[HPFGU-OTChatter] Maturity of kids in the Potterverse (moved from main list)

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

Alright..this is an attempt to move this dangerously OT topic to the appropriate list before the mods *make* us move..

Ali said:
>Another point I think is that British kids are still less 
>sophisticated than their American counterparts.

*frowns* Do you mean in an emotional-maturity kind of way?  Cause I can't really agree with you there at all.

If you mean in a sexual way, however, I *can* see where you get this perception.  American teens certainly have a big reputation for being very sexual at a very early age.

Whether this reputation is well-earned or the product of a sexually saturated media -- that anyone's guess.

Ali continued:
>But, in every TV programme I see with American High School 
>kids, I always think that the kids seem much older than 
>British children of the same age. 

Well -- it's *TV*...I'll let you in on a secret...most of the "average American kids" portrayed on shows "about teens for teens" seem alot older than the RL average American kid.

The shows are written by adults, the characters are played by adults -- I mean, how accurate of a portrayal of teenage life do you expect to get?  Even if these grown-ups are well-meaning, they are still going to end up with a skewed perception of teenage-hood.  Most of the teens you see on American television are either idealized or stylized -- or both.  

Perhaps British writers are better at getting in touch with their inner adolescent and therefore write more realistic teens?

Darrin said:
>Harry Potter, on the other hand, is nearly 14 before we get 
>a sense of him hitting puberty. To me, that's just one more 
>of the rules JKR has introduced. She's taken us back to a 
>time when the equivalent of American fifth- and sixth-
>graders were not exploring their sexuality.

*snorts* And when did this take place, pray tell?  500 B.C.?

Honestly, I don't buy this whole "kids were more innocent back in the day" shtick.  The sexuality expressed by the aforementioned fifth and sixth graders is not a "sign of the times" or something that is manufactured by the media.  It's a natural and ordinary part of *every* person, no matter how old they are.

Perhaps it wasn't as talked about or as socially acceptable back then (whatever time period you are indicating here), but it was *still* there.  Just as people often think that adultery and premarital were less prevalent around the turn of the century (um...I mean, the late 1800's, early 1900's)..while nothing could be further from the truth...it just wasn't *talked about*..and it was basically okay with everyone as long as the woman didn't get pregnant -- or, if she did, as long as the man married her when she did.

It kind of alarms me the way so many of the adults on this list try to deny the sexuality of young children...that fifth and sixth graders didn't express sexual feelings at one point in the recent past -- to me this seems --I'm sorry, Darrin -- downright absurd.  I don't know whether to burst out laughing or be very concerned.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the memories I have of having feelings toward the opposite sex are some of the earliest that I have.  I can't remember a time when I wasn't painfully aware of the fact that boys were different and that *meant* something.


Also, it strikes me that trying take the sexuality out of childhood probably isn't a very healthy thing to do.  It seems alot like denial and covering-up..which is always rather unhelpful. Why would anyone *want* to deny this aspect of childhood that is *a part of everyone* is beyond me.  Is it dirty?  No.  Is it harmful?  No.  Is it natural and normal?  A thousand times yes.  So why does it make you people so uncomfortable?

laura (who is feeling rather alarmed)


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