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literature - cspccially where youngsters
are concerned. Are fairy tales a useful
educationaJ tool? Do such fantasies
really warrant the glowing praise
accorded to them?
Is any part of thc magic realm of
childhood fantasy emotionally healthy?
Listen to the conclusions of docu–
mented scientific studies: Fantasyland is
a different, unhealthy realm to which
many unbalanced children escape. From
extensive scicntific research, here are the
scientifically proveo reasons why most
fairy tales are not fit for your children
to read.
1)
Most Fairy Tales Are
Preoccupied With Violence,
Crime, Sadism, and Death
Dr. Francis A. Macnab, of Cairn–
millar lnstitute of Melbourne, Australia,
has devoted the past twclve years to
study of the psychiatríc cffects of fairy
tales. He and a leading Australian edu–
cator, Heather Lyon, principal of the
state-run Kindergarten Teacher's Col–
lege, had this to say:
"Sorne fairy tales, including Grimm's,
were too
sadistir
for young children.
Jack, during his tangle with the giant,
committed about cvcry crimc there is.
First, he
disobeyed
his mother by
swapping the cow for beans instead of
money. Then he
.rtole
the giant's bird
which laid thc golden cggs. Not con–
tent, Jack
11wrders
the giant. And for
good mcasure, Jack indulges
in
sorne
vandalism.
He cuts clown the beanstalk.
The giant, meanwhile, introduces
tiny
minds to
camliba/i.rm:
'Fee
fi
fo fum, I
smell the blood of an Englíshman. Be
he alive or be he dead, 1'11 grind his
bones to make my bread.'"
Beautiful literature, you say?
Look at
Hmue/ and Gretel, Little
Red Riding Hood, The Three Pigs,
Suow IY/hite.
and many other popular
tales. Oeath, violence, and torture are
dished out in hefty portions - aU
in
the name of fantasy. "At kindergarten
age, 3
Y
2
to 5," concluded Miss Lyon,
"children have dífficulty in distinguish–
ing reality from fiction.''
Just as most
comics
aren't vcry com–
ical, most faíry tales are not very
"fairy"-like. Many youngsters suddenly
bolt awake from sleep crying in terror
from such storícs as the huffing and
The
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puffing of "the Big Bad Wolf." Ruth
C.
Horell wrote that "the fear-inspiring
elements may yield unfortunate returns
in emotionally disturbed children"
("Fairy Tales and Their Effect Upon
Children," Illinois Libraries, Part 1,
Sept., 1956).
2)
Dangerous Escape From
Reality
Even more serious, in the minds of
many psychiatrists, is the second point
- the habitual escape from reality
which fairy tales encourage.
Psychiatrists define insanity as a pcr–
manent "escape from reality.'' Yet few
see the relationshi p between seeking
escape in youthful fantasy and the ulti–
mate escape of psychosis. Onc writer
called fantasy a "too easy recourse to
escape"
(J
osette Frank,
Y o
m
Chi/d'
s
Reading T oday,
p. 82). Many writers
are concerned. But the psychiatric pro–
fession, in general, has spoken out
loudest against such habitual and detri–
mental escape from reality.
The
Jo11mal of General Ps)cholog)
carried a synopsis of each of the 166
articles on fantasy published in English–
language journals during the 30 years
from 1929 through 1958. The con–
clusions were p rinted in the
Joumal's
artide, "Fantasy and Its Effects" by
John Blazer ( 1964, Vol ume 70, pp.
163-182).
If
you are concerned about the effect
of fantasy on your childrcn, you may
want to read this cntire article at your
local university library. Here is a short
summary of what nearly 200 psy–
chiatrists fouod:
Psychiatrists in the
J
Ollmttl
article
described the mentally ill as ones who
could not cast off the influence of soci–
ety's "canned fantasies" and face mature
decisions as adults. The classic psy–
chotic, they implied,
never ditl
face real–
ity. Imagination helped the psychotic to
escape intolerable situations and Ree
back to childhood "to a happier time in
which fantasy prevails unhampered by
actuality."
Famed Austrian psychiatrist Alfred
Adler gave a stinging indictment of
children's faotasy. "Weak childrcn for
whom life is not always plcasant
develop greater
/JOII'ers of fanta.ry,"
wrote Adler in 1946. "Fantasy may be
April
1971
misused as a
condemnation
of reality."
Fantasy can also provide vicarious
lawbreaking - transgressing either nat–
ural physical laws or parental behav–
ioral laws - for the mind of an already
unstable child.
Perhaps you haven't analyzed the
underlying morals of fairy tales.
If
you
had, you would be very concerned about
the detrimental subconscious lessons
your children are learniog.
3)
Wrong Concepts Taught
The third danger for the child who
rcads overmuch fantasy is the contcnt
and concepts taught by the major fairy
tales. Here are
a
few of them:
Disre.rpect for tltllhoáty.
Many fairy
tales were originally written to lampoon
royalty, other authorities, and even God.
Havc you ever noticed that fairy tale
kings are usually represented as fat, dol–
tish, cruel, or insane, while the com–
moner hero is hard-working, honest,
and kind? Powerful, God-like authority
is shown to be a farce, as in the
Wizard
of Oz, oc
Jack lhe Giant-Killu.
Parents,
especially step-parents, are practically
witch-like. "Many parents are dis–
turbed," wrote
Child Stttd)
magazine,
"by the fact tbat fairy tales abound
with cruel mothers and fathers."
Two u·ro11gs
(apparently)
make
a
right.
The so-called "good guys" engage
in just as much lying, stealing, and
other chicanery as the "bad guys.''
T
he
y
ll.fe
e
rime
lo
catch criminal.r!
Both
good and bad guys are egually criminal.
"In certain of these stories," wrote a
rcspected tcacher's periodical, "dishon–
esty or chicanery
does pa)!
Often, as in
thc Grimm Brothers'
RmnpeJstiJ.rkiu
or
Andcrson's
Empero1-'s New Clothes
-
to cite the most obvious and beloved
stories - a man or womao gaios all by
sorne trick or deception, and the readers'
sympathies surely go to the deceivers!
But always there is this saving grace:
the dcception is practiced against charac–
ters the young reader sees as 'bad
guys'"
(Child St11dy,
vol. 35, no. 4, p.
36).
A more obvious example, describcd
in another edition of
Child St11d)'
maga–
zine, is "Jack, having been cheated,
scoldccl, threatened and chased, is
jttsti–
fied
in robbing and killing the giant"
(Conún11ed on page
37)