'A school principle claims books like Harry Potter
cause brain damage'
Firstly, I laughed. What a ridiculous comment! Then I looked a little closer.... this wasn't a joke, someone had actually said this, and not in jest!
The story comes from a school blog, in which the headmaster had raised concerns about what his pupils were reading. He suggested that fantasy fiction caused irreversible damage to the imagination of young children, thus causing mental illness!
According to this gentleman hugely popular children series' such The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were books to be avoided if you didn't want your children to be hampered by upsetting or frightening imagery, and magic or demonic themes. Instead he said children should be reading Shakespeare and Dickens, amongst others. Yes, I agree, they absolutely should be! But, if you are suggesting that these authors' works are devoid of negative themes and plot lines, you would be mistaken. Fantasy writer Samantha Shannon put it perfectly in her Guardian article in response to the aforementioned blog post. Here she reminds us of the rape, dismemberment and torture of Lavinia in Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare. How is this protecting children from disturbing imagery!? In fact what could be more disturbing!? You can read the other brilliant things she has to say on the topic here. Please do!
Just think about all the violence that can be found in Shakespeare plays, I give you Romeo and Juliet and Othello for starters. Our headmaster also disapproved of magic and ghosts in the literature children were being exposed to. Again, I draw your attention to Shakepeare! Macbeth for example contains murder and ghosts, and A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest are full of magic! Also, if we consider Dickens we can draw similar conclusions, with A Christmas Carol featuring the ghost of Marley, and just think about Oliver Twist's Bill Sykes, he's really scary!
Earlier today I had read about the amazing J.K Rowling and the way she supports her fans through their struggles mental illness. The particular story I had read can be found here. As many of you will know the Dementors, and their effect on the characters, represent Rowling's experience of depression, and it is touches such as these that make her books relatable for millions of children and adults around the world. I feel that there is a lot more proof out there that series such as Harry Potter help and support children through the struggles of growing up, rather than damage them in any way. For many, having characters, and indeed authors, to whom they can relate, and fantasy worlds and magical events to escape to are totally invaluable! If anything, fantasy is safer than the real world!
It is not often that I have a rant about things, but this seemed just too good to miss! I'd love to know what you think.
Thanks for reading :) L x
There is a post on Inkheart coming soon, I just have to get my final uni essay out the way first!!
