Bothered by JKR likening Harry's trials to the caged disabled Czech kids

[Tim Regan (Intl Vendor)]

Hi All,

Was anyone else slightly unnerved about JKR's quote about Harry in
relation to the disabled Czech children caged on their beds?

http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2004/07/11/f215.raw.html

I think it's really really great that JKR is such a generous woman, and
her wading in on this subject looks as if it has ended a truly awful
practise. Much of what she had to say was clear and powerful, e.g.

"The idea that children as young as five are being locked in cages for
the majority of their lives is nothing short of horrific; that this is
happening in a relatively prosperous fellow EU state can only deepen
feelings of outrage"

But I find something worrying in the quote:

"The very idea of being locked in a bed-sized cage around the clock is
enough to give adults nightmares - far more terrifying than anything
Harry Potter has had to encounter"

Suppose it had been Roger Hargreaves who had sent the letter in which he
had written:

"The very idea of being locked in a bed-sized cage around the clock is
enough to give adults nightmares - far more terrifying than anything Mr
Bump has had to encounter"

Would that have been OK? No, of course not. Mr Bump is a fictional
character in a childrens' book and nothing that happens to him can
compare with the real life anguish of the Czech children. But isn't the
same true of Harry?

Cheers,

Dumbledad.