Choice, Not Censorship, Is the Issue Over ‘Harry Potter’ in School

Banning or censoring the Harry Potter book series was never my intention in requesting the transfer of my son out of the fourth-grade class in which “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was being read. As I sit back and replay the reactions, I can only become deeply saddened by the level of awareness that today’s folks have on this issue.

Although we come from different camps on this subject, we must not lose sight of the end goal.

My heart aches for those now-grown children who have chosen unhealthy paths that have left their lives in ruins: To see a man younger than myself draw his last breath as his body slowly poisons itself from the drinking that started out to be fun. To attempt to comfort a father of three on his deathbed as he vomits out something that looks like motor oil after tobacco robbed him of his youth, and then to watch his children lay him to rest. To watch broken family after broken family come into the RAIN program homeless shelter after watching all they had worked for go down the drain for many different reasons.

These people made choices they had to live with--and sometimes die with. My wife and I have worked with young couples to help keep their lives together and we grieve when they can’t, all due to poor choices made.

The manipulation, lying, violence and rebellion in the Harry Potter books are without a doubt unfit for young minds that don’t have a strong safety net at home. This book series has the same sugarcoating used by the alcohol and tobacco industries and, for that matter, your local drug pusher, as well as the clever marketing that the publishing companies use to lure us into thoughtless choices--many with lifelong consequences.

My goal, in my feeble way, is to aid folks in these choices. I will, with every fiber and particle of my being, protect the greatest blessing God has given my wife and mefrom the trash this world has to offer. From this standpoint, Harry Potter is of no real use in the classroom.

Educate, don’t entertain, these kids. Give these kids the tools they need to make choices we parents can be proud of for years to come. Rather than bash the books or the author or the folks who have different points of view, I would like to thank them for taking the time to respond. I would also like to thank all the people who have encouraged us along this road. Their notes and phone calls never seem to end.

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Rather than divide on this issue, we should unite with the common goal of protecting our most precious gift--our kids! Join me in keeping our teachers accountable to us with the young lives left in their charge. Raise the standard to what the child needs; don’t lower the standard to what the child wants for the sake of entertainment or popularity.

I find little pleasure in stepping forward with my concerns, but by doing nothing about this important issue I would be guilty of agreeing with it. My hope is that more people will take note of what is being taught to our kids in class. No subject--whether fact or fiction, real or fantasy--that undermines the belief systems that knit together our family should be taught in school. If you like the books, read them at home but don’t force them on our children at school.

If you took a box of candy (Harry Potter books) and a good wholesome meal (time-proven classics) and put them both in front of a child, which would he or she choose? The candy, of course. How long would it take before the decay started to take its toll? I would see to it that they got something healthy, not something that could rot them from the inside out.

Don’t let peer pressure or popularity fool you into thinking that these are good books. Here’s something from the real all-time bestseller for you to think about:

“You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your heart. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s eyes.” (Luke 16:15).