My thoughts haven't changed. Why are we shielding information from young minds? We are here to learn and expand our bubble on what we know and don't. As people we want to know more, we research things to be able to learn the unknown.  Being able to read these stories, gives us a clue what the real world is like. In West Michigan, we are very secluded to other things out in the world and I don't think a lot of us really understand that. 

We should not limit access to certain books, like seriously... what kid is going to end up picking up a book about sex? Books are already in sections, me as a kid I only went in the kids section. I never really wandered towards the adult section until I was a lot older. Soon I think people will be scared of books and it reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. People were scared of knowing the unknown and they got rid of it. We should be allowed to know, learn about what it's like to live in our world.

Our class discussion I thought was well played. We had very strong points here and there even though it was hard to get a word in at times. We discussed many things and it was hard to be able to catch and write what people were saying, including knowing names. I don't really know too many people. In the beginning, Crysta said something like, "I believe books shouldn't be banned at all. There should be something about parent permission and warnings about books." I think I can  agree with that. Books contain knowledge and school is about learning. Reading a book won't make someone become a serial killer, we complain when kids play video games or watch movies about guns. "A school should be a safe haven for learning," says Brandon. A school should be a safe haven for learning. Books can be a way of knowledge. 

We talked about so many things, I couldn't keep track. What I caught though out of everything was, I think people are scared. My book was banned for "glorifying witchcraft", so was Bridge to Terabithia. Literally there's no magic involved in the movie, if you count trees moving. If you count trees and creatures moving, then what about Narnia? Narnia has trees moving and creatures roaming. It's not counted though because it's based off the bible. 

My question to you all is, are people scared of others knowing much? Or not knowing the unknown/ the aftermath?

Reading my book so far, I don't exactly see the problem with this book. It's basically a story about a boy who has been treated unfairly and gets beat up by it by his cousin Dudley. He gets "saved" by a grounds keeper at a school named Hagrid. Then you add a bit of magic here and there. I haven't gotten too far into it yet for me to see if anything has changed my mind but nothing yet.

I found some information on Infoplease about what a teacher from St. Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham, Kent. This teacher says the following, "The Bible is very clear and consistent in its teachings that wizards, devils and demons exist and are very real, powerful and dangerous and God's people are told to have nothing to do with them. I believe it is confusing to children when something wicked is being made look fun." 

This teacher isn't alone. There are other people in the world that think real witchcraft still exists, and that all witches are evil. People fear that any books have good magic or witches that it could lead people to to take this threat of witchcraft seriously and take the Bible's teaching lightly. They think it could lead the readers to become witches themselves.

Then you have the people that disagree with that. They say Harry Potter is a fantasy, not a true story, and claim that children would be able to know the difference between the two. Who knows if evil magic is even real or not, it doesn't have anything to do with all the made-up potions and spells found in the author's books. In the article, they use a editorial from Christian Century and they put it, "...critics are right in thinking that fantasy writing is powerful and needs to be taken seriously. But we strongly doubt that it fosters an attachment to evil powers. Harry's world, in any case, is a moral one."

Some argue, besides magic, that the book can set a bad example. When Harry and his friends break rules, lie and sometimes disobey the authority figures, including the professors at Hogwarts. Then he is being awarded and praised for it. Others say that during all of this, it's part of a long tradition in storytelling. To get the story outside of the ordinary, you need a bit of rule-bending. To point out, Harry's rule breaking does not go without any punishment. Finally, some believe that even heroes aren't perfect and on a whole Harry and his friends are positive role models.

People also point out the scary stuff. They say they're too dark and scary for children to read. When good people die suddenly and it's not for kids as entertainment. The other side of things, it's given credit. It's possibly a way to help kids learn how to deal with the reality of death. Diverse classics as The Red Badge of Courage, Charlotte's Web and The Hobbit.  All of those novels include deaths of major characters, so Harry Potter fits right in.

I could go on and on about this topic, giving examples of why people think it should be banned and when others say it shouldn't. It's all about opinion really, so it's a matter of research and really what you think about Harry Potter if your religious or not.

Let me just start off with my book that I chose to read. I figured that everyone would read a difficult book, or something different. I love Harry Potter, I have since I was a kid and I decided to re-read the book to see why on earth it's banned. 

Harry Potter is banned because it "glorifies witchcraft". Excuse me? That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. So if we ban books, should we ban shows and movies too? I mean seeing it all on picture is different than reading about it. 

Yes I get it, they tell us what's rated and what's not. We can do that with book too you know! Putting a sticker or something on the inside saying something short on why it's banned or just telling the people wanting to read the book that it's banned like a warning. 

We don't do that do we? So, if we banned a book or book series because of something then shouldn't we ban TV shows and movies that are similar or are of that book?

Oops, sorry! I can't watch Harry Potter anymore because it's banned and "glorifies witchcraft". Doesn't that mean you can ban other movies too?  What about Wizards of Waverly Place, it's a Disney show. Sorry kids we can't show this anymore, there's magic in it. Ooh, how about Twitches and Twitches Two, another Disney movie with magic. What about Halloween movies and their magic in them like the Halloween Town movies? There's movies that older people like too like that movie and video game Warcraft, sorry there's dark magic in it.

It shouldn't be the American Library Association's decision whether a book is banned or not. We can give warnings like in movies, for example on a movie: Rated R- for nudity, blood and gory scenes. 

​Being banned is like excluding books from people that are about life. [insert swear word] happens. As people on this earth, lots of us are blind from the real stuff that happens. When books are banned because someone tells their story about a tragedy that happens like getting raped. It happens, they are trying to tell you their story so that it won't happen to you. It gives you the thought of, "hey, if I'm careful and not careless. This could possibly not happen to me." I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but these people writing about these things shouldn't be banned if it's telling you a story on what happened.

Now I will say there should be limits, if a book just talks about sex and bad language and it doesn't tell a story about someone getting seriously hurt and it's just about being fun, then ban it.

If you don't want you kids reading a certain book because you don't think they're old enough, then don't let them read it! I think it's also the parents decision on what kids should read at certain ages, but don't ban a book because of something stupid. 

​I will admit this is a debatable topic and I could keep going and collect more information on both sides of whether banning books is a good or a bad thing.