Harry Potter and Censorship

While finishing my undergraduate studies, one of the last classes I took was an introduction to children's literature. It was at the same time the Harry Potter books were beginning to be released. I remember the debate was hot and fiery. There were passionate opinions on both sides. In its newness, my classmates and I thought eventually over time the debate would go away. It is amazing how it has lived on. Both sides are still unrelenting in their desire to have their opinions noted.

Reasons behind censorship vary. Some may seek out certain authors while, as the article Burned Any Good Books Lately?, written by Blaise Cronin supplies, "On other occasions, the urge to burn may be more modest, merely a desire to eradicate a specific, offending text . . ." Todd A. DeMitchell and John J. Carney in their article, Harry Potter and the School Library, detail the reason behind one school board's quest to have the books restricted:

Three school board members in the Cedarville School District believed that reading about the adventures of Harry Potter was so harmful to students that the district felt it should remove the books from general circulation, requiring parental permission to check them out of the school library (pg.161).

The three board members who voted to restrict access to the Harry Potter books shared a belief that the books promoted a particular religion of witchcraft, and all three members disapproved of witchcraft and the occult. Their votes for the restriction were motivated, in part, by their antipathy to witchcraft (pg.161).

Todd A. DeMitchell and John J. Carney also write, "Witches, wizards, sorcery, and spells have long been staples of the category of children's literature in which characters use magical powers in the struggle between good and evil. The Harry Potter books are the latest and certainly some of the most successful entries in this genre" (pg. 159).

They finally conclude: "Once a book has been selected for a school library, students have a constitutionally protected right of access to that book unless the school board can show a constitutionally permissible reason for its removal, such as pervasive vulgarity or lack of educational suitability"(pg.160).

As both sides of the debate- one believing it is censorship, the other believing the books promote the religion of witchcraft continues- some of the passion may have waned. The books remain some of the most widely read and the most widely challenged. As Our author wrote "unless the school board can show a constitutionally permissible reason for removal" (DeMitchell and Carney, 160), the books should remain on the shelves.

References

Cronin, Blaise. (2003). Burned any good books lately? Library Journal. 128 (3), p.48.

DeMitchell, Todd A. and Carney, John J. (2005). Harry Potter and the school library.

Phi Delta Kappan. 87 (2), 159-165.