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| Hearsay: |
Some parents think traditional fairy tales are “not PC enough” for today’s kids and may be emotionally damaging them… Gee, I guess I’m doing it all wrong. I’ve been seeking those out. And the Greek myths. Those suckers were bloodthirsty incestophiles. I’m going for cathartic release and desensitivity. It worked for me.
The poll of 3,000 British parents – by TheBabyWebsite.com – revealed a quarter of mothers now rejected some classic fairy tales.
Sarah Pilkinton, 36, a mother-of-three from Sevenoaks, Kent, told researchers: “I loved the old fairy stories when I was growing up. I still read my children some of the classics like Sleeping Beauty and Goldilocks, but I must admit I’ve not read them The Gingerbread Man or Hansel and Gretel.
“They are both a bit scary and I remember having difficulty sleeping after being read those ones when I was little.”
Two-thirds of parents said traditional fairytales had stronger morality messages than many modern children’s stories.
But many said they were no longer appropriate to soothe youngsters before bed.
Guys, if my kid isn’t lying awake in bed each night, staring at the ceiling and thinking of what he’s just read or been read, then we’ve got the wrong books. Though perhaps the HP Lovecraft was a little early. I jest. Don’t call the cops. Seriously though, he’s scared shitless of Medusa. And who can blame him. So beautiful, so snakey. The cyclops too. And I think that’s a good thing. It’ll teach him to keep away from giant, deformed fellows. And around these parts, you never know.
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January 7th, 2009 at 11:30 am
+1 and well said. What is it with these puritan, scared of everything they don’t know, beige wearing hypocrits. Brrr.
/is glad he is brought up by book loving parents
January 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am
“poll of 3000 British parents…a quarter of mothers” – what the ever-loving fuck?
It’s a good thing I don’t take my Dad-ing at all seriously, or I might respond to shit like that with obscenities.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Never forget, Rob — you’re just babysitting.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I’m not too worried about Hansel and Gretel. But I do get uncomfortable with the princess stories where the princess falls asleep or loses a shoe and waits to get rescued by the prince. And Cinderella’s stepsisters…do I really want to explain to my kids why they cut off a heel or a toe to fit the shoes???
January 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
The Baby Website’s survey of parents is new, so The Telegraph’s story about the survey is news, but the issue of politically correct fairy tales is old. James Finn Garner published his Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (which is a gentle satire) in 1994.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Kudos to you, George, for starting the little Ninjas young on Greek myths. I credit my love of books and later scholarly bent to my mother reading to me from D’Auliere’s (sp?) beautifully illustrated book of Greek myths. Look how I turned out! (Errrrr…)
January 7th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I just bought him that one a couple weeks ago. Lady Ninja remembers it from her childhood.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Greek Myths certainly rule. We started reading kids’ versions (pretty bloody ones) to our son when he was 4 (9 now)and then he read on his own, over and over again. Walking home from school today we were talking about cell regeneration (actually, whether someone could regrow an eye poked out by an umbrella) and he said, Wouldn’t it be great if you were like the hydra’s heads and could grow two eyes from each one poked out?
January 8th, 2009 at 1:27 am
I wonder if so many of us are used to the dumbed down Disney versions of the fairy tales that we read them to our kids too young. I think they are very important at the right age, which may not be three years old. The true fairy tales and myths are wonderful, but for kids that are a bit older and are a way to open discussions with kids about very scary issues such as abandonment and death that kids are just starting to wonder about.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Oh marvelous, George! There’s also apparently a Norse one, though I’ve never seen it in the flesh. Might want to pick that one up if you want to instill a little Viking fatalism.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:43 am
I’m jealous. My mommy never read me Greek myths; I had to read everything myself.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:18 am
The Norse D’Aulaire is wonderful, too.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Of course, the Norse/Greek myths are not strictly speaking fairytales. They are out of fashion religions.
Actually neither are Sleeping Beauty or Goldilocks fairytales. Those are folktales. The stories that involve fairies are indeed the weirdest, as the fairies are often naughty interlopers in the affairs (and I mean that) of princesses and princes. They aren’t in the least scary, though.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Hey folks, the solution is simple! Read the stories – but not at bedtime. My siblings and I got all the fairy tales, but during the day, not at bedtime. Another ploy; try them in another language. My mother read a lot in French: “Il était une fois, il y avait trois ours …” is indelibly inscibed on my brain when I think of the three bears. (We certainly didn’t critique her accent.) The other thing is – make them age appropriate. Why stop with the littlies? Homer’s fine when you’re old enough to appreciate the literature.