In order to understand if HP or Pokemon has an negative
influence to all children that enjoy such titles, there must be
sufficient evidence to prove that, yes, any children who reads HP
or watches Pokemon will succumb to the influences of sorcery and
witchcraft.
The hypothesis is: if I am to cut myself with a sharp blade, then I
will surely bleed. If, however, I cut myself with a blade and I do
not bleed, then it is probably because the knife is not sharp or I
am indestructible. So to draw a parallel, if a child is to read HP
and does not get tempted to attempt witchcraft, either the
witchcraft does not exist or the child is equipped with enough
wisdom that he remains unaffected.
While there is very little a parent can do to control the
bombardment of the media, we can do a lot to nurture a child to
discern what is good and bad, and what is right and wrong.
When, as parents, we become the main filter for the child, the
child may not be equipped with the necessary ability to fight the
other wars. Meaning, we decide for them that HP and Pokemon is bad,
the child may not know that Beyblade and Lego Bionicles can be a
problem too.
The identification of the critical issue is important. If we embark
on a course of labeling everything we do not understand as satanic,
we fall into the danger of oversimplifyng the world system. The
temptations that the young face goes beyond seemingly satanic
titles like Harry Potter. Even an overly attached emotion to a
soccer team is bad. If your child has an obsession with Manchester
United but does not read Harry Potter, do you think he is safe? No,
because MU has become his god. The problem is not Satanism, the
problem is obsession.
The better option is to armed the child with the appropriate
defense mechanism that even though they come in contact with these
genre, their minds will remain unharmed.
I have children who have read Harry Potter books, watched the
movies, played Pokemon games yet remain unaffected. They also grew
up watching Power Rangers, Ultraman and Justice League. Yet they
probably pray more earnestly than me, behave well publicly and at
home, contribute each week to their Sunday School class.
Why is this so? Communicate with them daily and allow them the
privilege of drawing their own conclusions. Allow them to disagree
with you and let them explain why. This way you can go into their
minds and see how they think. This way too, the child can mature
faster.
Is this a guaranteed path to successful child-raising? By all
means, no! As a parent I have to constantly look at the trends in
the society and understand what is happening to the world. I have
to guard against the likes of Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and the
influence of affluence. I have to guard against the various
advertising campaigns of buy-and-buy, the Heeleys, the Playstations
and mobile phones.
By themselves, products are not all bad. Some are necessities and
some are good to have. However, the moment something becomes an
obsession for the young mind (as well as the old) it becomes a
hindrance to one's Christian growth. Don't talk about Satanism,
talk about materialism. That's the bigger problem...