The Importance of Fairy Tales for Children

Since the beginning of time, Fairy Tales have been shared all around the world to entertain, yet to spark imagination of life’s greatest truths. They provide an outlet for all sorts of aspects ranging from typical to atypical. Although they are widely notorious for their enticing storylines, the genre of folklore anchors the ongoing debate about whether they are valuable or not for the development of children. Parents around the world believe that fairy tales are too violent and the problems characters face differ from problems in the real world making them inadequate to share with children. On the other hand, parents believe these stories portray real moral lessons and captivate the imagination of young minds, enhancing creativity and reasoning skills within children. Despite the cons of fairy tales that are respected, it is sacred for children to be exposed to this literature as it can supplement their thinking process, teach life lessons, and build up perseverance. 

Following the thinking process of children, fairy tales cast rich visual and contextual elements that bring out solid emotions and ideas. Bruno Bettelheim, an Austrian-born psychologist, scholar, public intellectual and author, concentrates his book “The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales: The Child’s Need For Magic” on a child’s need to understand the importance of lessons taught in fairy tales, as they work to teach juveniles how to apply themselves to life and human nature. According to the book, Bettelheim presents “Fairy tales leave to the child’s fantasizing whether and how to apply to himself what the story reveals about life and human nature...The fairy tale proceeds in a manner which conforms to the way a child thinks and experiences the world; this is why the fairy tale is so convincing to him” focusing on how tales support the construction of young minds (Bettelheim 45). This quote portrays how fairy tales contribute to thought processes in children which allows them to think critically to think beyond what they already know or don’t know. Differing from Bettelhim, Lisa Belkin, an American journalist and author, believes fairy tales intrude upon politically correct instances and ferment their overall perception of reality. In Belkin’s essay “Are Fairy Tales Too Scary for Children”, she states “These stories give the message that unattractive people are evil, women can get by on their beauty, and you never see Princess Charming swooping in to rescue the Prince” as she dives into what she believes fairy tales represent (Belkin). This quote is an example of how countless parental figures view fairy tales instead of seeing them as vivid storylines that seek to teach new twists in life. Fairy Tales do not center their ideas around negativity to cause insecurity or offend people, but rather they exploit all sorts of scenarios in hopes to grasp the attention of children to teach them the power of imagination and to be open to developing new perspectives on life. 

The teaching and exposure of life lessons is a necessary part of growing in a world full of chaos and tragedy. Laura Bryan, involved with Mississippi State University, highlights the proposition that fairy tales could be used as a method of teaching character education in her Journal of Social Studies Research “Once Upon a Time: A Grimm Approach to Character Development”. Examining the volume, Bryan stipulates “The use of children's literature has  been well-established as a resource for teaching all academic areas of the curriculum...In fact, according to Lamme  (1996),  quality children's literature is woven with strands of ethical concept and democratic principles” presenting how tales can support the construct of young minds (Bryan). This quote comes to show that fairy tales incorporate provoking ideas that can be applied to learning about real life situations. Not only do they promote this understanding, but these folktales also strengthen the attitudes of young readers, promoting individual character development. As an example of a life lesson experience, Bryan invokes “One of the earliest tales in the Grimm’s collection is “The Frog Prince”... The lesson for us in this tale is clear...We must accept  the  commitments that we make regardless of the circumstances under which they were made... When we remain true to our commitments and keep our promises, things usually turn out well” making it clear that truthfulness and loyalty are important attributes (Bryan). Addressing one of many lessons, this quote represents how the basis of a fairy tale, in this case “The Frog Prince”, influences the need towards positive behavior and the understanding that owning up to your word is the moral thing to do. Though it can be difficult at times to easily understand the plots of tales, learning to understand their true meanings rather than just the surface area can be beneficial towards teaching. As the world continues to change drastically, addressing life lessons through the help of fairy tales can frame character development and values in today’s youth. 

Perseverance, despite odds or obstacles that may exist, is an essential quality towards success in life. Janice Bland, a professor in English Language and Literature Teaching, directs her book “Children’s Literature and Learner Empowerment: Children and Teenagers in English Language Education” towards the contribution of literature in relation to reading and learning empowerment. Unraveling the beneficial challenges of picture books, Bland states “Enigmatic picture books, with their juxtapositions of meanings created through pictures, words, layout and gaps invite participation, reflection, entice re-readings and encourage stimulating booktalk...cognitive processes that can be set in motion by picture narratives serve to kindle children’s confidence in their own reading response” providing a safe space for children to learn and to share their ideas (Bland 35). This quote provides further evidence towards children's confidence as it is expanded through the stimulation of vivid readings, which encourages them to think more and speak openly about their takes on readings. Based on children learning at young ages, Bland exposes “From the first years of language learning, children’s literary texts, including poems, picture books and fairy tales, can give children faith in their thinking skills – as well as sewing the seeds of the habit of literature...This can help prevent a disruption or dramatic shift from early language learning to later literature studies'' encouraging them to enjoy learning from young (Bland 18). Exposing literature such as fairy tales to children at the beginning of their education endeavour can help to broaden their minds to not only believe certain things occur in life and give them more confidence to apply their critical thinking to solving problems. Moreover, fairy tales allow children to enhance their confidence and find reasons to continue to want to learn more as their imagination develops and they can take on new shapes to discover further meanings. 

Evidently, fairy tales strike the minds of children globally and institute the feeling for creativity and imagination. They are not only silly stories, but they are stories with meaningful plots that seek to expose life lessons and diversity within the world. Fairy tales allow for children to expand their ways of thinking, to not be settled on common normalities. Life lessons are another huge aspect of life that fairy tales work to implement in order for young children to learn right from wrong in abstract ways to draw them in to learn more. Confidence is another major characteristic that fairy tales strengthen as they allow for children to learn from characters and carry out their positive mannerisms, ask captivating questions, and compare and contrast to what they already know. Thus, fairy tales are valuable for children to hear and comprehend.