Are fairy tales the right stories for your kids? Here’s how it impacts your sons and daughters – Times of India

But in recent years, many have come to the fore suggesting some fairy tales like ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ have a damaging effect on a child’s developing years. A few years ago, actress Kristen Bell expressed her discomfort with Disney’s most famous Princess tales “Snow White”. According to her, the fairy tale sent across wrong messages about consent and stranger danger to her kids.

Similarly, while a lot of parents have themselves grown up with and enjoyed these stories, in the modern setting, they feel that it could harm their children’s perception of themselves and how they view others.

Impact of fairy tales on sons and daughters

A work of fiction is something that originates from a person’s imagination. But it is to some point a reflection of the reality that we live in. While adults to some extent know where to draw the line, children are vulnerable and innocent and may take everything for how it is exactly presented.

Fairy tales for instance are positive in many aspects. It helps kids build resilience, makes them hopeful and encourages them to dream and aspire. But on the downside, it also limits a son’s and daughter’s role to socially constructed gender norms.

Traditional fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast are all good, delightful stories to read. But come to think of it, why is Cinderella so dependent on a charming Prince to escape her cruel stepmother and sister, why does snow white or the sleeping beauty need to be kissed by a Prince charming to be saved and did they really want to be kissed? All these questions may have irked people at least one point in life.

Similarly, these fairy tales enforce a certain role on boys too. They are the ultimate protectors, the sole saviors of the damsel in distress. If they do not live up to the expectations of the society, they put their honor at stake. But what if they aren’t looking up to fight? What if they need protection? Why aren’t they allowed to express their concerns? Again, these are some of the questions that go amiss.

Are fairytales inclusive?

When it comes to fairy tales or children’s literature in general, we need to emphasize on inclusivity and diversity. We need to ask how much and how accurately people from various backgrounds are being represented in the stories and the narratives.

Many of the traditional fairy tales lacked that. While they successfully managed to touch millions of hearts, they somehow failed to connect to people from diverse communities.

Representation is something that matters greatly. One does not need to sugarcoat the facts, but eliminating one section of the society completely takes a toll on the development of everyone who is a part of the society.

In an opinion piece for The Guardian in 2015, an American young-adult author Daniel José Older wrote, “Literature’s job is not to protect young people from the ugly world; it is to arm them with a language to describe difficult truths they already know.’

That said, one should aim towards exposing children to different genres of writing. Parents must help kids interpret and question the wrongs that have for so long dominated our lives. We must treat them as active recipients of what they read.