6th graders debate popular book series

English Teacher Katie Sandidge’s students learn debate and civil conversation during a thought-provoking discussion about Harry Potter.
By Ian Dinkins, Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications 

Students in Middle School English Teacher Katie Sandidge’s classes have spent the last two weeks engaging in a healthy conversation about what to do with treasured works. Designed to kick off a unit centered around debate and civil conversation, the activity aimed to have students see that good, reasonable, thoughtful people can have a difference of opinion on a topic and still engage in respectful discourse.

“I wanted them to see that moral and ethical issues are difficult to wrestle with and require grappling. Easy conclusions are difficult to draw,” said Sandidge.

As one of the most popular children’s books of all time, the Harry Potter series has captivated the imaginations of children and adults alike since the release of the first book in 1997. Famous for its world of magic and wizardry, the books’ success has led to an equally successful movie franchise and theme park rides in Orlando, Florida. The franchise has come under scrutiny recently as author J.K. Rowling shared several controversial statements on the rights of transgender women.

The question for millions of fans quickly became, “What do we do about this beloved franchise, given the opinions of its’ author?”

The presence of several seniors to help facilitate discussion in Sandidge’s class was particularly welcomed by Claire Yu ’30, who said she appreciated their insight.

“Since we weren’t around during the initial hysteria of Harry Potter, our relationship with the books is different than the seniors who visited our class,” said Claire.

With their experience discussing the topic in High School English Teacher Freya Sachs’ class on social justice and children’s literature, Gavin Higgins ’24 and Olivia Hess ’24 showed younger students both sides of the discussion and explained some of the different arguments.

“We were both surprised and happy to see the demeanor and approach of the students we talked to,” said Gavin. “They were all open to listening before speaking, made sure to talk about the nuance or sensitivity of what they were saying, and seriously engaged in the conversation.”

Finn Cooper ’30 said he thought having seniors and Sandidge help foster the conversation ultimately led to a greater understanding of the larger debate and how to approach difficult conversations.

“I liked hearing what the seniors thought about the issue, and having their voices in class helped us go through the conversation without any bickering,” he said.

Maya Arsovski ’30  and Andrew Mixon ’30 had a special appreciation for Sandidge’s class and USN as a whole for giving them the space to grow their understanding of complex issues like this one.

“This is an age when most of us are learning about the world, so it’s important for us to learn how different issues can connect and why it matters who and what you support when you’re buying something,” said Maya.

“If we aren’t exposed to some of these conversations at an early age, we may not know how to deal with them when we’re older, so it’s important to educate yourself now,” said Andrew.

While the debate didn’t conclude with a definitive answer, it wasn’t supposed to. The exercise of having the conversation itself served as a valuable lesson for everyone in the classroom, especially sixth graders forming their opinions and considering their values during adolescence.

“Middle Schoolers are perfectly capable of considering controversial topics. They hear about the contentious issues all around them but often don't have the chance to unpack their own thoughts, feelings, and wonderings,” said Sandidge. “They’re less than six years away from being voters and should have practice grappling with ethical questions, engaging with differing perspectives, and using logic, reason, evidence, and care to move others toward their position.”

Moving forward in the class, students will have the chance to engage in debates surrounding topics of their choosing. Regardless of what topic comes next, each will offer students the opportunity to engage in personalized inquiry, make them more culturally competent, allow them to synthesize ideas, and ultimately lead to responsible citizenship.
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