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After reading Icecub's thread about wrestling, violence etc, it made me think about some childrens stories.
There are a few of them that are also quite violent/scary.
Think of...........Hansel & Gretal, Little red riding hood, Snow White, 3 little pigs, Cinderella etc.
And yet, these stories have been around for ever!
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Doesn't it make you wonder why children have nightmares?
Would be nice to have some opinions. My thread is looking a bit lonely with no replies.
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I think it is how the story is presented ... when our children were told the story, they never showed any signs of fear from the big bad wolf etc.
If my children did have nightmares, I've never heard about it.
An interesting thought though... I read an article recently where in Canada they felt that nursery rhymes like that were to be banned because of their violent nature.
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Thank You for your posting dudette.
We were talking about this topic today at work.
There are quite a few famous childrens stories that "aren't very nice".
Hansel & Gretal were kept locked in a cage.
Snow White was trying to be poisened & killed by an apple.
Little Red Riding Hood's grandma was swallowed by a wolf.
The 3 little pigs homes were trying to be blown down.
Cinderella was kept locked up & treated badly by her ugly step sisters.
Gosh!!!
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Icecub, I read all these stories to my 2 daughters, but was just thinking how scary some of them can appear to be. Also some nursery rhymes too. But like you say, they are also exciting & children still love these fairy tales.
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Curio, I agree that many fairy stories are violent. The difference is that as a parent or in a well written book, the violence is played down & the good almost always triumphs over evil. A book is also not as visually graphic as a film. I must point out that as a child, the story of Pinocchio terrified the daylights out of me!
However, my extended family discussed these stories quite a number of years ago over a Christmas dinner or something
& we analysed some of the stories in depth. eg. Hansel & Gretal were actually stealing from the old woman, which is why they were locked up. They then pushed the poor old lady into an oven, cooking her alive! :eek: Technically, they were both thieves & murderers! :p
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I think the important thing in these stories isn't that they are violent, but that good always triumphs over evil (and hard work triumphs in the 3 pigs story).
It also highlights that sometimes life sucks, and that if you stick through it keeping to your convictions, that you'll come through the other side happy and wealty, and married to a handsome prince/ princess
There are many many aspects to these stories, and they are almost always educational.
BTW in the original three pigs story, the lazy two pigs were actually eaten - it was Disney who changed the story so they survived.
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I've been thinking a lot about this thread over the last few days. As parents we want to keep our kids in cocoons for as long as possible. But sadly, the world isn't all about Winnie The Pooh, secret gardens & butterflies. The world we're living in is cruel & harsh with wars & famine & crime & violence. Perhaps these children's stories are kind way of introducing them to evil & the reality of what life is really like.
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