Wednesday, March 28, 2001

Harry Potter or no Harry Potter?

By GREGORY K. MOFFATT, PH. D
Child's Play

There is almost no single skill that is more important to our children and their success in academia and eventually their careers than reading.

If you are fortunate, you have children who naturally enjoy reading. If you have worked hard at it since your children were small, they at least enjoy reading sometimes.

If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that we do not watch television much in our home. There are several reasons for that, but the main reason, by far, is our three children read all the time. We do not want them to replace reading time with watching TV.

There has been a lot of press in the past few months about Harry Potter. I have read news accounts, editorials, and commentaries about the books, the content, and the author, J.K. Rowling.

In Reader's Digest letters to the editors just last month, a concerned parent complained about Reader's Digest's expose on the author of Harry Potter books. This reader argued that the books promoted witchcraft and were unhealthy for children. I disagree.

There is no doubt that Harry Potter books involve witchcraft, sorcery, and other activities that religious families may find offensive. If so, don't read Harry Potter books. I would argue, however, that the presentation of fantasy material does not necessarily promote the concepts contained within it.

After all, Jean Val Jean in Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" stole bread, but surely Hugo wasn't promoting the stealing of bread any more than he was promoting war by discussing the French Revolution. I read "Treasure Island" when I was just eight or nine years old. Was Robert Louis Stevenson promoting piracy?

Children will fantasize about many things and development of their imaginations is important. That is one of the many joys of reading. I encourage my children to read a broad range of things from the classics to stories that are simply fun to read.

I don't consider Harry Potter in the same category as "Les Miserables," but the fact that my eight-year-old daughter has read two of the 500+ page books is encouraging to me. I'm glad she is reading.

Obviously, parents need to exercise some supervision over the content of what their children read. However, simply because the content of Harry Potter books involve sorcery, does not automatically mean the books are promoting the activity.

In fact, among Christian circles, almost no story is more well known than "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. In this story, magic, witchcraft, spells, and goblins are used to tell a fascinating story, but I have yet to hear Christians argue that Lewis was promoting witchcraft.

Almost every week my family goes to our public library and we check out books. Everyone in the family reads, from my four-year-old son to me. Books can be found in any room in our home.

I am happy when my children read a classic piece of literature - Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," Miller's "The Crucible," Alcott's "Little Women" or some other work that has great meaning and literary quality. But I am equally excited when my children tell me about a fun story, like "Green Eggs and Ham" or "Crocodiles at the Airport" that they have read at school or checked out of the library.

I read to my child's third grade class every week. Their imaginations soar when they read and so does mine. I applaud J. K. Rowling for creating exciting tails that encourage children to read.