By MICHELLE WILLSON
Editorial Editor
I have always been a sucker for a happy ending. I do not know if it is just the romantic in me, but I like the optimistic point of view. From Damsels and Dragons to Knights in shining armor They teleport you to other worlds and fuel creative juices. I think it is important for kids to be introduced to fairy tales, folklore and fables so they can absorb the lessons in them. Stories with morals also teach kids about sharing, trusting and even some important life lessons along the way.
I bet everyone can remember the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” It teaches children the consequences of lying. No, not all children will be eaten by wolves if they lie, but like the boy in the story less and less people will believe them. Aesop’s Fables are like this they are normally short stories that have lessons embedded in them.
Now, I am not saying we should go and read them all of the old original fairy tales. I truly believe that some fairy tales should strictly stay to those who are mature enough. Old fairy tales, like those written by the Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, teach you a lesson but they are a bit morbid. They involved a lot of death and even some explicit scenes. One of the least morbid stories, the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen the story follows the horrendous tale of pain that the Mermaid went through, which ended in the mermaid not getting her beloved prince, dying and turning into sea foam. You can find an in between the story that has a less grotesque scene, but I would be a little cautious with it.
“Happily Ever Afters” may be entertaining, but could they be harmful for kids in the long run? Yes and No, I believe kids should be introduced to them, but they should have access to a variety of stories. When we try to protect kids from stories with unhappy endings how will they learn to grow from their mistakes and fix the unhappy endings in their own life. Yes, they do teach about the fight between good and evil, but when the kid grows up they will have to learn the hard way that not everything is black and white and there is always an obvious “bad guy” in every situation. How will they ever be able to relate it to there own life where it is not all black and white. Kids often are confronted with problems like bullying they need to know how to deal with it.
I am not saying that fairy tales are bad, I think they give children a sense of optimism and creativity. I am saying that we should make sure that the books we make a I feel that happy endings are important, but they should not be the only stories that we should let children read. I think it is important for them to read stories and watch movies that have clear morals and lessons to them. Happy endings or not I feel like all of the stories read by or read to children should have a lesson. The child should be able to learn from the character and the story in general.