父母认为传统童话故事“太吓人”少儿不宜

Traditional fairytales are being ditched by parents because they are too scary for their young children, a study found。

Research revealed one in five parents has scrapped old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favour of more modern books。

One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the gruesome details of Little Red Riding Hood。

And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids as the themes of the story are kidnapping and execution。

Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condones stealing。

The survey of 2,000 adults was commissioned to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six gritty episodes based on traditional fairytales。

The poll found a quarter of parents polled wouldn't consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their offspring。

And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it portrays a young woman doing housework all day。

Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to soothe children and send them off to sleep soundly。

"But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children。

"As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could take things too literally。

"Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story."

The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares。

However half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr Men books。

TOP TEN FAIRYTALES NO LONGER READ TO CHILDREN

1. Hansel and Gretel - Details two kids abandoned in the forest and likely to scare young children

2. Jack and the Beanstalk - Deemed too 'unrealistic'。

3. Gingerbread Man - Would be uncomfortable explaining gingerbread man gets eaten by a fox

4. Little Red Riding Hood - Deemed unsuitable by parents who have to explain a young girl's grandmother has been eaten by a wolf。

5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - the term dwarves was found to be inappropriate

6. Cinderella - Story about a young girl doing all the housework was outdated。

7. Rapunzel - Parents were worried about the focus on a young girl being kidnapped。

8. Rumplestiltskin - Wouldn't be happy reading about executions and kidnapping

9. Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Sends the wrong messages about stealing

10. Queen Bee - Inappropriate as the story has a character called Simpleton。

　一项研究发现，父母们开始摒弃传统的童话故事，因为它们对年幼的孩子来说太吓人。

调查发现，五分之一的父母已经抛弃了《白雪公主和七个小矮人》、《长发姑娘》等古老的经典童话，转而选择现代童话故事。

三分之一的父母说，他们的孩子在听到《小红帽》中阴森恐怖的情节后被吓哭了。

近半数的父母们不愿给孩子念童话故事《纺线姑娘》，因为故事的主题是绑架和处决。

同样，《金发姑娘和三只熊》也很可能被遗弃在书架上，因为父母们觉得宽恕偷窃是不对的。

这一调查涵盖了2000名成人。开展该调查是为了纪念美国热门电视剧《格林》今晚9点在Watch首播，人们将看到6集根据传统童话故事改编的情节大胆的电视剧。

调查发现，接受调查的父母有四分之一称在孩子五岁前不会考虑给孩子念童话故事，因为孩子听了这些故事会提太多让人尴尬的问题。

52%的父母说，灰姑娘给孩子传递了不良信息，因为该童话描绘了一个成天做家务的年轻姑娘。

Watch的总经理斯蒂夫•霍恩西说：“睡前故事本应让孩子平静下来，让他们进入甜蜜梦乡的。

“但就像我们在《格林》中看到的，童话可以是阴森、戏剧化的故事，所以可以理解父母会对给小孩念这种故事感到担心。

“作为成人，我们可以看到童话里包含的纯真，但一个想象力十分活跃的五岁小孩则会太把故事当真。

“尽管像我们在《格林》中看到的，经典童话故事包含阴暗的本质，但是善良最终会战胜邪恶，而且每个故事都有道德寓意。”

研究还发现，三分之二的父母尽量避开会让孩子做恶梦的故事。

不过，半数父母认为，传统童话故事相对于《咕噜牛》、《匈牙利毛毛虫》、《奇先生妙小姐》等很多现代儿童图书能更有力地传递道德信息。

不再给孩子念的十大童话故事：

1. 《汉斯和格蕾特》——两个小孩被遗弃在森林里的情节会吓到年幼的孩子。

2. 《杰克与豆茎》——被认为“太脱离现实”。

3. 《姜饼人》——将难以解释姜饼人被狐狸吃掉的情节。

4. 《小红帽》——被认为不合适是因为父母不得不解释小姑娘的祖母被狼吃掉。

5. 《白雪公主和七个小矮人》——“矮人”一词被认为不合适。

6. 《灰姑娘》——故事里描述的年轻姑娘做所有家务活已经过时了。

7. 《长发姑娘》——小姑娘被绑架的主题让父母担心。

8. 《纺线姑娘》——念到执行死刑和绑架的情节让人感到不快。

9. 《金发姑娘和三只熊》——传递了关于偷窃的错误信息。

10. 《蜜蜂王后》——这一故事不合适是因为有个人物名叫“傻瓜”。