[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Banned Books Week - question

[Shaun Hately]

On 25 Sep 2004 at 20:05, spinelli372003 wrote:

> Beth,  I do not agree with Banning Books.  I do however think it is a 
> parents responsibility to make sure a child has what is age 
> appropriate.  Harry Potter is a wonderful series.  However I do not 
> think it is appropriate for children under perhaps the age of 7 or 
> 8.  That is the age when most children could follow the chapter type 
> books.  My kids love video games.  I have an endless struggle with 
> the 9 yr old who wants to play video games with an M (mature) rating 
> on them.  I have tried to explain to my older boys and my husband 
> that the rating is not just for language or just for violence but a 
> combination of things.  The same goes for books.  I think children 
> should be exposed to all forms of literature but I will not let mine 
> have what is not appropriate for there level.  I think it is 
> perfectly acceptable for a library to have playboys etc on a 
> restricted shelf.  After all at least in the US you have to be 18 to 
> purchase those types of magazines.  It might even be 21 now.  so why 
> should a library be any different right?
> sherry

The thing is Sherry, I know kids who have read the Harry Potter 
books before the age of 5 - I even know of a couple who've read the 
first two books before they were three years old. Now these are 
fairly unusual kids - they are exceptionally and profoundly gifted 
- but I know a lot of moderately gifted kids - and there's one of 
those, on average, in every two classrooms - who could easily 
handle the Harry Potter books before they were seven.

If books are restricted because 'most' children aren't ready for 
them, it is extremely unfair to these children. A society where 
decisions are made based soley on what is best for the majority, is 
always going to be an extremely inequitable society.

Now, I agree entirely with your right as a parent to decide what 
your child reads, what computer games your child plays, etc. 
Because you know your child, and you are basing your decisions on 
that specific child and what that specific child is ready for. But 
there's a huge difference between a parent doing that as an 
individual looking at individual children, and their individual 
needs, and a public library making those decisions based on a 
hypothetical average child, without regards to the fact that 
there's a huge amount of deviation from that average around.

I grew up reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted - at least 
for the most part. I remember starting a new school at 7, and being 
told that I couldn't leave the picture book section of the school 
library until I was 8 - I'd been reading chapter books for about 4 
years at that stage, and I was horribly upset by this restriction 
(fortunately the librarian lifted it a week or so later), but that 
was my only experience with any restrictions. Throughout my entire 
childhood, on only one occasions, did I encounter a books that I 
have any reason for regretting encountering at that stage - and I 
was 15 at that time - and I did approach our school librarian and 
tell her about the book, because I knew she was recommending it (or 
rather the author) to students and obviously had no idea of its 
content. From then on, she started warning students who were 
borrowing it that it wasn't like the authors other books in the 
library - but it wasn't removed from the shelves.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia