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Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Modern parents, apparently.
Live Poll
Do you read fairy tales to your kids?
Trespassing, kidnapping, extortion — sounds like a meaty “Law and Order” episode, right?
Maybe, but I’m talking about fairy tales: “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Rumplestiltskin,” respectively. My older daughter is a high school freshman, but she still remembers being frightened by that granny-gobbling, Red-baiting wolf in the “Hood.”
Apparently, she’s not alone. The BBC reports that half of 2,000 parents surveyed thought classic fairy tales were too scary for preschoolers. After all, they don’t call ‘em Grimm for nothing. Moms seem to be particularly expendable, with Snow White and Cinderella among the best-known motherless daughters.
But “Red” and “Rumple” and the like weren’t designed to be told to kids, according to the BBC. Back in Shakespeare’s day, long before “Law and Order” could be seen 24/7, fairy tales were considered adult entertainment. It was only in Victorian times that grownups started sharing them with children, and the nightmares commenced.
In my house, we were more likely to read Seuss than Snow White, and I guess that had something to do with my concerns about the PG-13-rated content in fairy tales (although, come to think of it, those shotgun-bearing hunters in “Horton Hatches the Egg” were a little much).
How about you? Are traditional fairy tales on your preschooler’s bedtime reading list? Or does your family prefer kinder, gentler stories?
Don't be scared! More stories from TODAY Moms:
The dark side of Mother Goose
Want another bedtime story, sweetie? 'Go the f--- to sleep'
The mom of a princess boy speaks out
What to do when your 5-year-old announces he's in love
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Leave a Comment:
This is a stupid "article". MSNBC sucks again.
Actually, most fairy tales were created to scare children into being good. Don't talk to strangers, don't bet and bargain, don't trespass, and many were directed to girls to keep their virtue ...we're just to afraid of scaring kids today
While a valid point for what later fairytales became, most were actually lewd sexual stories told around a bar or campfire. Very few of the most loved fairytales began as precautionary.
Geeeez people, there must be something more than that to worry about. Explain to your kids what a fairy tale is. Tell them the tale and the moral of the story behind it. But NOOOOOO!!!Dont tell the kids fairy tales, or you will scare them! Dont let them out of the house for halloween, that will scare them too!!! OH and dont read any of those HORRIBLE stories from the BIBLE!!!But its ok to let them have control of the TV remote or the internet without supervision. It doesnt matter that they will see more "crap" in a couple of hours than us "older folks", (I'm 54) saw in a whole year!!
Parents of today are a bunch of spine-less parents. They are afraid to discipline their kids. Then they send their kids to time out, when my parents took time out it was to beat my arse.
My parents told me fairy tales growing up, and I even read Grimm's Fairy Tales when I was younger (I did not become frightened). I loved the Grimm's Fairy Tales (I still do ;)). I have my own copy now :) The Grimm's tales were folk legends and stories that the brothers Grimm gathered in Germany. They are full of morals and lessons that people can learn such as be kind to others and do right.
I grew up with ZOMBIES!!! I loved them! I also watched nightmare on elmstreet and friday the 13th.....they are so corny....
I loved the grimm's tales as well. The others not so much....
I read the Grimm's fairy tales when I was little, and they didn't scare me.
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I loved those fairy tales as a kid. yes they were gruesome, but so what? that's how they were meant to be. sheltering and shielding one's children from classic literature is a big mistake as they will miss out
Oh,please give me a break..Why,do we not hide them all under a rock..I know..UTUBE it..God forbid, we scare the children....With all the Vampire and Zombie, @!$%# that they watch...We need to shelter them from the Classic...
I happen to be scared of birds, but when I see a bird I don't show any fear or make a big deal about it because I do not want my daughter to be scared of birds for no reason at all. Like most living skills, children learn fear mostly from their parents. If mommy screams and cries when she sees a spider, Junior will do the same thing because "Monkey see Monkey do". If a story jump starts a child's imagination then do the common sense thing and tell her it is just a story and if mommy isn't scared then niether should she. I think bravery is a becoming a lost attribute, don't teach your kids to be scared of strangers, teach them to be brave enough to run away and find some one they trust.
I can confirm that these stories are kind of scary from the perspective of my 6 year old. I found a fairy tales cd book for my son to listen to and read along with. Little Red Riding Hood was the first story. The narrator's voice changed to a low, growling voice during the wolf portions, my son got so scared he wanted to turn it off. I tried to encourage him to continue, explaining that it was a pretend story and that there is no reason to be scared but he didn't want to keep going. He still refuses to listen to it. My 5 year old niece had the same reaction when I gave the cd to her. I wouldn't say that I am an overly protective or "wimpy" parent. I don't know what it is. I don't need to terrify my son with make believe stories. We talk about stranger danger and fire safety. These things are much more real and just as scary. Besides, he is very brave little guy in so many other ways.
it could have just been the narrators voice that was scary, i bet if YOU were the one to read it, and you didnt use a scary voice your kids wouldnt have issues with it.
Reminds me of my little sister when she finally realized that Bambi's mother was shot in the movie. She turned her back and refused to watch it because she was so mad about it. She still listened to it, but wouldn't physically look at the screen. Our mom answering her questions on 'where did Bambi's mom go?' was funnier, since she was pretty honest with her.
and Ring around the Rosie is about the plague and ..when the bow breaks the cradle will fall down till come baby cradle and all...LMAO....seriously I dont think I am damaged to know that Grandma might actually be the big bad wolf....and I learned that I am breakable from Humpty Dumpty and maybe all the kings couldnt put me back together again! .....Seriously those dumb broads needs to get something better to worry about! Or as a few friends said...The Real News is a hell of a lot scarier and sheltering your child is not going to help them in the real big bad world.
Rumplstilskin scared the snot outa me when I was a kid...but I was drawn to read it again and again :) Being scared is fun sometimes!
mtv was the scariest thing i could have inflicted on my kids when they were growing up. my kids loved the fairy tales. they were not scared. it's the perpective of the adults now that deem fairy tales scary. how stupid.
The most dangerous fairy tale of all is that of organized religion. More evil had been committed in the name of non-existant gods than for any other reason. Look at the idiots being killed over burning the Quran. All religious texts should be burned and done away with.
parents today are spine-less
Fairy tales have a lot to teach children. This is just another example of a world where children are exalted into a position of power and everyone else is made to act whatever way is currently deemed politically correct. Life should not cater to children, but they need to adapt to life. Fairy tales teach valuable lessons and children love to be scared. They are not the frail creatures some mothers would force us to beleive.
Lame.....we shelter our kids too much in America....parents just need to have conversations with their kids when reading and learning...sadly the art of discussion is being lost to TV and other media...trust me, I teach and students are not used to analyzing or thinking critically.
The "scariest" fairy tale I know of is the quran...
Oh for God's sake.
Parents will let their kids watch all kinds of horrible things on tv and at the movies, but think classic fairy tales are too scary?
What a load of crap.
I was never scared of Grimm's tales - they were obviously set in a very distant time and place where people lived in castles or little cottages in the woods, woodcutters roamed the forests, nobody had electricity... It was easy to see them as make believe.
What scared the hell out of me was hearing TV news about Richard Speck, or the guy from my hometown who killed his parents, cut them up and put them in the freezer.
Good is usually - though not always - triumphant in a fairy tale. There is a reason for this. The fairy tale teaches children to overcome fear and be brave in the face of danger. In all the most popular fairytales, evil is destroyed. That's why fairytales are important.
Here's an exception: Bluebeard. I would refrain from reading that one to a small child. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk... all of these are great tales to tell.