Rowling's Harry Potter series has many positive points including the fact that it can be used to educate children and the characters can be compared to stereotypical people and situations in real life, which are merely cloaked in fantasy to disguise a classic story of good v. evil which should be accepted for what it is, a really good story. This extremely controversial series has parents and religious leaders across the world denouncing the books as evil propaganda for Satanism. Here in the United States the books have been challenged and banned in schools and public libraries with some extremists staging book burnings that resemble those held in Nazi Germany. Throughout all of this controversy children have continued to become enthralled by the harmless fantasy and magic.
In her article, "Banning Books From the Classroom: How To Handle Cries For Censorship," Sharon Cromwell uses a format that is easily understood to explain the issues involved with the challenging and banning of books. Ms. Cromwell strives to present both sides of the argument equally, and begins by presenting the issues in the statements: .
advocates of banning certain books maintain that children in grades K-12 will be harmed if we don't protect them from inappropriate materials. Opponents are equally heated in insisting that censorship of books and other curriculum materials violates the academic freedom and diversity of thought protected by the U.S. Constitution (2). .
This presents both sides of the issue clearly and defines the outlines of the article, which strives to be fair. In discussing the case, Island Trees Union Free High School v. Pico (1982), the Supreme Court is quoted as saying the "Constitution does not permit the official suppression of ideas," and then it is stated that the banned books were returned to the school shelves. This is followed by the statement, "the Court seems to allow school boards a rather free hand with curriculum materials," which seems to reinforce the First Amendment Right of Free Speech, and protects both the student's and the teacher's rights (Cromwell 2).
