I think one reason why kids come across as "bloody minded" <liking this
phrase> is that they can imagine such horrible things that knowing comes as
a relief. They need to have things nailed down quite specifically so they
don't keep wondering and imagining horrors.
-----Original Message-----
From: Helge Moulding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 7:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SF-LIT] Girls, Boys & Harry Potter
Barry Haworth asked,
> Is JK Rowling promoting greater understanding between the sexes?
I doubt that Rowling wrote with the express purpose to create a fantasy
world that might encourage young people to play more with one another.
Harry Potter is one of those fantasy worlds that is interesting enough
that kids want to play in it. There aren't a lot like them. Most fare
for children is of the "reality" variety, which gets an approving nod
from educators and the like, but kids get enough reality already. So
when something like Harry Potter comes along, kids eat it up as if
they were starving.
Child psychology is hampered by a lot of "ought-to" thinking. I have
only recently come across people who work with children and who say
that kids need the sort of fantasy world that Harry Potter and similar
stories provide. That bad things might happen in such a fantasy world
doesn't bother them; in fact, it provides them with an opportunity to
come to grips with bad stuff that happens in the real world. And kids
can be horribly bloody minded about stuff like that.
--
Helge Moulding
mailto:[log in to unmask] Just another guy
http://hmoulding.cjb.net/ with a weird name
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