Fairy Tales as Essential Elements for Children - Essay Example

?Insert Insert Grade Insert Insert Fairy Tales Introduction Fairy tales are essential elements for children as they grow up. Fairy tales are not only useful as a tool for entertainment, but also help children improve on their moral standards. Some people have argued that children should not be exposed to fairy tales because some of them are scary; besides, they don’t teach moral lessons to children below five years. In essence, I see nothing completely wrong with letting children watch or read fairy tales like Cinderella or Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Children find such tales so interesting because some of the fairy tales touch on their every day experience. Parents should expose their children to some of the fairy tales when they turn five. Children will concentrate more in listening to fairy tales when relaxing, especially when they are about to retire to bed. Fairy tales are not just associated with children. They are very much important to teens. They are important to teens because they build on their emotional resilience. Parents should show their responsibility in taking care of the family by showing the teens about the reality of life. This will make them know and appreciate that problems do not come to people because they are bad, but rather problems are faced by people in order to make them stronger and to be able to survive in any environment no matter how complicated it is. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from fairy tales. Some of them range from the society’s perception of the role of a girl child to child trafficking. In most societies, including China’s, boys have been traditionally valued than girls. You find boys given the best kind of education, given opportunity in places of work and at the same time given an opportunity to marry any girl he wishes, sometimes with the help of the parents. This is not only common in China but also other nations though the situation is now changing. This paper therefore aims at drawing illustrations based on the issues that affect children and some of the ways in which parents and relatives have contributed to such problems. Most of the illustrations will however be drawn from children fairy tales like Disneyland for clarifications. Girls lack freedom of choice. This is because they are always viewed as weaker sex. In as much as many people could hold similar opinion about girls, I tend to wonder the kind of criterion such people have always used to measure weaknesses of girls. Perhaps one of the reasons for holding such belief is the fact that boys tend to be a little bit brave as compared to girls. Boys’ brevity can be seen in the way they handle situations, friends and enemies, animals, scary movies and tales. Some girls, on the other hand, are more afraid of touching animals and certain insects; they also fear scary movies like horrors. However much people feel that girls are naturally born weaker sex and that they are always cowards, this again should not be true with all girls; certain girls are braver just like there are certain boys who are cowards. The ability to be brave or cowardice depends on certain factors, some of them being entirely dependent on genes. Generalizing that all girls are cowards or all boys should be brave is a fact that does not hold water. Besides, should it be the reason why most societies do not have respect for girl child? If it is so then it is regrettable because creation is an occurrence which is beyond human understanding. Certain tales teach about the power of confidence. A good example is (Cinderella) the girl who falls in love with a prince and despite her poor background, breaks all odds to marry the handsome prince. This is done against the wishes of many including the step sister. The view that girls are inferior is something that even women appreciate. They are not given a chance to choose what they feel is best for them. In Cinderella, Cinderella’s step sister falls in love with a mere baker, a love triangle that later leads to marriage. Cinderella’s mother, Lady Tremaine, is not happy at all with this marriage. Neither is the oldest sister Drizella (Anderson 27). They want Anastasia to get married to a rich man trying to convince her to accept the rich man’s proposal for marriage because of his wealth. This shows how the love of money can sometimes overshadow people’s emotions detaching them from the power of reality. It is not right for a parent to decide for girls the person they are to marry. The moment one is mature, decisions especially the ones linking to marriage should be someone’s personal choice. Parents’ influence on the kind of a person one should marry has always caused a lot of problems at the family level, no wonder there are a lot of family break ups. The fact that Anastasia’s insistence in marrying the baker lands her into trouble when she and the baker finally crashes into the baker’s shop depicts the kind of suffering ladies are subjected to in their quest to stand for what they dearly love. This is the same thing that happens in most societies that do not acknowledge that change is inevitable (Zipes 59). In the process of chasing Cinderella’s mice, Lucifer falls in love with Pom Pom. She is obliged to love Lucifer despite her dislike for the man. This shows women’s inability to make decisions for themselves even in matters that are likely to affect them. Lucifer finally promises to stop chasing the mice in order to win Pom Pom’s love. When Cinderella moves to the palace, she is placed in charge of the banquets when the prince is away. She manages the palace with a lot of brevity, more to people’s surprise, she reorganizes the way parties and the palace banquets are run and she tries to persuade everyone that it would be pleasing if the norm is reversed. She finally succeeds in her quest to have everyone including the commoners to participate in royal banquets. Different from the fairy tale of Cinderella, there are tales that talk about children being careful with strangers as in Snow White and the seven dwarfs. The tale gives an elaborative picture of how children have become vulnerable to strange incidences like child trafficking and food poison. Snow White, a beautiful girl, runs to the forest to take refuge from her step mother who is dying with jealously over Snow White’s beauty. Her beauty is more than what words can describe. She decides to take refuge in the forest where dwarfs reside. On seeing her, the dwarfs are very happy especially because of the way she conducts herself. She takes care of the house ensuring that the dwarfs live in a favorable environment. This she takes as a personal duty as would any responsible young girl. However, drama heightens when finally the Queen (her step mother) makes a discovery of her abode. Disguisedly, she comes in as an old peddler woman. She finally succeeds in persuading Snow White into biting a poisoned apple and she finally succumbs to death. The dwarfs upon receiving signal of the impending danger rush home only to find Snow White dead. The witch succeeds in her mission. Snow White is however rescued by a prince who is her secret admirer by offering a kiss. Just like Snow White, children have always fallen victims of poisoning by their close relatives and have thus ended up losing their lives (Delessert 31). This tale warns us against trusting strangers even though they may seem to be convincing. Child trafficking has remained rampant over the last few years. Reports of such cases indicate that close relatives and even parents have sometimes played some roles in child abduction. It is quite true that the significance of fairy tales cannot be undermined. Their relevance is something felt almost each day. People hold the opinion that strangers are bad people. We should not however make a deductive conclusion that all strangers are bad unless it is proved otherwise. Certain strangers are morally upright. For example, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the dwarfs are strangers to Snow White but they take care of Snow White without any feeling that she is different from them. Also, cases of strangers helping others are a common phenomenon. Children however should be careful whenever they meet strangers since in most cases child abductors usually seem to be very friendly. They sometimes come in as good Samaritans ready to assist where possible, only to end up changing their minds. People always feel that we should try to pay more attention to vulnerable groups, even if only a little bit of help they can live better. It is a pity that some people in the world do not have even a little shred of tenderness just like the little girl’s father in the fairy tale - The little match girl. Parents have an obligation to take care of the family. It is a pity to see how the father of the little girl exposes her to extremely difficult condition despite her age. She is forced to sell matches in order to sustain the family. What the little girl undergoes is nothing less than what other children also undergo in everyday life. In most countries, mostly African nations, many children who are living in abject poverty are forced to take care of the family. Majority of them take up jobs that are meant for grown ups. Cases have been reported of teenage girls resorting to prostitution as an alternative to fend not only for themselves but also for the family. In order to make more sales as a means of avoiding the brutality of the father, the young girl in the tale decides to stay put. She does that because she is afraid of going back home. She has nobody to sympathize with her. This is illustrated by the fact that she shelters in a nook trying to make herself warm by lighting the matches. It is also said that her mother was the only person who loved her and when she finally lights the final match, she eventually dies. Her grandmother’s hopes in her fades and she is taken to heaven by her grandmother just like the vision of the shooting star she had earlier on seen (Tatar 56). As long as one has assumed the responsibility of parenthood, it is wrong to subject children to life that is beyond their means. Children who are exposed to the kind of life where they are the bread winners, in most cases, end up dropping out of school. If they happen to make it to school, they end up performing below expectations. Conclusion Engaging children in reading fairy tales should not be ignored during early stages in life. Fairy tales are important since they improve a child’s mental imagination. Besides, it is through reading to children the fairy tales that parents are able to strive to teach critical skills in critical thinking. It should thus be made a habit to expose children to the reality in life so that they are able to handle life’s challenges. Story books on fairy tales are the best gift one should buy to children. Works Cited Anderson, Graham. Fairytale in the ancient world. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print Delessert, Etienne. The Seven Dwarfs. Minnesota: The Creative Company, 2002. Print Tatar, Maria. The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen. New York: WW Norton & Company Incorporated, 2008. Print Zipes, Jack David. The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm: Texts, Criticisms. New York: WW Norton & Company Incorporated, 2001.Print Read More