I was shocked the other day when someone told me that kids today are never read Grimm’s Fairy Tales. “What” I said, “why?” And the answer was that they are too scary for children! So, of course, I thought about it for quite a while and decided that I need to refute that crazy thought.

When I was little, I loved the Grimm’s Fairy Tales and was never scared by them. However, I was scared by the face of the wicked stepmother in the movie version of Snow White! But all during my younger days, because I could read at such an early age, I was given a set of Grimm’s and Anderson’s Fairy tales. Well, it didn’t take long before I realized that the Grimm brothers wrote tales that I loved, but Mr. Anderson wrote tales that I really didn’t like. I still think about that poor little ugly duckling who no one loved until he became a swan and pretty! Does that send a good message? Ugly is an outcast but pretty is good? Not in my book!

And I have always thought that most of his tales send either a bad message or are just too scary to be acceptable.

Now, the Grimm brothers are a different story (ha, ha, ha). Although many of their tales are a little scary, they always have a good ending. The bad witch or evil person always seem to get it in the end. Look at Hansel and Gretel. Although they are captured by the evil witch, they get her in the end by pushing her into the oven that she was trying to put Hansel in. I don’t know about you, but I was always very happy to read that ending! And if you think about it, almost all of their tales have the same kind of ending. The evil character gets his or hers, while the good person has a good life and a happy ending. And that folks, is how it should be.

So now we have the questions as to why our children of today aren’t told these stories because they are too scary? And it is my opinion that those of us who were brought up on these fairy tales have, for the most part, turned out alright! And for those who haven’t, I find it hard to blame their lifestyle choices on fairy tales.

But back to our children of today. It is my opinion that the scariest thing that the children are exposed to today is the news on TV. And if you are naive enough to think that the children don’t watch it or don’t understand what they are watching, I think you are 100% wrong! But let’s assume you are right and that you don’t allow your children to watch the evening news. Do they have a cell phone? Or do they have an iPad or some other type of device to play video games on? And if they do, the evening news is only a small part of the frightening things that are available to them, on a daily even an hourly basis.

Nothing is much worse than many of the video games that our children play every single day. If you think I am exaggerating, take the time to find out just what games they are actually playing. Just because you didn’t buy them for them doesn’t mean that they don’t get them from their friends. And those games, my friends, are the most frightening things you can imagine! Instead of hearing about or reading about a wicked witch, which everyone knows really aren’t real, they are exposed to video games which kill and torture in the most realistic ways possible. And even if you think that you are keeping track of what your children are playing and exposed to, again, you are being quite naïve!

You know that I am on my way to make a suggestion, fairy tale wise. Come on, give your children (or grandchildren) the opportunity to cuddle up with you and hear the fantasy stories that allow them to hear about make-believe. Unfortunately, it is only in fairy tales that good always triumphs over evil. And that folks, is still a good thing!