How do the books affect children? (was: Why down on all the characters?)

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 179529

Lenore:
Yes, they accept the hidden messages much less critically
than adults. They accept the inconsistency in values which
has been pointed out by many of our posters here. Just
like the ugliness in TV and movies, their minds take it all in,
indiscriminately, hook, line and sinker, and many aspects
of their lives are ultimately shaped by what they think and
perceive and ACCEPT, as children.

Steph:
I think you're selling kids too short. They get more than people 
think
they do. I'm a teacher, and I see that they have much better insight
into things than people think. They just look at things differently
than adults. And, again, here's where parents come in. They need to
pay attention to what their kids are reading and watching. It's part
of the job.
<SNIP>


Alla:

Personally I think kids ( the kids who love to read and who are used 
to reading of course) react to Harry Potter books  in  amazingly 
understanding way.

I remember Mike raising on OTC for example that Sorting Hat is the 
one who sorts children, NOT school, that it is a magic and magical 
hat is never wrong. I am in agreement with that, but I was shocked 
when thirteen year old girl recently told me the same thing, when 
for the fun of it, I was asking her if she has any problems with 
Slytherin kids sorting in bad house and her answer in essence was – 
It is MAGICAL HAT who sorts them, DUH. It is not like this for real.

Kids ( again those who do read books, love them, etc) read fairy 
tales, are they not? I know I grew up with fairy tales since I was 
four ( when I started to read myself) and I do not remember that the 
message that I got out of them is that the fact that evil exists and 
for the most part very severely punished in fairy tales, means that 
there are irrevocably evil people in RL. (I mean now as an adult I 
do think there are some very evil people in RL, but that was only 
recent revelation of mine).

What I got from fairy tales was that evil is punished in them – NOT 
becoming best friends with the good guys, not being drastically 
misunderstood, sigh, but punished severely, sometimes with the heads 
being cut off, destroyed and good wins.

I do think if kids see that fairy tale end in HP, I think they are 
capable of figuring out that it is magic and not real and all that. 
Again, I am obviously talking about kids who read and whose parents 
taught them to do that.

Lenore:
I also have a kind of empathic sensitivity and attunement to what
children are feeling and experiencing, and there's too much in the
books that I don't want them to feel and experience at such young 
ages.

Steph:
There's nothing wrong with that. You can certainly recommend to those
parents that their children wait until they are older to read the
books, and to read them along with their children so they can discuss
them. No one's forcing anyone to read HP. And as I've said elsewhere,
I don't think the books are perfect, but I don't think they are as 
bad
or evil as some think they are.
<SNIP>

Alla:

Somebody said elsewhere that JKR may not be the perfect writer, but 
phenomenal storyteller and I agree with that.

Myself I would be **proud** if my child will learn what I consider 
to be the most important values in the book – that you should not 
make friends because of the important connections they have, but 
because of their personality, that courage is important, that 
standing up against evil is important, that forgiveness is 
important. I would be very proud.

Steph:
<SNIP>
In any case, it's a
story about good and evil, so someone's got to be on the evil side,
otherwise no story. Maybe the comparison wasn't as elegant as it
could have been but I understood her point.
<SNIP>

Alla:

Well said.

JMO,

Alla