One main reason how the famous Harry Potter series positively influences the current generation is that the book series promotes reading among younger children. The sole fact that Harry Potter has become the best-selling book series in history with over 450 million copies sold proves that it has grabbed people’s attention. A research done by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups has proved that the Harry Potter series has had a huge impact in terms of reading habits in the UK. According to the research 59% of the children who have read the series believe that it has helped them with improving their reading skills. 48% of the children claim this series inspired them to read more. The teachers also see the positive effects of this book on
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It is not a new information that a lot of religious people are against anything that contains witchcraft, occultism and themes related to this. Therefore it is not surprising that a lot of those people view the popularity of Harry Potter and its influence on children as negative. One of many examples of those opinions is Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of the movies review website MovieGuide.org, who in his review of the movie Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix claims that: “Instead of dreaming about the joys that God gives us through Jesus Christ, they [children] will be dreaming of casting spells, using magic spells, riding brooms, and rebelling against their parents”.(2007) Though it might be true that the popularity of this series makes children think or even dream about it, you could hardly find anything that would lead the fans to rebelling against their parents. Another big reason why some religious people might be against their children reading the books is the author’s revelation that one of the main characters is homosexual. During a question-and-answer session at New York's Carnegie Hall back in 2007 JK Rowling revealed a shocking truth about one of the characters. After one the fans had asked whether Dumbledore, the headmaster of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had ever been in love, the author replied: “My truthful answer to you… I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.” (qtd. in Smith, 2007) While a lot of fans seemed amazed and happy about this revelation, many people reacted more negatively. Roberta Combs who is the president of the Christian Coalition of America said: “It's not a good example for our children, who really like the books and the movies. I think it encourages homosexuality.” (qtd. in Friedman, 2007) However, it is impossible to prove that
It is not a new information that a lot of religious people are against anything that contains witchcraft, occultism and themes related to this. Therefore it is not surprising that a lot of those people view the popularity of Harry Potter and its influence on children as negative. One of many examples of those opinions is Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of the movies review website MovieGuide.org, who in his review of the movie Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix claims that: “Instead of dreaming about the joys that God gives us through Jesus Christ, they [children] will be dreaming of casting spells, using magic spells, riding brooms, and rebelling against their parents”.(2007) Though it might be true that the popularity of this series makes children think or even dream about it, you could hardly find anything that would lead the fans to rebelling against their parents. Another big reason why some religious people might be against their children reading the books is the author’s revelation that one of the main characters is homosexual. During a question-and-answer session at New York's Carnegie Hall back in 2007 JK Rowling revealed a shocking truth about one of the characters. After one the fans had asked whether Dumbledore, the headmaster of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had ever been in love, the author replied: “My truthful answer to you… I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.” (qtd. in Smith, 2007) While a lot of fans seemed amazed and happy about this revelation, many people reacted more negatively. Roberta Combs who is the president of the Christian Coalition of America said: “It's not a good example for our children, who really like the books and the movies. I think it encourages homosexuality.” (qtd. in Friedman, 2007) However, it is impossible to prove that