Now, normally I am not an instigator (whether it be online or not). But I saw the following status update on Facebook and couldn't help but respond:
"Today, I was reading a Harry potter book in class. A girl in front of me was reading twi****t. When our teacher saw her, he confiscated her book. He spotted mine, came over to my desk, high-fived me, and gave me a sticker. I win. MLIA."
I responded as such: "Really? I think that's really sad on the teachers part. Reading is reading."
That was supposed to be the end of it. Until this random girl (let's call her Jane) responds to my post: "Saying "reading is reading" is like saying "eating is eating." Sure marshmallow peeps (Twi) may taste good, but eat them too much you you'll get sick from all the fluff. What we ingest into our minds is as important as what we ingest into our bodies." I couldn't help but respond!
Me: "As an educator, I'd rather have students read rather than not. As a human I'd rather people eat than not. I'd also question how Christian the act of chastising and condemning anyone who likes Twilight is. It makes me sad to see people throwing literary stones at the thousands of readers who like Twilight. From Twilight AND HP many people grow as readers and develop a passion for reading. Soon students are reading Dracula and other classical novels." The boy whose status Jane and I were debating on is going to school to be a pastor. I can only assume that Jane, who is also living in Virginia (boy is from South Dakota), is also on that same general path (which is why I threw in the 'Christian' bit).
I know it's immature and unnecessary and it's not that I LOVE Twilight. I just hate when people call it out, I think of all my students who are so in love with Edward or Jacob. Yes, it's not a perfect book and we can all debate forever about it (and we have), but the point is... kids are reading. Let's forget the theoretical implications of the content that they are reading... they are reading. If Twilight can do for my students what Harry Potter did for my generation — I'm all for it. Despite how I feel about Twilight and Harry Potter, I hate when people condemn others for reading. It's unnecessary and really quite awful.
Oh... and she has since not responded.