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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 17942
[Schools/Ed]
Date Posted:
6/4/2007
10:08:50 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 7,413
RSS: 26,108
Comments: 12
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Harry Potter And The Real Education Issues
Author: Jim Osterman (Blog) Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Title: HARRY POTTER AND THE REAL EDUCATION ISSUES
If you’ve been clicking over to ajc.com’s Gwinnett County news you’ll see that Harry Potter is safe and sound on the shelves of the county school libraries. This in spite of several attempts by Gwinnett mom Laura Mallory to get them pulled because they supposedly promote “witchcraft and the occult.”
I will defend Ms. Mallory’s right to her opinion and full use of the system to try and achieve her goals. That said, I wish she’d shut up.
Additional Article Link: [Click HERE]
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Community Thoughts: There are 12 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Brace Yourselves Folks | Jun 6th. at 12:36:07 pm EDT
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ladynoogs (lowell, Ohio) - Email Me
It's that time again... book 7 comes out in three weeks, the 5th movie in a little over a month... sooooo potter bashers and fans alike will be EVERYWHERE.
I love this article.... this author hit the nail on the head about Mark Twain and Shakespear which can be seen as much "worse" than HP.
I wonder if Ms Mallory lets her kids read the Bible..... hmmmm theres lots of violence it it.... and i wonder if her kids have ever tried to split the sea or turn a stick into a snake??? whats the difference???? Oh right the Bible is supposed to be 100% fact so thats ok. Snakes, splitting the sea, turning water into wine, making a few fish and loaves of bread feed hundreds.... its all "witchcraft" but Christians just call thier versions of Miricles and Prayers.
I wonder what Ms. Rollings thinks of al lth is hubub of nonsense?
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| How Does She Account For Me? | Jun 5th. at 9:27:56 am EDT
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Eric Wolfborn (Jenkintown, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
I never read the books or saw the movies...how does a woman like that account for a witchy fellow like me?
If an eight year old wants to read an 800 page novel, let them...maybe they'll be able to read by the time they make it to college, unlike a vast majority of my beer-swilling ilk.
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| That Said, I Wish She’d Shut Up. | Jun 5th. at 12:18:43 am EDT
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Arachne Priestess (Cookeville, Tennessee) - Email Me
Thats all that need be said on this issue, if you ask me. She should simply 'shut up'. I'm so tired of hearing about that shmuck. Tell her to get over it, get a therapist, and then get a life!
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| I Like Losser Pays !, | Jun 4th. at 7:49:51 pm EDT
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Libertarian (Langley, Washington) - Email Me - Web
But the fundies will continue the battle elsewhere, Tonight I'm goint to a Forum on Creation VS. Evolution here on south Whidbey Island. It should be a blast.
PAX
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| Wouldn't It Just... | Jun 4th. at 6:34:32 pm EDT
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Erihu (Sunset Beach, North Carolina) - Email Me
If it really DID work that way, then maybe my kids would actually clean up their rooms :)
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| I'm Feeling Abused | Jun 4th. at 4:55:38 pm EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
That Laura Malloy said that, if I read Harry Potter I would learn how to be a witch - well, I did read the books over and over - and I still have a toad, not a teacup and STILL don't look anything like Angelina Jolie so she lied which is not a very christian thing to do (well, maybe it is but it shouldn't be) .
She is stupid enough that she should not have been given a license to breed and should see a shrink to overcome her fear of fiction.
I'll stick to my own witchcraft and just wish it worked like it does in Harry Potter - wouldn't it be fun if it did?
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| Sadly, Indiana Doesn't "get It" ... | Jun 4th. at 12:56:45 pm EDT
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GreeneDragon (Palmdale, California) - Email Me
Lincoln's in, Potter's out on Indiana reading list
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:41 AM CDT
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
bwilliams@nwitimes.com
219.548.4348
In what is sure to be his biggest summer yet, the famous boy wizard is nowhere to be found on the [Indiana] state Department of Education's 2007 summer reading list.
Harry Potter failed to apparate on the list designed to keep kids reading through the long school break because of "some people who raise questions about that series," said Mary Andis, one of the list's compilers with the department.
Those questions relate to witchcraft and religion, Andis said.
"It's an odd thing to put on the list if it's going to raise problems," she said.
...
Find More info -- HERE
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| So - Whatever Happened To "loser Pays?" | Jun 4th. at 11:38:12 am EDT
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Silverwing (Colorado Springs, Colorado) - Email Me
Seems to me that this campaign Ms. Mallory has been waging has probably racked up a lot of dollars in legal fees and court costs. The school system and others were pushed into a defense situation. To me, this says two things.
1. To a point made in the article - all this energy would probably have been better spent trying to improve the educational situation in her local school system. Let JK Rowling deal with Hogwarts...
2. I think 'loser pays' is in effect somewhere in the court system in the UK (someone with specific knowledge is encouraged to help me here, or sort me out if need be) . If taxpayer dollars are going to deal with personal vendettas being waged in the court system and the impact of same is directed at the taxpayers (that would be us) , it only seems fair that whomever loses gets to pay the freight. Maybe folks would think a bit more before starting up things like this if they had the possibility of a big bill on their hands should they lose in court.
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| She Needs A Court Order To Potter Away... | Jun 4th. at 11:27:21 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Well ar least Harry Potter is getting an education, and the kids that read the books are reading-- so they are learning after a fashion. Mrs Rowling has done the world- and education a great favor by introducing kids (and many others) to a character they can relate to and got them to think of books as fun again. (No small feat in a world of PC, MP3s, Ipods and video games) .
As for Ms. Mallory- she needs to get out more- or at least go back to school herself, to gain an understanding of the real problems educators face.Wasting the taxpayer's time and money over this triviality is a travesty in itself. While I will defend her right to vent as she pleases- it is only because I know she has that right that keeps me from asking myself- Why? Especially since by her tone I would never expect her to do the same for me-or many others. She simply appears not to be that altruistic.
There are real issues over which one can vent a spleen, but Harry Potter isn't one of them, nor is Shakespeare, or Tolkien, Baum or Twain-- or the hundreds of other writers, composers and artists of worth- even those who dared to write or create inflammatory works- all of which faced calumny from time to time because people saw in their works some piddling problem attributable to their own skewd perspective-and no one else's.
If she and others want to complain-there are enough real problems in Education to warrent such effort that wouldn't turn out to be a Pottering away of both time and valuable resources.
How ironic!
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| Some Thoughts On What LM Might Be Thinking... | Jun 4th. at 11:03:19 am EDT
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Vema (Riverside, Missouri) - Email Me
One of the comments on the newspage said that Laura Mallory has in fact never read the books and is basing her judgment on fear.
There's a thought - she's AFRAID. Of what?
The only thing I can think is that she's afraid to let her children explore the world because if they do, they might leave the religious/political path she wants them on. If they ever were to become interested in witchcraft, they have the kind of mom that would steal their books and tools and burn them in some sort of perverted exorcism (I have a friend who went through this) .
The ironic thing about this, of couse, is that it's exactly that sort of behavior that leads some children to witchcraft in the first place. That is, if they have the "Oh, look, this is REALLY rebellious!" sort of personality.
As for the author of the article, he seems like a cool guy. Clear-headed, open-minded and all that. He take on the book says to me, "I'm not into it, but if you are, that's okay," and that's the kind of person I really enjoy hearing from.
Brightest Blessings!
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| I Loved This Article!!! | Jun 4th. at 10:30:59 am EDT
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Moro NightBird (Carbondale, Illinois) - Email Me
The guy is cool. He basicly knowws what he's talking about. And yeah, has anyone read some of Shakespear's works? Oh yeah, they teach that in school sometimes, don't they? Fake suicide, ghosts, wild sexual expression, interspecies attractions, fairies, and I dunno what else. He's the greatest writer of all time, and in his time, i bet there was plenty of controversy over his work.
This will all be a hilarious memory very soon. Pagans will rule the world soon.....*mad cackle* *whisper* Be careful, dearies, he IS leading a generation of Witches and Wizards and Warlocks, oh my!!
Mischief, Love, and Penguins
Moro NightBird
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