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https://medium.com/bouncin-and-behavin-blogs/throwing-away-my-harry-potter-books-db904e3bd1ba>
"I think there are a lot more children out there than anyone realizes who were
bullied growing up. Not just bullied, but rejected by their own families and
abused.
I was one of those children. I grew up in a Christian fundamentalist household
and town. My Mom hit me regularly to get me to behave. When she was frustrated,
she’d call me possessed and my beatings would get more severe.
I’d go to school, sometimes after a beating, and I was a socially awkward dork.
One of my best friends was weird and maladjusted like me. She sucked her thumb
until we were fourteen years old.
I had glasses and eventually braces. My hair was curly and frizzy. I struggled
with depression and anxiety.
So, of course, the first time I read
Harry Potter, I became obsessed.
I had to purchase it in secret with my own money. My religious mother had
banned it from our house, saying that it taught children real witchcraft and
would bring demons into our house.
But instead, I found a story about a bullied and abused boy. His life was so
similar to mine.
Except he had a way to escape it all into a magical world where he was the
hero. He made new friends, experienced cool things, and although he was bullied
by Malfoy at times, in the end, he was always on the side that won.
I hid in my room with the lock on the door. It was the only place where I was
safe and I devoured every one of those books.
They gave me something my heart needed, a place to go in my mind where I could
forget my hard life.
And they helped me question my parents’ extreme religious beliefs.
Nothing bad was happening to me as I read. I felt terrified and like a bad
person, but God wasn’t coming to get me or punish me. What my mother had told
me about the books being evil was a lie."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
