Gwinnett Mom: 'Ban Harry Potter'/Rejected Unanimously
Gwinnett Mom: 'Ban Harry Potter' Last Modified: 4/15/2006 11:41:43 AM A Gwinnett County parent is waging a war against Harry Potter. She says the popular book series should be pulled from libraries in the state’s largest school district. Laura Mallory says the Potter books take kids to dark places. “The books are indoctrinating children into witchcraft,” Mallory said. “It’s not mere fantasy.” Mallory has three children attending J.C. Magill Elementary School in Loganville, and is asking the school board to banish the books. “I’m asking that they be removed from the school -- elementary school in particular -- because the young children are not as able to discern as older children,” said Mallory. Another parent, Amy Pryor, says the Harry Potter series got her daughter excited about reading. “I just think it’s another way for people to censor a literary form of art,” Pryor said. “People want to say magic is so bad. Magic is just a way of imagination; a different way of somebody expressing themselves. If we continue to allow people to take books off of school library shelves, then we're saying it's okay to take books off the shelves of our public libraries.” Review panels with the Gwinnett School District have ruled the books should stay in the system’s libraries, but Mallory is meeting with the school district next Thursday to appeal the decision. http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78628

'Harry Potter' Ruling Expected Last Modified: 5/10/2006 9:40:39 AM Associated Press SUWANEE, Ga. (AP) - The Gwinnett County Board of Education is expected to make a decision this week on whether "Harry Potter" books should remain on public school shelves. An evangelical Christian who has three children at J.C. Magill Elementary School -- Laura Mallory -- has objected to the books. She says in complaint forms she objects to what she calls the books, "evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells and teaching children all of this." The school board is expected to decide whether to ban the books or keep them in school libraries at its monthly board meeting Thursday night. Supporters and opponents of the book series attended a public hearing April 20th to voice their opinions. This is the latest book appeal in the Gwinnett County system. The last came in 1997 when the board was asked to remove "Ghost Camp" by R.L. Stein (styne) and "It's Not the End of the World" by Judy Blume. Committees recommended the board take no action -- allowing the books to stay on the shelves. The school board upheld both those decisions. The board meets at 7 p.m. at the Gwinnett County Public Schools Instructional Support Center in Suwanee. http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=79649

School Board Rejects Potter Ban Last Modified: 5/12/2006 2:59:16 PM The Gwinnett County school board voted Thurdsay night to reject a parent's pleas to take Harry Potter books out of school libraries, based on a claim that they promote witchcraft. Board member Carole Boyce said before the unanimous vote that it boiled down to censorship, and that students understand the difference between fact and fiction. Laura Mallory of Loganville, who has three children in a Gwinnett elementary school, asked the state's largest school district to ban the books. Mallory said she had not decided whether to appeal the board's decision. Mallory filed her complaint in September. A media review panel composed of parents, teachers and community members at J.C. Magill Elementary, where her three children are in school, rejected the complaint. The panel was backed up by the school district administrators. Board member Mary Kay Murphy, a former English teacher, said the books help students develop the critical thinking skills they need to be successful in high school, college and life. http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=79745