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[Bloomers]

Yeah...just read a different book. If they aren't ready, they are not ready. Either wait until they are older or give the info they need to read the book with an appropriate amount of maturity. No need to put in so much extra effort and ruin a series your son might actually end up enjoying as it is.

Sidenote: I wonder if her child has discovered the internet yet. It just might be a rude awakening...

 

[Vagabundo]

She should just read him Game of Thrones and be done with it.

Anyway, I sympathise, last thing you want is to be woken at two o'clock in the morning on a work night with a kid too afraid to go back to sleep.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

I don't see why she doesn't just read the kid something actually age appropriate instead.

However, I can only be so mad at someone who fixes the books so that Harry has some consequences for being the brat that he is that tends to get away with everything.

Did you not read the part where he got psychically tortured by Umbridge? Like, she cut him and everything.

 

[breakfuss]

Could you really be an lamer than this?

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Don't really think there's a lot to comment on here--the blog post amounts to little more than
"Whoops, Harry Potter eventually becomes too much for a five-year-old, so I stopped after the first book."

 

[Race to be King]

Seems like the real mistake was writing about it for the New York Times.

 

[Dark Octave]

My kid is two in December and watches The Walking Dead with us. She goes to sleep in her own room in the dark just fine. Being scared of stuff like that is a learned behavior. I'm here to teach her right from wrong and fantasy from reality and basic common sense like a parent should, so she'll be fine.

This woman is making her kid into a little bitch ass.

 

[poppabk]

This thread is making me think there is something wrong with me, because I remember maybe 4 or 5 'scenes' from my life at age 5. I couldn't name a single book I read at that age, never mind the plot points.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Mother is overprotective. Sheltering your kids like this can have some serious unintended effects. I'm 23 and I've met people my age who are Ignorant to simple concepts and social interactions because they where sheltered at that age.

 

[ZaCH3000]

This parent is afraid of letting her child experiment. The kid wants to read the book, the real book. Not her fluff version.

Emitting all if the darkness in Harry Potter is a lousy decision. Read the material as it is. If your child comprehends a theme, that child will ask a genuine question to further his understanding through critical thought.

Yes children are capable of critical thought. Her intentions are good, unfortunately this attempt to shelter her child from situations he will encounter later in life will likely stunt his ability to deal with them.

 

[brandonh83]

I don't blame her for thinking that the HP series is too much for a five-year-old to handle. I doubt I'd introduce a five-year-old to HP if I was in her situation. But reading her kid a bowdlerized version of the story, even if he really wants to read it, is not doing him any favors. For one, she's giving him a hacked-up and idiotic version of the story. Two, she's setting him up for some really awkward and embarrassing conversations with friends when he tries to talk about the books. Three, she's not just taking out dark stuff, but adding clumsy and awful morality lessons like the broomstick thing that intrude on the actual story and the points its trying to make.

Yeah I agree. I think the story should be taken EXACTLY how it is. It's pretty tremendous and isn't afraid to do whatever it wants.

 

[Burbeting]

Yeah, 5yrs old is too young for the HP-series, but I guess the mother didn't think about that beforehand x).

And yeah, unnecessary censorship should be avoided.

 

[t-ramp]

Why would you read Harry Potter to a 5-year-old. Find something age-appropriate to instill a desire to read, and then let them enjoy the popular and classic young adult novels and series on their own when they're older.

I'm glad my memories of Harry Potter aren't a bastardized version handed down by my parents.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Man I can't wait to read Harry Potter to my kids. No censorship but maybe I'd wait until they were older.

This just reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer tries to bond with Lisa by reading her a Harry Potter knockoff as a bedtime story. He reads ahead and gets to the part where the Dumbledore equivalent dies, so when he gets to it with Lisa he makes up an ending that has everyone live. Lisa reads it herself afterward and decides she likes Homer's version better.

 

[Dali]

This is why parenting advice/judgment should be kept between parents who have the experience. Yeah, I'm "that" guy today. This really isn't that big of a deal.

It's not a big deal. The kid isn't going to be crippled for life or be an outcast just because he has parents that's butcher a popular book. It's still stupid in many people's eyes, many of which are parents.

 

[Megalosaro]

Censoring kids to reality is NEVER a good thing, unless in certain extreme circumstances.

This is not one of them.

Would you let a five year old watch a rated r slasher film. Would you let them play some gory game? No letting them would be censorship

 

[breakfuss]

I watched Candyman when was I 5 and I turned out fine.

 

[Kyuur]

I feel like almost no one read the article except the bolded... it says at the end that they aren't going to continue doing this with the rest of the books, and just wait until the kid is old enough to read and understand it.

As soon as we finish the first book, Emmett wants to jump into the second. His pleas are as unrelenting as before, but this time we resist. Harry Potter will come, and I still look forward to the day when we’ll read it with him. My eagerness to share it with him hasn’t dimmed, only my impatience.

So for now, Harry Potter goes back on the shelf. The world will turn into a dark place soon enough, and it should. My job as his parent isn’t to shield him indefinitely from the near-universal dislike of brussels sprouts; it’s to raise a son who’ll emerge from his hero quest triumphant.

So really this is a story in favor of what most of you are spouting.. not to censor this stuff. She figures they made a mistake doing this and decided to do a write up on it.

 

[Fusebox]

I have edited the sex out of horror movies so my kids could watch them. Specifically Halloween.

You'd be better off editing out the violence and leaving the sex in.

 

[captmorgan]

Are kids different now a days? I remember being read the original grim fairy tales, step sisters cutting off parts of their feet to fit the slippers, Rumpelstiltskin slamming his foot so hard down that he ripped himself in half, the evil step mom being forced to dance to death with red hot irons on her feet.

What happened? why are children all of a sudden so delicate?

 

[royalan]

I feel like almost no one read the article except the bolded... it says at the end that they aren't going to continue doing this with the rest of the books, and just wait until the kid is old enough to read and understand it.



So really this is a story in favor of what most of you are spouting.. not to censor this stuff. She figures they made a mistake doing this and decided to do a write up on it.

That's not the conclusion she came to. She stopped doing it because she realized the book series is too long and that she was starting to trip over her own edits, not because she realized that "pinkifying" her child's world can potentially be harmful to their development. She defends what she did, but realizes she doesn't have the energy to do it for the entire series.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

It's Harry Potter.

Yes, and the books are good.

Why are so many people so opposed to what she's doing? Sure, she could just read something else to her kid, but what's wrong with reading this and changing minor details here and there?

Like the plot?

Also, I'd hate to attend kindergarten at NeoGAF Elementary School: "Today, you sons of bitches, we're going to learn about three of the ways in which you might be murdered someday. Also we'll talk about child rape. Grow up, assholes, this is reality."

Oh, I get it. You just are here to demonize the other side. Got it.

 

[Red Comet]

She should be sued by J.K. Rowling.

 

[triplestation]

That kid is gonna become the real life butters

 

[Tookay]

Well, her heart's in the right place... sorta...

 

[Extra Sauce]

I don't really see a problem with this.

I don't think it's revolting, but it's definitely in bad taste.

 

[TUROK]

I love how NeoGAF is all of a sudden a haven for child development experts. What's the big fucking deal here? She tried to make Harry Potter a bit more appropriate for her child, realized that shit didn't work, and decided to wait until he's older to reintroduce him to the series.

All this talk about censorship and pussification is fucking ridiculous. Hell, you dudes are fucking ridiculous.

I don't think it's revolting, but it's definitely in bad taste.

Yeah, totally. Trying to make HP a bit more kid friendly for her 5 year old is bad taste.

 

[Aaron-Lagann]

I never understood people censoring things for their kids. If you don't want them reading something with more adult themes then let them read things that you feel are more appropriate for their age instead of giving them a diluted version of an artistic expression.

 

[Metaphoreus]

Yes, and the books are good.

I liked the books, but they aren't "great literature".

Like the plot?

Like minor details of the plot. She said Voldemort tried to "hurt" Harry Potter, rather than tried to kill him (which, incidentally, isn't false, unless she specified that Voldemort didn't try to kill Harry, which seems unlikely); she didn't say Harry Potter had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb (whose fleece was white as snow).

Oh, I get it. You just are here to demonize the other side. Got it.

I've done no such thing. It isn't demonization to hold up the position of another person for justly deserved ridicule. I don't think those whose view I mocked are evil, and I haven't said that they are. I just think they're wrong.

 

[-Deimos]

10/10

 

[royalan]

I've done no such thing. It isn't demonization to hold up the position of another person for justly deserved ridicule. I don't think those whose view I mocked are evil, and I haven't said that they are. I just think they're wrong.

The problem is, in your haste to ridicule opposing views, you completely misrepresented them, which is just dishonest and in no way conducive to intelligent and mature discussion.

Like, nobody even came close to saying or implying anything you said in that post.

 

[Henchmen21]

What she's doing has nothing to do with "protecting" the child (let's not even get into that subject). This is entirely based off of her selfish self interest. Her, and parents like her, are too lazy to explain the themes and subject matter at hand. They are too uncomfortable talking to their children about sex and violence that they take the easy way out and just censor it instead.

Those saying "well at least she's getting involved" don't realize that she's really not. If she were really getting involved she would talk to her child about these things. By censoring more mature subject matter instead of discussing it with her child (and don't give me he's only 5 bs. Children are only as capable as you treat them) she's doing just as bad as not even getting involved.

If she truly thought that the book was too mature for him she should have put her foot down and said no, no matter how much he bitched and moaned. She sounds like the prototypical helicopter mom. She'll give in the moment that kid starts to cry.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Like minor details of the plot. She said Voldemort tried to "hurt" Harry Potter, rather than tried to kill him (which, incidentally, isn't false, unless she specified that Voldemort didn't try to kill Harry, which seems unlikely); she didn't say Harry Potter had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb (whose fleece was white as snow).

She wanted to avoid the idea that Voldemort was trying to kill Harry--obviously this position becomes untenable the further you get into the series.

 

[royalan]

What she's doing has nothing to do with "protecting" the child (let's not even get into that subject). This is entirely based off of her selfish self interest. Her, and parents like her, are too lazy to explain the themes and subject matter at hand. They are too uncomfortable talking to their children about sex and violence that they take the easy way out and just censor it instead.

Exactly.

 

[Road of Ease]

This is not the right approach. You shouldn't temper with the content, but discuss it with the child - when a wrongdoing made by a heroic character goes unpunished, you point it out; when a scene is too scary/violent, you talk about it afterwards and see if he/she can deal with it.

Her approach is incredibly disrespectful. She'll have no moral leverage to tell her children not to lie.

 

[Extra Sauce]

Yeah, totally. Trying to make HP a bit more kid friendly for her 5 year old is bad taste.

No, it's bad taste for a parent to provide butchered novels to their children. Just choose another book until you consider them old enough. No need to rob a child of the artist's intended vision.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

What she's doing has nothing to do with "protecting" the child (let's not even get into that subject). This is entirely based off of her selfish self interest. Her, and parents like her, are too lazy to explain the themes and subject matter at hand. They are too uncomfortable talking to their children about sex and violence that they take the easy way out and just censor it instead.

Those saying "well at least she's getting involved" don't realize that she's really not. If she were really getting involved she would talk to her child about these things. By censoring more mature subject matter instead of discussing it with her child (and don't give me he's only 5 bs. Children are only as capable as you treat them) she's doing just as bad as not even getting involved.

Nailed it

Edit: well I don't know about "just as bad" at least she's reading to him, a damn sight better than most parents

 

[Cryolemon]

What she is doing is kind of silly/stupid but you can at least appreciate that she is taking an active role in understanding and monitoring the content her child is subjected to. We need more parents like this.

Perhaps, but not to this extreme.

 

[krioto]

Her heart seems to be in the right place, but if she is worried about the concepts contained in the book, it may have been better to say that Harry Potter book is not for him just yet, and read an alternative book more suitable for the child's age.

 

[User 73706]

This is the antithesis of when people replace all instances of "wand" with "wang" in the Harry Potter books, right?

 

[TUROK]

Her heart seems to be in the right place, but if she is worried about the concepts contained in the book, it may have been better to say that Harry Potter book is not for him just yet, and read an alternative book more suitable for the child's age.

That's exactly what she did after trying that with the first book.

 

[Henchmen21]

This is the antithesis of when people replace all instances of "wand" with "wang" in the Harry Potter books, right?

What kind of book clubs are you a part of?

 

[Shaanyboi]

...Fucking hell. Read something more appropriate for your kid's age, don't try and censor a pre-existing work to maintain your fucking "pinkalicious" illusion for your kid. Idiot.


My dad edited all "imagination land" parts out of Mr. Rogers when I was a kid. Now he's upset that I ended up pursuing an art career. Try and censor your kid's imagination, what do you think they're going to be drawn to?

 

[Buddha Beam]

Parents like this are one of the things wrong with our culture. I guess having kids makes some people go fucking mental and lose all perspective.

 

[toddhunter]

Yeah, 5yrs old is too young for the HP-series, but I guess the mother didn't think about that beforehand x).

My daughter is five (coming on to six) and I have read her the first two harry potter books, something which she really enjoyed. As with all "age" things I don't believe there is a magic number, it will really depend on the child.

Why Harry Potter? Quite simply because we have been playing the lego game together (another great experience to share). Naturally she was interested, saw the books on the shelf and wanted to read them herself. Whilst she is quite capable of reading them, I wanted to control the situation a bit to make sure she understood exactly what was going on.

I didn't censor anything really, I just explained certain things. The big problem in the first two books is dealing with the death of Harry's parents. There isn't a lot else that she isn't beginning to face in school and in this regard it was quite helpful.

The lion king already brought up the death subject (most disney movies are messed up in some way) so it is good to be able to explore it with her a little in a different context.

I'm not going to move into the third book because I think a lot of the themes are not quite as relevant or interesting and there are other things for her to read. But the fact that she associates so strongly with Hermione and will randomly case "Wingardium Leviosa" (or whatever it is) on me just makes the whole thing worthwhile.

 

[Race to be King]

Are kids different now a days? I remember being read the original grim fairy tales, step sisters cutting off parts of their feet to fit the slippers, Rumpelstiltskin slamming his foot so hard down that he ripped himself in half, the evil step mom being forced to dance to death with red hot irons on her feet.

What happened? why are children all of a sudden so delicate?

I'm sure I remember a Grimm fairy tale about a girl whose brothers were turned into crows and she had to unlock a door to save them, but she'd lost the key, so she cut off her finger and used that instead.

Just looked it up - The Seven Ravens.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Harry Potter is written for kids, isn't it? I've only watched the movies, and those are for kids. How soft is her child going to be if it can't handle HP in its raw form? PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I wanted to watch the Terminator when I was 5.

I watched Terminator, Nightmare on Elm Street and other horror flicks when I was 5 and 6. Robotech and other anime would sometimes air on tv back then, and had people dying. I'm so glad my parents were cool about letting us watch shit back then. PEACE.

 

[Delicious Waffles]

I'm sure someone has said this but why read Harry Potter to a five year old if you know you're going to edit important details out of it because you don't want your child to be exposed to such things at a young age? Why not let them read what is appropriate for their age group?

 

[adamsappel]

Its asinine. She's doing something selfish - she wants to introduce HP to her kids so badly for self-gratification that she's willing to ruin the plot for the kids.

I love Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and really wanted to read them to my daughter, but they were inappropriate for her age until she could read them on her own. Not that it mattered, as my daughter hated me reading to her anyway.

My kid is two in December and watches The Walking Dead with us. She goes to sleep in her own room in the dark just fine. Being scared of stuff like that is a learned behavior. I'm here to teach her right from wrong and fantasy from reality and basic common sense like a parent should, so she'll be fine.

This woman is making her kid into a little bitch ass.

Two years old is too young to even understand the concepts in horror movies. She will never remember TWD. I played GTA with my daughter on my lap. My dad used to watch action movies with my toddler sister; she loved seeing explosions. It's only later that there can be consequences (which are probably limited to scary dreams).

I watched Candyman when was I 5 and I turned out fine.

Not saying this is you, but I find that a lot of people who make this assertion aren't fine. Usually it's about spanking, though.

Are kids different now a days? I remember being read the original grim fairy tales, step sisters cutting off parts of their feet to fit the slippers, Rumpelstiltskin slamming his foot so hard down that he ripped himself in half, the evil step mom being forced to dance to death with red hot irons on her feet.

What happened? why are children all of a sudden so delicate?

I grew up with the "[Blue/Green/Yellow/etc.] Books of Fairy Tales," with translations of the original Grimm fairy stories. A far cry from Disney versions, for sure.

This is the antithesis of when people replace all instances of "wand" with "wang" in the Harry Potter books, right?

I've tried to read Norman Mailer's classic war novel, "The Naked and the Dead," and I just can't get past all saying of "fug" instead of "fuck." They really should print an unexpurgated, uncensored version.