And what about their friends back home? Surely they'll wonder why these kids are suddenly writing them letters on parchment, instead of plain paper? Surely they'll wonder what kind of school doesn't allow newspapers, walkmans, teen magazines, etc. I imagine it's an incredible struggle to keep one's Muggle friends over the summer, when they're all talking about things you're more or less clueless about, and you can't share much of anything about your own school life.
And then, to revisit the issue of the actual schooling, there's the issue that at age eleven, you're pretty much forced to give up the world you know and grew up in, all your friends, your family, because after those seven years, it's very difficult to blend back into Muggle society. I think Hermione could do it, studying Muggle subjects over the summer, and taking her O- and A-level exams like the homeschooled kids [2], possibly a year later for her A-levels, so she can go to uni if she wants to. But I don't think a lot of the other Muggleborn children could or would.
(Snip someone else's ranting about the lack of things like bics and stuff at Hogwarts.)
Especially since there's no good reason why they shouldn't! I mean, I could understand if it was a matter of preferring magical solutions to problems over the Muggle (technical) solutions to the same problems. (E.g. cars vs Apparating/the Floo Network/Portkeys, except they *do* have cars.) But there's nothing magical about Quills and parchment, so why not, at the very least, switch to fountain pens and paper?
It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why hang on to the robes (and hats!) like that? Why the quills and parchment? The electronics at Hogwarts, fair enough if that's really because of all the magic, but surely if they tried they could come up with counterspells for that? Why haven't they? Why the insistence on the one, centralised wizard (boarding) school for the entire UK and Ireland, rather than a number of smaller ones that would allow children to actually grow up with their families, be they Wizard or Muggle? [3]
The more I think about it, the more the wizarding world strikes me as very cult-ish, with Hogwarts as its main brainwashing tool. I know, I know, I'm probably overreacting and/or reading things into this that JKR never intended to put in, but still.
[1] From the Lexicon: <<"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air." -- Hermione Granger, who has read Hogwarts, A History>> (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts_outside.html)
They don't quote a source on this, but as it's an actual quote, I'm assuming it's in the books somewhere. Side note: why is Hermione talking about Muggles as if they're some strange, unknown people? She's Muggleborn, for fuck's sake. **frowns**
[2] While homeschooling isn't as widespread in the UK as it is in the US, it is legal (http://www.geocities.com/sueincyprus/). Obviously, Muggle parents of Wizard children can't claim to their neighbours that their children are homeschooled, but I'm sure the Ministry could arrange for Muggleborns to take their exams as homeschooled children. Whether they'd *want* to is another thing, of course.
[3] All right, so I have issues with boarding schools in general, thanks to my mum's stories about her boarding school years and her fervent opposition to the very *thought* of sending any of her children to one. And my mother was *sixteen*, not *eleven* when she first went there. It just boggles my mind how children grow up away from their parents in the WW--*all* of them; this entire society is made up of people who spent most of their formative years away from their families. I'm twenty-two, and I miss my family if I don't see them for three *weeks*, let alone three *months*.
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From:
Re: Feedback, at last...
these kids are suddenly writing them letters on parchment, instead of
plain paper? Surely they'll wonder what kind of school doesn't allow
newspapers, walkmans, teen magazines, etc. I imagine it's an
incredible struggle to keep one's Muggle friends over the summer,
when they're all talking about things you're more or less clueless
about, and you can't share much of anything about your own school
life.
And then, to revisit the issue of the actual schooling, there's the
issue that at age eleven, you're pretty much forced to give up the
world you know and grew up in, all your friends, your family, because
after those seven years, it's very difficult to blend back into
Muggle society. I think Hermione could do it, studying Muggle
subjects over the summer, and taking her O- and A-level exams like
the homeschooled kids [2], possibly a year later for her A-levels, so
she can go to uni if she wants to. But I don't think a lot of the
other Muggleborn children could or would.
(Snip someone else's ranting about the lack of things like bics and stuff at Hogwarts.)
Especially since there's no good reason why they shouldn't! I mean, I
could understand if it was a matter of preferring magical solutions
to problems over the Muggle (technical) solutions to the same
problems. (E.g. cars vs Apparating/the Floo Network/Portkeys, except
they *do* have cars.) But there's nothing magical about Quills and
parchment, so why not, at the very least, switch to fountain pens and
paper?
It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why hang on to the robes (and
hats!) like that? Why the quills and parchment? The electronics at
Hogwarts, fair enough if that's really because of all the magic, but
surely if they tried they could come up with counterspells for that?
Why haven't they? Why the insistence on the one, centralised wizard
(boarding) school for the entire UK and Ireland, rather than a number
of smaller ones that would allow children to actually grow up with
their families, be they Wizard or Muggle? [3]
The more I think about it, the more the wizarding world strikes me as
very cult-ish, with Hogwarts as its main brainwashing tool. I know, I
know, I'm probably overreacting and/or reading things into this that
JKR never intended to put in, but still.
[1] From the Lexicon:
<<"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity,
computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire
around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air."
-- Hermione Granger, who has read Hogwarts, A History>>
(http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts_outside.html)
They don't quote a
source on this, but as it's an actual quote, I'm assuming it's in the
books somewhere. Side note: why is Hermione talking about Muggles as
if they're some strange, unknown people? She's Muggleborn, for fuck's
sake. **frowns**
[2] While homeschooling isn't as widespread in the UK as it is in the
US, it is legal (http://www.geocities.com/sueincyprus/). Obviously,
Muggle parents of Wizard children can't claim to their neighbours
that their children are homeschooled, but I'm sure the Ministry could
arrange for Muggleborns to take their exams as homeschooled children.
Whether they'd *want* to is another thing, of course.
[3] All right, so I have issues with boarding schools in general,
thanks to my mum's stories about her boarding school years and her
fervent opposition to the very *thought* of sending any of her
children to one. And my mother was *sixteen*, not *eleven* when she
first went there. It just boggles my mind how children grow up away
from their parents in the WW--*all* of them; this entire society is
made up of people who spent most of their formative years away from
their families. I'm twenty-two, and I miss my family if I don't see
them for three *weeks*, let alone three *months*.
(cont'd)