Harry Potter and Knowing For Yourself

I have a friend who is a middle school English teacher. We were discussing curriculum and literature as I am a big proponate for good literature. She told me she teaches with Fantasy Literature and has the kids read the first book of Harry Potter. We had a discussion on the pros and cons of using Harry Potter as a literature book. I had read the book years ago when it first came out with my oldest but was one of those parents who wouldn't recommend Harry Potter for reading.

I asked her if she got parental objection about having the kids read this book and what she said was very enlightening. She told me that over the years there have been a few parents who have come in and told her they didn't want their child reading the book. Her first question to the parent was, have they read the book themselves. Most of the time, they haven't; they are only going on the recommendation of their spiritual leader. She then recommends that the parent read the book with the child and share the objections and comments with the child. She even tells the parent that they can come into the classroom and share their perspective with the whole class. She told me that only 1 parent so far has taken her up on the idea; most of the parents are not willing to take this opportunity and share their perspective with their child and develop their relationship through a book discussion.

So my friend then recommends another book for their child to read. This book, of which I have forgotten the title, is not from a well known and controversial author such as J.K Rowling, However this book does have darker magic, and more evil in it. Since the parents aren't familiar with this author, or have heard any negative remarks about the book, they agree. She offers the parents to read this book with their child as well, but sadly no one has taken her offer or seen the great oportunity to deepen their relationship with their child through literature.

When I was sharing this story with another friend, he was horrified that she would do such a thing. I said, "Well, it serves the parent right, since they don't really want to get involved with their child's education. They are not willing to know for themselves and thus they are abdicating their own parental right to teach their children their own values."

Harry Potter and J.K Rowling have caused much controversy over the years. When I first heard of this book, I didn't want my daughter to read it either, as it dealt in magic. My husband quite astutely pointed out that if this one book was going to have our child practice magic, then we really have no influence and all our efforts to homeschool were for naught. So I let her read the book.

Months later I read a commentary that I thought was very balanced. This guy said that just as we parents wouldn't allow our children to simply eat pizza every day, we also need to balance our children's literary diet as well. Harry Potter along side, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings and other good fantasy books is good. But what is really great, is to expose the children to all types of literature: biographies, historical fiction, mystery and fantasy.

How I see it is that it all basically comes down to knowing for yourself, and taking personal responsiblity. My goal not only in my homeschooling, but in every area of life, my spriritual, my relationships, my business, my volunteering, has been to encourage every individual I meet to get the knowledge they need to achieve the thing they desire.

Knowing for yourself is an attitude of "take what you like and leave the rest". What and how will the information pertain to you? How will it improve or change your life?

This summer we had a Harry Potter week end where we watched all the movies in one week end. Since I hadn't read the books, I didn't understand many parts of the movies. My oldest daughter simply said, " You need to read the books yourself." So, we went to the bookstore bought the series and she, my son, my other daughter and I all read Harry Potter for the summer. This gave us lots of things to talk about and a way to bond that we hadn't before.

I practiced this philosophy of knowing for myself. I was able to share with my children other things that the books reminded me of and apply some of the scenes to different life situations.

I am grateful for my friend to remind me that parenting isn't always simply providing the right environment; sometimes it's also a time for me to Know For Myself as well. And in my business I also must trust and encourage others to know for themselves.

I would love to hear how you decided to be at cause in your life and know for yourself about a topic, or situation.
Make it a great day! I know you deserve it!
Jane