OOP: James' Behaviour normal? [Was: Humor and Tone (Was Questions for JKR)]

[medeacallous]

No: HPFGUIDX 68016

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Carol Bainbridge <kaityf at j...> 
wrote:

<SNIP>

> The one surprise may have been James, but 
> again, all we saw was one memory -- and it was Snape's after all --
 of his 
> bad behavior.  That still leaves the door open as to just how 
accurate that 
> memory is.  And as others have noted, James was 15.  That behavior 
is not 
> unusual in 15 year old boys, as my 14 year old son confirms.  

<SNIP> 
> Carol Bainbridge
> (kaityf at j...)
> 
> http://www.lcag.org



This is a question to anyone who has an opinion: I've read several 
emails (I'm very behind in reading posts, unfortunately) that 
suggest that James' and Sirius' behaviour towards Snape in the 
Pensieve (assuming it's a truthful depiction, but that's another 
discussion) is normal for 15 year old boys.

What exactly does that mean, 'normal'?  I don't know if I grew up in 
some kind of utopia, but where I come from, physically restraining, 
hurting, humiliating and exposing the underclothes of a schoolmate 
in front of a crowd of people is not only abnormal, it would result 
in a jail term.

Carol, are you saying that your son has done things like this 
himself?  Or is it just something you suspect him to be capable of?  
What about other teenagers and parents of teens?  Are there any 
opinions that differ from those I've read so far?

If my sons ever behave anything like the way James and Sirius did 
(again, we're assuming for the purpose of this discussion the 
Pensieve is accurate), I will definitely not be chalking it up to 
the fact that they're teenagers; in fact, I'll be very very 
concerned.

MC