Harry Potter (split, finally!)

[Ange]

Okay. If she doesn't want her children reading those books...she should disallow her own children from reading them, then. Not everyone elses! Just my opinion.

Anyways, back to the title...I'm not too fond of it, but it could be worse. I'm just waiting for the book to be finished and published!

[smudgeoffudge]

I don't get it--what EXACTLY is the problem with questioning adult authority?

<sarcasm> Because adults are ALWAYS right. A mere child can not possibly comprehend the how the mind of an adult works. Even if something doesn't seem right or fair, a child MUST NEVER question it. To question the adult would be disrespectful to the adult. They are not only questioning the adults authority, they are questioning the adult's very intellegence. This is disrespectful because a mere child is incapable of understanding the vast wisdom of the adult mind. </sarcasm>



Well that is what some people think.

I guess some people out there probably read about Umbridge and were reminded of themselves and felt threatened by it.

How dare Harry or anyone question authority....


You know what, not everyone who is in authority is ALWAY INFALLIABLY RIGHT! There are some adults out there with basically no life and they get some kind of sadisitic thrill out of lording it over children in the most unfair ways just for a power trip.

Umbridge and Snape and some of the people in the books are examples of this. They are fictional charactors, but real people such as this can and do exist.


They don't care for the child or the childs feeling in the least.

These types have very little patience, probably hate their jobs most days, and should consider doing something else anyway. But they insist on working with children anyway. They probably come in to work already in a bad mood. They make new rules every five minutes and if any child does anything they don't like, they insist on making a new rule until there are so many rules that nearly every child starts to break one sooner or later!


Children are not perfect, nor should they be expected to be!
You might make a million rules, punish kids, and basically make them fear and hate you. But a classroom where children do not feel relaxed and peaceful is not a learning classroom. A child who fears you does not learn as well as a child who likes you and wants to please you.


Injustice does happen, and if I had kids I'd teach them to respectfully question things that don't seem right. I'd teach them to respectfully ask a teacher to explain something they don't understand or don't think is fair. And I'd also teach my children to come to me if they don't get a good answer.

Because teachers CAN and DO have favorites. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO bend the rules for those they like. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO discriminate.

There is nothing wrong with questioning authority. Authority is getting paid to do a good and fair job and they need to do their job right.

[Mongrel]

Well said, smudgeoffudge. Well said.

[Mriiekj]

It's OK, a couple of moths ago I loved it, but not anymore. Well, I guess it became boring after I read all books more then 30 times

[dragon's fire]

/irony sarcasm alert: But If she didn't ban it from the school her children might be tricked into reading the evil books by a corrupted child:/end alert Back to the hallows thingy away from small mindedness

Hallow = to sanctify; to make holy; to honnor
thats from my websrter's dictonary on my desk (yes It was easier for me to get up and flip trough a book that find the online dictonaries)

That covers places like churches and graveyards also battlefields for example Gettysburg (In the Gettysburg address President Lincoln refers to those that that fought having hallowed the ground by their fighting there{ for those who aren't big on US history})

So I'm thinking some big battle where lots of folk die or a central part of the plot will be around a place where others have already fallen in the fight

[schlough]

Because teachers CAN and DO have favorites. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO bend the rules for those they like. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO discriminate.

There is nothing wrong with questioning authority. Authority is getting paid to do a good and fair job and they need to do their job right.

Whoa! Not all teachers are evil. Not all authority figures should be banned from existence. And while it IS important for children to understand why they are doing something and especially what they are being punished for, perhaps just talking out of turn in class while the teacher is trying to teach a bunch of other people at the same time is not the right approach. Try talking to the teacher at a more appropraite time (after class?) and see if they aren't more friendly.

And BTW, the lazy teachers and principals are the ones who DON'T make rules because then they don't have to enforce them. It's always easier to let anarchy rule the day than to actually teach people to have respectful, meaningful conversations. If all you do is question everything that is said, every minute of every day, then the people in authority have no authority. Believe me. It's my first year of teaching, and I face over 150 students who swear at me, throw things at me and threaten me everyday. Whew! Rant done. No hard feelings though, OK?

Does anyone have any theories on whether Nevil has a chance to steal the glory from Harry and fight or incapacitate Voldy? His parents ARE stuck in a mental institution for life, I'd like to see some sweet revenge.

[Mongrel]

And BTW, the lazy teachers and principals are the ones who DON'T make rules because then they don't have to enforce them. It's always easier to let anarchy rule the day than to actually teach people to have respectful, meaningful conversations.

I'm going to disagree with you on that point. The lazy teachers and principals (especially the principals) prefer to enforce the arbitrary rules that make life easier for them. They make ridiculous rules that don't make sense on any level, refuse to answer questions about them, then give out lazy punishments--detentions, which are usually overseen by some other teacher and work on the principle of "bore the child to death by forbidding any sort of activity whatsoever," in-school/out-of-school suspensions, and the like. In my old middle school, we had a dress code that was strictly enforced(unless the teachers really liked you). Supposedly, tucking in your shirt and wearing a belt would make you incapable of hiding a gun or knife in your clothing. There were other rules, but the reason for most of the dress code was to appease the parents who were concerned about their children's safety. Yes, this is all true, and I remember my mother talking about it in exactly this way, so it's not just the hatred all of us kids had for that school speaking here. We were forbidden to carry backpacks to class because a kid could carry a gun in his/her backpack, but then they had a five-minute period where all the students were supposed to be out in the halls getting their backpacks; one of my teachers pointed out that this would be an even better opportunity to pull out a gun. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I've only used examples from my middle school, but I hear my mother, a family friend, and my boyfriend's mother(all three of whom are in the public school system) talk about how their schools are run, and I know similar things go on in the schools they work at.
The point is, the lazy teachers and principals like to implant what I call cosmetic rules: they're simple rules that can be easily enforced, don't really address the issues they're supposed to "fix," and are intended to make it look like the establishment is doing something without them having to put forth much effort at all.
Another point(and I'll keep this one short) is that there's another type of lazy, the type that refers to remaining in your mindset. If you enforce rules because that's how things have always been, that's lazy, even if you're not lazy in enforcing them. It's being too lazy to question the current situation and see what needs updating.

I do understand your point, but there's a difference between questioning authority because you see a problem and questioning authority for the sake of questioning authority.

[schlough]

I do understand your point, but there's a difference between questioning authority because you see a problem and questioning authority for the sake of questioning authority.

Actually, that's pretty much what I was getting at. I wasn't so much talking about the "students must wear a belt" or "everybody needs to tuck in their shirt" little rules (although it might be helpful in the rare cases that people decide to wear their pants SO baggy that half their underwear are hanging out for the world to see ) My beef is with the whole "Anything my teacher says is stupid and I need to have a reason for these ridiculous directions (like getting out a piece of paper to take a test) and will argue for five minutes before I'll comply" attitude. We're not all Snapes and Umbridges you know.

Thanks for the lively discussion guys. I love a good debate. And I promise I'll get back on topic and stay on topic for the rest of this board.

[Xandra]

...Yeah, sticking to the topic would probably be a good idea. o_o

If you want to debate, take it to the debate board.

[Xandra]

Sorry for the double post, but this is sort of urgent news for all HP fans on PPT-

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS WILL BE RELEASED ON SATURDAY, JULY 21st, 2007!!!

*breathes*

Okay then.

Though I should include the obligatory "I really really hope this will be absolutely amazing and make up for all the things I didn't like (a lot) about HBP!"

[Tharkun]

NUMEROLOGY AND NOSE-THUMBING! TWO Ns AGAINST THREE Rs! THE THREE Rs BEING RENEW, REVIVE, RESURRECT!

Granted it's lower-case Ns, but I just know she would have gone for the upper-case Ns (i.e. July 7) if it were on a weekend.

[Asthaloth]

*Feels Dumbledore may be a Phoenix animagus*
All that stuff about silent spells and whatnot.
Course, there are huge holes in my theory, but with a little imaginative use of milliput they'll be fixed right up.

[Matterbug]

"Scholastic announced today that the US edition of Deathly Hallows will contain 784 pages, making it the second longest book in the series behind OOTP."

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-20-2007/0004549646&EDATE=

Yay, big book! I'm so excited!

[Flame]

"Scholastic announced today that the US edition of Deathly Hallows will contain 784 pages, making it the second longest book in the series behind OOTP."

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-20-2007/0004549646&EDATE=

Yay, big book! I'm so excited!

So am I! I was afraid it might end up being too short, but that seems like a good number.

[Asthaloth]

Anyone else notice thats a multiple of 7

112 no less, which is itself multiple of seven.
Which is unfortunetly not a multiple of seven again