1. Harry Potter is a semi-classic chosen one story set in a modern setting. Good vs evil and lots of things real kids can relate to: the games, the friends, being the odd one out, bullies at school, etc. There are adults in the books, but a whole lot of the story is about kids in a child's world.
Twilight from what I've read about it, discussions I've followed and interviews I've read with Meyers online, is a story about adult relationships and adult roles: marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood. Meyers admits to having the Bishop in her LDS ward vet her books. If half of what I've read is true, and I think it is or people wouldn't be so upset, the male/female relationships in this book are twisted and abusive. Anti-feminist religious propaganda disguised as fantasy, where women will put up with abuse and men have all the power.
Do I want legions of little girls adoring this and taking it as a role model? No.
2. I have met kids. Majored in psychology and child development and raised a couple of my own. What you have to keep in mind is that not all kids are strong. Not all of them are you or me or most of our friends.
There are kids out there who will soak up the ideas and the attitudes in these books like a sponge, especially if they don't have role models in their life to counter what they read or who pay attention, or actually talk to them once in awhile. Way too many kids are looking for something to latch on to in terms of how things are supposed to work.
World views and ideas of how adult relationships work start in childhood, they don't come pre-installed. And exposing kids to everything only works if the adults in their lives are there to discuss why letting your boyfriend smack you around isn't a good thing or why every woman's role in life isn't to be a wife, mother and servant to her husband.
no subject
Twilight from what I've read about it, discussions I've followed and interviews I've read with Meyers online, is a story about adult relationships and adult roles: marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood. Meyers admits to having the Bishop in her LDS ward vet her books. If half of what I've read is true, and I think it is or people wouldn't be so upset, the male/female relationships in this book are twisted and abusive. Anti-feminist religious propaganda disguised as fantasy, where women will put up with abuse and men have all the power.
Do I want legions of little girls adoring this and taking it as a role model? No.
2. I have met kids. Majored in psychology and child development and raised a couple of my own. What you have to keep in mind is that not all kids are strong. Not all of them are you or me or most of our friends.
There are kids out there who will soak up the ideas and the attitudes in these books like a sponge, especially if they don't have role models in their life to counter what they read or who pay attention, or actually talk to them once in awhile. Way too many kids are looking for something to latch on to in terms of how things are supposed to work.
World views and ideas of how adult relationships work start in childhood, they don't come pre-installed. And exposing kids to everything only works if the adults in their lives are there to discuss why letting your boyfriend smack you around isn't a good thing or why every woman's role in life isn't to be a wife, mother and servant to her husband.