. Shinny and slick with all the best characters and action scenes.

Take a look for yourself, and be prepared to be amazed at the list of books they have placed on the list, titles like:

Ernest Hemingway "For whom the bell tolls" and "A farewell to arms"
Margret Mitchell "Gone with the wind"
Aldous Huxley "Brave new world"
John Steinbeck "Of mice and men" and "The grapes of wrath"
George Orwell "1984"
Alice Walker "The color purple"
Harper Lee "To kill a mockingbird"
DH Lawrence "Women in love"
Mark Twain "Tom Sawyer"

These are but a mere fraction of the books which have been banned. For a more complete list, take a look at the link :
www.ala.org...

Please understand that I am very sorry to have promised a picture and not deliver, I still promise to get it when school resumes next week.

HOAX HOAX HOAX FAKER LIAR DECEIVER
I CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE OP BAN AND DELETION OF THIS HOAX THREAD !!!!!

lolol

Is that the school your son is in, Baptist College in Charleston, SC?

WOW. I mean, WOW. Now let's discuss why:

Aldous Huxley - Don't let kids think there are other ways of perceiving the world. They only need one perspective, and that's the one they are taught in school.

John Steinbeck - Poverty doesn't exist, so there's no reason to read grapes of wrath.

Orwell - 'nuff said.

Alice Walker - because racial injustices never existed. Even if they did, it's all in the past now.

Harper Lee - see above.

I just don't know what to say, I will encourage my children to read every book on the ban list. Huckleberry Fin? Come on and The Invisible man?

Get a message to Oprah Winfrey.

She'll find 'The Color Purple', among others, on the list and be outraged and will do a show on it.

I can't believe there are so many Vonnegut and Faulkner titles on that list, in fact in my day those would all be required reading.

It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of two travesties. Tch.

I don't recall that Harry Potter books have been banned from schools by the government. They have the series in my social sciences section at my library at my community college. I guess they think Voldemort is too evil for children.

reply to post by antar

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Antar, is the school we are discussing the baptist college mentioned in the ban list?

Interesting, Tolkien's works are on that list. Can't understand why that would be seen as Satanic, considering that he was a Catholic, and converted Lewis from being atheist to Christianity. Yes, sounds ever so like someone satanic to me.

And I also saw Lord of the Flies on that list. Whats wrong with that? Good book, dark, but a good read nonetheless.

Edit:

What? His Dark Materials aren't on there? I'm surprised at that, apprently a depiction of God kiling isn't Satanic, yet Lord of the Rings is? What's up with that?

[edit on 30-8-2008 by apex]