Fairy Tales with a Twist

Sometimes I think we take things a bit too far. I mean there are memories from my childhood which I treasure such as story time or things like that but it seems that these days, there is more concern for protecting children from the 'evil messages' that these stories could convey rather than in the moral of said story. It seems that the Education Department and some parents groups are pushing for teachers and librarians and anyone who reads to children for that matter, to begin caveating their stories with valuable lessons meant to teach kids what was wrong in the story and how they should learn from it. What do I mean? Read on.

Take for example the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A classic tale about porridge and finding a comfortable bed (I guess at the time they didn't have the concept of NASA foam beds or sleepnumber beds). I don't have to go through the whole tale since most people know it but at the end of the tale, now the readers would have to tell the kids the valuable lessons they need to take away from this story which are: (1) don't mess with bears in the woods, (2) don't steal from anyone as it is a felony and punishable with significant jail time for multiple offenses, (3) don't eat strange food as it could be poisoned or full of salmonella (I guess that's a lesson for all of us) and finally (4) don't go wandering in the woods on your own and expect to find shelter with plenty of food and beds (albeit at various temparatures and sizes).

What about Hansel and Gretel? Well if your parents leave you in the woods to be taken in by an evil witch, you should probably contact child services and tell them that you've got some hair-brained parents trying to dispose of you illegally. Don't use breadcrumbs as a trail as it may not be eco-friendly and the chemicals in some breads could be hazardous to some animal life. Don't be tempted by strangers with candy or gingerbread houses as they may be well beyond their expiration date and the ingredients may have gone bad. Don't accept offers by witches to take a 'bubble bath' as they are probably intending to cook you. And if a witch does attempt to cook you, don't take justice into your own hands and burn her up in a stove but rather call the police and report her for attempted homicide and attempted canibalism. Let justice be done, not vigilantism.

As you can see, there is still a lot of use to be made of the old fairy tales we grew up with. And the lessons that we take away from these are as valuable today as they were at the time they were written. I guess it just means that kids have to be told what they should and shouldn't do as many may end up thinking that self defense is okay in all cases since that's what the characters in the fairy tales did. I just find it ridiculous that we have to resort to such methods to 'protect' the children and ensure that they don't get hurt in some way, shape or form. I don't think these stories 'hurt' kids in any way or teach them the wrong lessons. In fact I think these stories are meant to be just that, stories.

For generations kids have heard these tales and I don't think any of them have turned out kids who are that dumb that they wouldn't take away from a parent the simple lesson of don't talk to strangers. If a fairy tale tells of the negative results of following a stranger, why do we need to spell it out for them. Why do we need to treat kids like kids but to the extreme? Sometimes I think if you talk to a kid like an adult (not by cursing or ranting at them) but logically, and respectfully, they will probably take the lesson away much easier than if you talk down to them and get them to understand what all is going on. We are becoming to paranoid a society and feel that every little bump is going to adversely affect kids to the degree that they can't function rationally in society. I personally think some of the people who come up with these solutions need to have a relaxed discussion sometime and think these things through logically. Maybe they need to be talked to like kids and not the reverse.