Holiday Myths Why You Should Lie To Your Kids

Many children grew up hearing stories about fairies and dragons. The stories involved a Knight in Shining Armor and a princess in need of being saved. The knight would then risk his life to save the princess in danger. These stories affected these kids and gave them imagination. Without some of these stories, kids would have grown up not having an imagination or dreams. Dreams gave kids joy and made them want to become a princess or a prince who slays dragons. In Shrek Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio make fun of fairytales through parody, irony, reversal and exaggeration.

The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, and Santa Claus, what do all of these have in common? For me, it is the innocence of a child. Children seem to be more gullible and believe anything you tell them; they do not know the difference between a lie and the truth. During the Christmas of 2003, I was five years old and still believed in Santa Claus. The fact of believing in Santa Claus expresses the innocence of a child and brings the magic to Christmas.

Prior to reading the text, I had no belief in this myth. I know that it could influence your decision, but very rarely would it ever make your own decision. Peers have a lot of influence on a person, or someone could be interested in something completely different than their parents and make their decision based on their interests. After reading, I can tell how myths originate and how they are believed true to this day. If an occurrence happens over and over again it could be taken as a truth rather than a myth. Scientific reasoning is very important in psychology, because it can prove things to be false. When studying the mind, science gives us a definite answer, while myths let our minds linger one way or another believing in things we shouldn’t or having no strength to believe something we

Fairy Tales are not just stories that parents tell to their children, but stories with hidden valuable messages which are mostly left on a side. In the article “An Introduction to Fairy Tales,” Maria Tatar clearly explains how people need fairy tales in their lives. Tatar also states how fairy tales have the ability to take the listener, especially children’s, into a journey in which they can play with their imagination so that they can discover their deepest fears and wishes. Personally I agree with the author, because of the fact that in an individual’s lives as they get older, they will try to define themselves, sometimes comparing their own life with a character from their favorite story or Fairy Tale.

In Tatar’s article, An Introduction to Fairy Tales, she draws us in by describing childhood books as “sacred objects.” She takes a quote from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. describing how the stories give lessons about what a child subconsciously knows - “that human nature is not innately good, that conflict is real, that life is harsh before it is happy - and thereby reassure them about their own fears and their own sense of self,” (Tatar 306). She describes how many adults long for the simplicity of enjoying those stories in their childhoods, only to realize that they outgrew them, and instead have been introduced to reality. The original stories were more for adults rather than for children. Nowadays, stories have been adapted to be more suitable for children. Fairy tales may allow a kid to wonder due to their charm, but they also can

Santa Claus is the one thing children believe in unfailingly. I mean, the exact gifts they want for Christmas always appear under the tree overnight, and for a child the only explanation is magic. But in today’s world of over parenting, the

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No matter how old I get, I still can’t sleep on Christmas Eve. As a child, my brother and I would be ushered off to bed early, just to lie there with heavy eyes. We would try so hard to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus. Growing up we are all imprinted with the idea of a portly man in a red suit coming down our chimney to deposit gifts under our tree; that is, if you made the nice list. This ideology is a hundred and fifty year old tradition that encourages a child to believe in a fabricated being in exchange for a reward. As much as our parents try to shelter us from the truth, it is inevitable that we will discover that our beloved Santa is nothing more than a fable. As a child our naivety is attributed to our innocence, but as adults, there is a myriad of information out there for the taking.

Once the leaves begin to alter their color for the winter, most houses and businesses also change their appearance for the winter. Many families drag out their boxes of red and green to decorate their house for the holidays. Parents may brave a line stretching down the mall so their child can tell Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, what he or she wishes to unwrap on Christmas morning. Some parents question the effect of a child’s health or morals associated with the belief in Santa Claus, but, with research and psychologists weighing in on the subject, there is no tramatic evidence apparent in letting a child have faith in Santa Claus. Evidence gathered may suggest a benefit for children. Children should have the oportunity to believe in Santa Claus because it stems creativity and can improve mental health, shows youth an example of giving without expecting anything in return, and when the time comes, forces kids to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

In Bruce Lincolns preface, he says myths can be seen as strongly negative, strongly positive, or somewhere in between (Lincoln, 1999, pg. ix). An example given to describe this gray space is of myths being stories for children (1999). To my cousin and I, these stories were strongly positive. In our eyes they were as Lincoln says, the “primordial truth” (1999). Gifts from the past our paw paw decided to give us when we needed to be sat down after a sugar high, or when we begged him until he caved. To my Grandma they were just foolish lies that she hoped our impressionable minds wouldn’t cling on strongly too. Reflecting on this now, I see that it was just a story for children,

Myths serve an important purpose in today’s world and modern society due to the way they teach morals and life lessons. Myths have an impact on the way we live our lives and the actions we take. Myths have a significant sociological function, helping us to understand ourselves as part of a wider human story, and where we fit within it.

There is nothing more precious and heartwarming than the innocence of a child. The majority of parents in society want to shield children from the bad in life which is appreciated. Within human nature exists desires of inappropriate behavior; envy, deceit, selfishness, revenge, violence, assault and murder. The most well-known fairy tales depict virtue and the evil in life. Even more important, the form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give a better direction to his life. (Bettelheim).

Does hiding the truth from children normally help or hinder them? Argue whether Guido’s constant refusal to tell his son the exact truth is the right or wrong thing to do. Hiding the truth from children is a bad thing because you are suppose to tell them the truth every time if you do not tell your son/daughter they will find out then they will be even more devastated. Guido should have told his son the truth he did not want to tell him the truth because he probably knew what would happen throughout the time they will be in that concentration camp it does not matter if you are in the camp joshua is going to find out the truth either way then he will be mad at his dad for not telling him the truth.While joshua was hiding outside of the bedrooms

Fairy tales are something that everyone has read or seen, they all seem to have important lessons at the end of each one to teach young children some of the lessons they need for life. These fairy tales when we were younger all seemed innocent and something we all hoped that would happen to us. Little did we know as we got older that the fairy tales we all knew and loved when we were younger, weren't as innocent as they seemed.