The Importance Of Fairytales And Children's Literature

Children’s literature is supposed to help a child grow socially; classic children’s literature skews this social development into something inappropriate and unnecessary for today’s society by exhibiting poor morals and rewarding bad behavior.

One of the larger reasons that classic literature skews a child’s social growth is that classic literature displays questionable ethics and moral grey areas that are unacceptable today. Children learn by mimicry, when they read or hear stories from the more gruesome classic literature they begin to think that such behavior is okay, and even a good idea (Smith 1). Many instances of classic children’s literature favor certain characters who are horrible role models. These characters often partake in risky dangerous behavior and journeys. Often times these characters are favored because they sneaky, scheming, selfish, or simply lucky (Hyde 1). Classic fairytales and children’s literature had its very own brand of vigilante justice and loved the idea that if you were sneaky enough, the world belonged to you (Hyde 2). Take, for instance, Jack and the Beanstalk, the tale is literally about a boy who goes into someone’s home, steals all of their perilous things, escapes without punishment, kills the person he stole from, and is proclaimed a hero. Now, was the person he stole from

All it takes to stop a child from being “poisoned by classic literature” is for a parents to takes a moment with their child and explain why this isn’t okay, ask their child what is a better solution. Parent’s need to be active and monitor what their children read and when their children are ready from some classic literature. Parents can’t and shouldn’t shield their children forever. These classic tales are a teaching opportunity that needs to be utilized and have such good and realistic lessons if only one takes the time to learn, ask questions, and think (Ellis