Potter mania could negatively affect kids: psychiatrists

Apparently there is a bit of controversy about Harry Potter, from, among all people, psychiatrists in India.  They interviewed two.  One seems to feel that the stories could have a negative effect on kids.  The other thinks it is no big deal.  I side with the latter view:

However, psychiatrist Sanjay Parekh defends the author saying the book is not necessarily so-called children's literature.

"The book is a progressive series and the youngsters must have grown up along with Harry. Though anything violent is not condoned, but adolescents can easily identify with the boy wizard's emotions, his passing phases," Parekh says.

As for the generous smatterings of romance in the book, he says "romance can never be a matter of concern for children. Violence is. Parents of little children thereby must also themselves read any literature they hand to their kids, to answer their curiosity," he says.

The article does not contain plot spoilers, but there are some hints to the content, so those who have not yet read the sixth book might want to wait before reading the article.