by Bridgett Kelly

Created on: April 02, 2009

Harry Potter is a very popular thing in my household. Although my three year old son does not have the attention span to watch the entire movies or have entire books read to him just yet, my husband and I love the series. We have seen every movie as it came out to theatres and own every available Harry Potter DVD. I get so angry when negitive things are said about the books and movies. I have heard parents alike tell of how evil it is and when asked if they have actually watched the movie or read the book I a big fat NO. Well there you go. You cannot judge something if you have not seen it for yourself. Kids love Harry Potter and for good reasons. Although I love Harry Potter myself as a grown 25 year old mother there are pros and cons where young children are concerned.

The Pros: The Harry Potter series especially the first one in my opinion has a broad range of teaching children the difference between right and wrong,friendship,how to stand up for yourself in an appropriatemanner,love,compassion for one another and honesty. There are good and bad in the real world and in the series it is no different. Imagination is as old as time. Kids have such dramatic imagination. Harry Potter brings imagination to life and it is fun for them. These children can learn allot from the series by seeing first hand how to treat a friend, how to avoid bullying,how to handle a tough situation and so on. This series can show children how to overcome bad experiences. Perhaps a child has lost a parent or both. Harry Potter lost both parents. Children who have had these experiences can relate and are shown how to carry on. Harry Potter was saddened that he lost hes parents but he found comfort in friends and remembering his parents from photographs. Harry Potter shows a great deal of courage when it comes to facing difficult challenges in his young life. Kindness to others is a big issue in this series. Not all people are good in this world. It is no different in the world of Harry Potter and even though facing issues with other people who were not so good, Harry Potter never showed cruelty towards them. He showed a great deal of kindness and stood up for himself in a matter not associated with violence. Kids pick up on this. The Harry Potter series is a great tool for young children to have to encourage kindness,compassion,caring personalities,courage and honesty.

The Cons: There are not a great deal of cons I can really find in Harry Potter except that as Harry Potter gets older, so does the content of the books and movies. Young children may not need to see the few last series based on the mature content. With that being said I do not mean adult content. The war between good and evil may be a little much for young children. Young children being elementary age. There is a part in one series where they have a dance and Harry becomes interested in girls. Young children do not care for that as they do not really understand. It is good for them to watch the series as they grow in age with the characters. Also some of the graphics from the movies may scare a young child although not intended but some may get afraid by some graphics.

Learn more about this author, Bridgett Kelly.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.