Today was the first day back from break and my English teacher wanted us to write down the book that has inspired us the most.
Before we could start though, she gave us a warning. She didn’t want to see Harry Potter because “it is for purely entertainment purposes only in getting younger children to enjoy reading and has no social impact or value.”
And she kept going. She was like, “I give it a lot of credit, but it really holds no true value like so many other books.”
My Friends and I were SO tempted to get up and just
This horribly disappointing.
I use the entire Potter series to walk kids through concepts of Joseph Campbell’s quest pattern.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND; SHE’S THE MINORITY! PLENTY OF US LUV DEH HARRYZ.
Degrading students’ choices in literature: is there an easier way to shame a student out of what fuels their love of reading? When I was a child the same thing kept me away from sci fi for years, because a teacher told me adamantly that it “wasn’t real reading.” Now I don’t know how I went so long without it.
Nothing that makes someone love to read lacks value. Even Captain Underpants has his place, whether I like him or not. But of all the books to claim this of, Harry Potter? A book that spurred debates about subjective and objective good and evil, second looks at historical genocide, and critical examinations of religious symbolism? I’m honestly surprised.
