ACLJ RESPONDS
Harry Potter in the Classroom: Your
Rights
Living the Life
CBN.com - In a radio interview
with Jay Sekulow of the American Center
for Law and Justice, a caller had the following concern:
LISA FROM CALIFORNIA: I wrote a note to my 8-year-old
son’s teacher asking that he be excluded from having to
participate in a class reading of the Harry Potter books. As far
as I know, the teacher has been okay with that, but my son is
still sitting in the classroom, just over in a corner of the room.
Is there anything I can do?
JAY SEKULOW: We’re getting a lot of calls
on the Harry Potter books. I haven’t read them myself, but
I understand there’s a lot of parental concern. Here’s
what I would say:
If you don’t want your son present during that time, he
needs to be given an alternate reading assignment that he could
do someplace outside the classroom. I’d also talk to the
school administration about this, and see if you can get some
more community support for your position as well. While you don’t
want to get into the book banning business—that’s
a dangerous way to go—parents around the country are expressing
concern about the subject matter in these books. Parents need
to speak out to the administrators of their school system. It’s
part of the political process; it’s part of the constitutional
process. Parents have the right and responsibility to be guardians
to their children, including while they attend public school.
Under the Constitution, you have the right to petition the government
for the redress of grievances. This is a grievance. If you think
this is being handled incorrectly, or you don’t like this
particular book in your child’s curriculum or being read
aloud in the classroom, you need to voice your opinion. I would
encourage you to do that.
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
|