The Better to Eat You with, My Dear.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. 

If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 

- Albert Einstein

     This doesn't seem to be the case anymore with modern mothers. Parents are beginning to forbid fairy tales from their children's life, claiming they are too scary, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, and are teaching their daughters the wrong values, such as Cinderella. See this article here. A new study showed that 1 in 5 parents don’t allow their children to watch classic Disney fairy tale cartoons like Snow White, Seven Dwarfs and Mermaid or the modern approach of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I think this is silly and so does J.K. Rowling. She says,“I really feel that we're not giving children enough credit for distinguishing what's right and what's wrong. I, for one, devoured fairy tales as a little girl. I certainly didn't believe that kissing frogs would lead me to a prince, or that eating a mysterious apple would poison me, or that with the magical "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo" I would get a beautiful dress and a pumpkin carriage. I also don't believe that looking in a mirror and saying "Candyman, Candyman, Candyman" will make some awful serial killer come after me. I believe that many children recognize Harry Potter for what it is, fantasy literature. I'm sure there will always be some that take it too far, but that's the case with everything. I believe it's much better to engage in dialog with children to explain the difference between fantasy and reality. Then they are better equipped to deal with people who might have taken it too far.” Many mothers also think that Cinderella is teaching their daughters that their goal in life is to clean the house, and do the chores as stated in the above article. With the new modern independent woman society growing, fairy tale Cinderella is slowing dying in many parents books.
      Being a child who lived on fairy tales growing up, I think it is cruel to cut out such magical stories. I understand that they aren't real, and not every thing is going to be happily ever after, but it is such a neat belief to have when your a child, before life gets too hard. I do understand that some parents are worried about nightmares with certain fairy tales, but to ban all of them, especially Cinderella, is just mean. It's nice to have another world, where a true love's kiss can fix everything, because we all know, we have to grow up some time, and it just isn't going to be as magical. I do think cutting out fairy tales is a little overboard. If they wanted to introduce them at a later age, I believe that would be better. I think that the parents should discuss the meanings of the stories with their children instead of just making the source disappear. I feel like the parents are just wanting to avoid the difficult conversation and questions with their child. See someone who agrees with me here. Give children a choice to live happily ever after, at least in their dreams. After all, A dream IS a wish your heart makes. ;)