Banning Books in Georgia (or at least trying)

Pangloss62 · 05-05-2006, 02:43 PM

I remember that when I first watched The Wizard of Oz, it scared the bejeezus out of me. I also recall listening to a record of a recitation of Poe's Tell-Tale Heart WITH SOUND EFFECTS in Second Grade. I was chilled to the bone. And The Legend of Sleepy Hollow creeped me out when our teacher read it to us around Halloween. There were no lack of witches, ghosts, and scary characters in the schools of my youth. And as any kid will tell you, its fun to get scared and let your imagination take you away to another place. But here in Georgia, things are a bit different. The below is from the American Library Association:

Harry Potter Faces the Challenge from Georgia

The latest in a succession of challenges to the wildly popular Harry Potter series is taking place in the Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools, where school board members held a hearing April 20 about whether the novels should be removed from the shelves of the suburban Atlanta system’s media centers. “I want to protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it,” explained complainant Laura Mallory, whose three children attend the J. C. Magill Elementary School in Loganville. “Harry Potter teaches children and adults that witchcraft is okay for children.” The day before the hearing, Mallory explained in the Gwinnett Daily Post that although she had researched the issues before filing her challenge, “it would be hypocritical for me to read all the books [because] I don’t agree with what’s in them. I don’t have to read an entire pornographic magazine to know it’s obscene.” She garnered support from several other families, including one that denounced the series to the school board as having lured a teen into practicing witchcraft. “As a former witch, I can tell you that witchcraft is not fantasy,” Jordan Fusch, 15, testified at the hearing. “I felt I could not escape the clutches of witchcraft. It has taken several years of counseling to get to where I was before witchcraft and reading Harry Potter books,” she went on to say, according to the April 21 Daily Post.“ A child who is unable to recognize the difference between fantasy and reality is either too young or too immature to read [the Harry Potter books], or has issues bigger than removing the Harry Potter books is going to solve,” countered Laura Bowen, a mother of three. A number of area parents and children also voiced support for the series in some 250 letters to school officials, GCPS Director of Media and Information Services Faye Curlee told board members. Dismissing the argument that Harry Potter should be retained because it motivates reluctant readers, Alton C. Crews Middle School parent volunteer Gaye Bruce said, “Any topic, like how to be a terrific terrorist or car bombing 101, could be used to entice children to read.” A decision about the series’ fate in the school libraries is expected at the May 11 board meeting.
Posted April 28, 2006.

Why is it always Georgia? It's so embarrassing.

Flint · 05-05-2006, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

“I want to protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it”

Unspecified catch-phrases like "evil" are so easy to toss around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

Why is it always Georgia? It's so embarrassing.

You live in Georgia? I live in Texas. I know what you mean.

Happy Monkey · 05-05-2006, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

Why is it always Georgia? It's so embarrassing.

Don't worry. It's often Kansas, too.

Pangloss62 · 05-05-2006, 03:00 PM

True. Kansas is another black hole of weirdness, but with the evolution warning sticker debate, the Ten Comandments in courts debates, and now this, I getting pretty sick to my stomach.

dar512 · 05-05-2006, 04:31 PM

Was that "Muggle" elementary school?

Jordon · 05-05-2006, 05:18 PM

This is what you get when first cousins marry.

xoxoxoBruce · 05-05-2006, 08:21 PM

Quote:

I don’t have to read an entire pornographic magazine to know it’s obscene

So she just looks at the pictures, then.

Quote:

A child who is unable to recognize the difference between fantasy and reality is either too young or too immature to read [the Harry Potter books], or has issues bigger than removing the Harry Potter books is going to solve,”

Get real, the kids know......it's the adults that can't separate the two.

wolf · 05-06-2006, 01:19 AM

Generally, if they're too young to separate fantasy and reality, they're too young to read Harry Potter. JK Rowling used a great number of big words in relatively small print. And there's only one picture per chapter.

smoothmoniker · 05-06-2006, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

“As a former witch, I can tell you that witchcraft is not fantasy,” Jordan Fusch, 15, testified at the hearing. “I felt I could not escape the clutches of witchcraft. It has taken several years of counseling to get to where I was before witchcraft and reading Harry Potter books,” she went on to say, according to the April 21 Daily Post.“

Ok, 15 years old, minues let's say 3 years (several) for counseling, minus let's say 5 years to compile and write her grimoire, holy crap! She read all of the Harry Potter books, found a coven, learned the black arts, and sold her soul to the devil, all at the age of 7!

Unless, of course, by "witch" she means that she started wearing black and hung out with the other three girls and the efeminate guy who like to call themselves "wiccan" without knowing a damn thing about a damn thing.

05-06-2006, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

True. Kansas is another black hole of weirdness, but with the evolution warning sticker debate, the Ten Comandments in courts debates, and now this, I getting pretty sick to my stomach.

I don't wanna' hear it, I live in Central FL... I love my state, but sometimes it is hard to.

A lot of the time it is hard to.

As for this paranoid, uneducated, crap.

Pangloss62 · 05-06-2006, 12:32 PM

I would say it's less a north/south, red/blue thing than an urban/rural thing. Up in Northern Wisconsin I've heard the locals describe Indians as "Timber Niggers," and one can hear Bibles a thumpin' as soon as they leave any large city (though many of the AAs in Atlanta thump them as loud as they do their Crunk music). It's all good (or bad).

skysidhe · 05-07-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Ok, 15 years old, minues let's say 3 years (several) for counseling, minus let's say 5 years to compile and write her grimoire, holy crap! She read all of the Harry Potter books, found a coven, learned the black arts, and sold her soul to the devil, all at the age of 7!

Unless, of course, by "witch" she means that she started wearing black and hung out with the other three girls and the efeminate guy who like to call themselves "wiccan" without knowing a damn thing about a damn thing.

I hope the critical thinkers at that meeting brought something like what you said up.

Children can and should be taught the difference between fantasy and reality. I don't believe shielding them from fantasy is healthy. We were born dreamers as a race I think. Critical thinking skills begin at home. There's too many regulations regarding what is ok or not ok to see or read.

What about Grims fairy tales? geez....we insulate ourselves until we no longer can think for ourselves as a society.

Political correctness and the victims they find to prove a point annoy me.

Pangloss62 · 05-08-2006, 08:16 AM

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index2.html

skysidhe · 05-08-2006, 03:29 PM

I liked your link pangloss.

Here's another. Not quite as fun though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

Happy Monkey · 05-08-2006, 03:39 PM

This is a translation that Neil Gaiman reccommended.

05-05-2006, 02:43 PM	#1
Pangloss62 Lecturer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 768	Banning Books in Georgia (or at least trying) I remember that when I first watched The Wizard of Oz, it scared the bejeezus out of me. I also recall listening to a record of a recitation of Poe's Tell-Tale Heart WITH SOUND EFFECTS in Second Grade. I was chilled to the bone. And The Legend of Sleepy Hollow creeped me out when our teacher read it to us around Halloween. There were no lack of witches, ghosts, and scary characters in the schools of my youth. And as any kid will tell you, its fun to get scared and let your imagination take you away to another place. But here in Georgia, things are a bit different. The below is from the American Library Association: Harry Potter Faces the Challenge from Georgia The latest in a succession of challenges to the wildly popular Harry Potter series is taking place in the Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools, where school board members held a hearing April 20 about whether the novels should be removed from the shelves of the suburban Atlanta system’s media centers. “I want to protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it,” explained complainant Laura Mallory, whose three children attend the J. C. Magill Elementary School in Loganville. “Harry Potter teaches children and adults that witchcraft is okay for children.” The day before the hearing, Mallory explained in the Gwinnett Daily Post that although she had researched the issues before filing her challenge, “it would be hypocritical for me to read all the books [because] I don’t agree with what’s in them. I don’t have to read an entire pornographic magazine to know it’s obscene.” She garnered support from several other families, including one that denounced the series to the school board as having lured a teen into practicing witchcraft. “As a former witch, I can tell you that witchcraft is not fantasy,” Jordan Fusch, 15, testified at the hearing. “I felt I could not escape the clutches of witchcraft. It has taken several years of counseling to get to where I was before witchcraft and reading Harry Potter books,” she went on to say, according to the April 21 Daily Post.“ A child who is unable to recognize the difference between fantasy and reality is either too young or too immature to read [the Harry Potter books], or has issues bigger than removing the Harry Potter books is going to solve,” countered Laura Bowen, a mother of three. A number of area parents and children also voiced support for the series in some 250 letters to school officials, GCPS Director of Media and Information Services Faye Curlee told board members. Dismissing the argument that Harry Potter should be retained because it motivates reluctant readers, Alton C. Crews Middle School parent volunteer Gaye Bruce said, “Any topic, like how to be a terrific terrorist or car bombing 101, could be used to entice children to read.” A decision about the series’ fate in the school libraries is expected at the May 11 board meeting. Posted April 28, 2006. Why is it always Georgia? It's so embarrassing.

05-05-2006, 04:31 PM	#5
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	Was that "Muggle" elementary school? __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

05-06-2006, 01:19 AM	#8
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Generally, if they're too young to separate fantasy and reality, they're too young to read Harry Potter. JK Rowling used a great number of big words in relatively small print. And there's only one picture per chapter. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

05-06-2006, 12:32 PM	#11
Pangloss62 Lecturer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 768	I would say it's less a north/south, red/blue thing than an urban/rural thing. Up in Northern Wisconsin I've heard the locals describe Indians as "Timber Niggers," and one can hear Bibles a thumpin' as soon as they leave any large city (though many of the AAs in Atlanta thump them as loud as they do their Crunk music). It's all good (or bad). __________________ Things are never as good, or bad, as they seem.

05-08-2006, 08:16 AM	#13
Pangloss62 Lecturer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 768	Brothers Grimm http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index2.html __________________ Things are never as good, or bad, as they seem.

05-05-2006, 03:00 PM	#4
Pangloss62 Lecturer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 768	True. Kansas is another black hole of weirdness, but with the evolution warning sticker debate, the Ten Comandments in courts debates, and now this, I getting pretty sick to my stomach.

05-05-2006, 05:18 PM	#6
Jordon Coronation Incarnate Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 93	This is what you get when first cousins marry.

05-08-2006, 03:29 PM	#14
skysidhe ~~Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.~~ Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 6,828	I liked your link pangloss. Here's another. Not quite as fun though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

05-08-2006, 03:39 PM	#15
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	This is a translation that Neil Gaiman reccommended. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

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