Fairy tales should not be available for young children because they are filled with crimes, violence, characters ignoring health and safety issues, and the ‘happily ever after’ ending that give children false hopes. Fairy tales should not be told to young children.
Firstly, there are many crimes that happen in these ‘innocent’ fairy tales. One example is ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. Goldilocks broke into the three bears’ house without their permission. That is trespassing and, breaking and entering. Goldilocks then proceeds to sit down on baby bear’s chair and breaks it, which is vandalism. In the end, she gets away with the crimes she committed.
Another example is ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This big bad wolf blows down the two little pig’s houses, which is vandalism, then tries to eat them, which is attempted murder. The two little pigs then run to their older brother’s house to seek protection. The wolf then tries to blow down this house but it proved unsuccessful because the house is made out of bricks so he climbs down the chimney, which is trespassing, falls into a fire and is burnt in a fiery death (which is a charge of manslaughter for the pigs, or more accurately, wolf slaughter). This can influence children to commit crimes and provides bad examples for the children.
Secondly, fairy tales are filled with a lot of violence which is often horrific. In ‘Alice in Wonderland’, the Queen of Hearts chops off many heads, which in real life is a thing people would not want to see. Also, in ‘Hansel and Gretel’, there is a witch who cooks boys and girls by throwing them in an oven! In ‘The Little Red Riding Hood’, a grandmother gets eaten by a wolf! The list goes on and on. If the real world were like fairy tales, people would not even want to go outside of their homes!
Thirdly, there is the health and safety issue. In fairy tales, health and safety laws are ignored. In ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, Jack climbs a giant beanstalk with no safety gear! Parents would not want their children climbing giant beanstalks with no safety gear. It is very dangerous. Another example is ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. The dwarfs work long hours in dangerous mines. Also, in ‘The Princess and the Frog’, a princess kisses a slimy frog. Yuck! How much bacteria can a frog have? This will desensitize children to the seriousness of viruses and bacteria as certain viruses and bacteria can be lethal.
Lastly, fairy tales have a ‘happily ever after’ that never or rarely happens in the real world. ‘Happily ever after’ provides simple solutions that pull people out of complicated situations which rarely happens in real life. The ‘happily ever after’ will give children false hope. It will continually disappoint children if they are waiting for a ‘happily ever after’. Children need to understand that the real world is not like this and they cannot always hope a ‘happily ever after’ will solve their problems. Continual belief in this will lead to depression as their hope gets crushed again and again.
In conclusion, fairy tales contain many bad examples and influence for children and could lead to children taking risks with terrible consequences.
LOL!
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