Hogwarts - the top school in town?
From the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:
Kelly Burke, Education Reporter
Glenn Bowes, head of pediatrics at the University of Melbourne, will tell educationists today what every 11-year old Harry Potter fan already knows - that when looking for an institution that embodies all that is best for the development of young minds and bodies, you need go no further than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Harry's membership of Gryffindor House, his positive relationship with headmaster Dumbledore and a supportive peer group offering protection from the bullying Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slthyerins - that's what makes Hogwarts a core social centre," Professor Bowes said. "The vulnerability of young men, which is much talked about by politicians these days, is addressed by [Rowling]..."We see Harry getting the quality support boys need to overcome adversity."
The article goes on, but it makes me wonder if the said professor has read the same books as me.
Harry's supportive relationship with Dumbledore? Yeah, the old guy professes to love him, but lets him live in a cupboard for a decade, leaves him and his mates to save the day when no-one else has the guts to try and there are violent criminals on the loose, and told a grieving teenager that his recently deceased godfather more or less got what he deserved.
Hogwarts a core social centre? When there's teachers there who torture students physically (Umbridge) and verbally (Snape), teachers who attempt to murder students (Quirrell), students who lie unconscious for months without their parents being informed, and poisonous house rivalries that divide and stigmatise students for the rest of their lives from the age of twelve? Parents (apart from Lucius Malfoy) who are either unaware of or don't care about what their offspring are suffering?
Just where I want to send my children, I don't think.
I think it can certainly be said that there are elements in the Harry Potter books that can be beneficial for young people - even down to the fact that they encourage reading in the first place - but I'm fairly sure setting up Hogwarts as a model institution is not one of them. Even if JKR's conception of the school is a lot less scathing than mine.
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Amusing Incident of the Day: I opened the Radar section of the paper today, only to find someone I knew from school featured in the 'matchmaking' section. The deal is that there's one paramour and three candidates - the readers choose a candidate and the newspaper sends the pair off on a romantic weekend. I hadn't thought about this girl for years - I sat next to her in the band, but we were never close. Still, seeing her featured in the paper made me chuckle. (On the next page, there was also a photo of her and some other old school friends at a housewarming barbecue. It all struck me as a trifle odd, as I certainly don't spend all my time with people I met in high school. I have my close friends, but there are far more people with whom I'm no longer in touch.)
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Just to add, in the all-London Champions League derby, GO ARSENAL!
Kelly Burke, Education Reporter
Glenn Bowes, head of pediatrics at the University of Melbourne, will tell educationists today what every 11-year old Harry Potter fan already knows - that when looking for an institution that embodies all that is best for the development of young minds and bodies, you need go no further than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Harry's membership of Gryffindor House, his positive relationship with headmaster Dumbledore and a supportive peer group offering protection from the bullying Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slthyerins - that's what makes Hogwarts a core social centre," Professor Bowes said. "The vulnerability of young men, which is much talked about by politicians these days, is addressed by [Rowling]..."We see Harry getting the quality support boys need to overcome adversity."
The article goes on, but it makes me wonder if the said professor has read the same books as me.
Harry's supportive relationship with Dumbledore? Yeah, the old guy professes to love him, but lets him live in a cupboard for a decade, leaves him and his mates to save the day when no-one else has the guts to try and there are violent criminals on the loose, and told a grieving teenager that his recently deceased godfather more or less got what he deserved.
Hogwarts a core social centre? When there's teachers there who torture students physically (Umbridge) and verbally (Snape), teachers who attempt to murder students (Quirrell), students who lie unconscious for months without their parents being informed, and poisonous house rivalries that divide and stigmatise students for the rest of their lives from the age of twelve? Parents (apart from Lucius Malfoy) who are either unaware of or don't care about what their offspring are suffering?
Just where I want to send my children, I don't think.
I think it can certainly be said that there are elements in the Harry Potter books that can be beneficial for young people - even down to the fact that they encourage reading in the first place - but I'm fairly sure setting up Hogwarts as a model institution is not one of them. Even if JKR's conception of the school is a lot less scathing than mine.
---
Amusing Incident of the Day: I opened the Radar section of the paper today, only to find someone I knew from school featured in the 'matchmaking' section. The deal is that there's one paramour and three candidates - the readers choose a candidate and the newspaper sends the pair off on a romantic weekend. I hadn't thought about this girl for years - I sat next to her in the band, but we were never close. Still, seeing her featured in the paper made me chuckle. (On the next page, there was also a photo of her and some other old school friends at a housewarming barbecue. It all struck me as a trifle odd, as I certainly don't spend all my time with people I met in high school. I have my close friends, but there are far more people with whom I'm no longer in touch.)
---
Just to add, in the all-London Champions League derby, GO ARSENAL!