Vulpix
01-05-2009, 12:20 PM
Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1105662/Politically-correct-parents-ditch-offensive-traditional-fairy-tales.html): Politically correct parents are scrapping traditional fairy tales at bedtime - because they're too offensive and too scary.
A survey of 3,000 parents has found one in four mums has ditched old classics like Cinderella and Rapunzel in favour of The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Gruffalo.
One in 10 parents even said Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs should be re-titled Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged People - because they believe 'the dwarf reference is not PC'. :rotfl
Rapunzel is considered 'too dark' and Cinderella has been dumped because she is forced to do the housework and sit on cinders.
The poll of 3,000 British parents revealed 66 per cent believe traditional fairy tales have stronger morality messages than many modern children's stories.
But many feel this type of reading is inappropriate to soothe youngsters before bed.
A third of parents won't read Little Red Riding Hood because she walks alone through woods and finds her grandmother has been eaten by a wolf.
Almost one in five adults also said they had abandoned Hansel and Gretel because they are abandoned in a forest.
A spokesman from TheBabyWebsite.com, which carried out the research, said: "Fairy Tales take children to a land of make-believe where they can use their imaginations and where generally the 'goodies' beat the 'baddies'.
'Children love being read a variety of stories and it's a great shame that so many of today's PC mums and dads are rejecting fairy tales which have stood the test of time, entertaining children for hundreds or thousands of years.'
A fifth of parents said fairy tales were no longer politically correct, while 17 per cent worried the old stories would give their children nightmares.
The most popular book read at bedtime is now The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
The simple tale, which features a greedy caterpillar eating too much food, was written in 1969.
It also emerged 65 per cent of parents prefer to read their children happier tales at bedtime, such as the Mr Men, The Gruffalo and Winnie the Pooh.
Three quarters of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares and half of all parents wouldn't consider reading a single fairy tale to their child until they reach the age of five :eek::rolleyes2:.
Mum-of-three Sarah Pilkinton, 36, of Sevenoaks, Kent, said: "I loved the old fairy stories when I was growing up.
'I still read my children some of the classics like Sleeping Beauty and Goldilocks, but I must admit I've not read them The Gingerbread Man or Hansel and Gretel.
'They are both a bit scary and I remember having difficulty sleeping after being read those ones when I was little.'
A fifth of parents don't like to tell their children about The Gingerbread Man as he gets eaten by a fox.
A survey of 3,000 parents has found one in four mums has ditched old classics like Cinderella and Rapunzel in favour of The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Gruffalo.
One in 10 parents even said Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs should be re-titled Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged People - because they believe 'the dwarf reference is not PC'. :rotfl
Rapunzel is considered 'too dark' and Cinderella has been dumped because she is forced to do the housework and sit on cinders.
The poll of 3,000 British parents revealed 66 per cent believe traditional fairy tales have stronger morality messages than many modern children's stories.
But many feel this type of reading is inappropriate to soothe youngsters before bed.
A third of parents won't read Little Red Riding Hood because she walks alone through woods and finds her grandmother has been eaten by a wolf.
Almost one in five adults also said they had abandoned Hansel and Gretel because they are abandoned in a forest.
A spokesman from TheBabyWebsite.com, which carried out the research, said: "Fairy Tales take children to a land of make-believe where they can use their imaginations and where generally the 'goodies' beat the 'baddies'.
'Children love being read a variety of stories and it's a great shame that so many of today's PC mums and dads are rejecting fairy tales which have stood the test of time, entertaining children for hundreds or thousands of years.'
A fifth of parents said fairy tales were no longer politically correct, while 17 per cent worried the old stories would give their children nightmares.
The most popular book read at bedtime is now The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
The simple tale, which features a greedy caterpillar eating too much food, was written in 1969.
It also emerged 65 per cent of parents prefer to read their children happier tales at bedtime, such as the Mr Men, The Gruffalo and Winnie the Pooh.
Three quarters of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares and half of all parents wouldn't consider reading a single fairy tale to their child until they reach the age of five :eek::rolleyes2:.
Mum-of-three Sarah Pilkinton, 36, of Sevenoaks, Kent, said: "I loved the old fairy stories when I was growing up.
'I still read my children some of the classics like Sleeping Beauty and Goldilocks, but I must admit I've not read them The Gingerbread Man or Hansel and Gretel.
'They are both a bit scary and I remember having difficulty sleeping after being read those ones when I was little.'
A fifth of parents don't like to tell their children about The Gingerbread Man as he gets eaten by a fox.