Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was the first feature length animation made by Disney in 1937. |
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. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn),父母們開始摒棄傳統(tǒng)的童話故事,因?yàn)樗鼈儗δ暧椎暮⒆觼碚f太嚇人。 調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),五分之一的父母已經(jīng)拋棄了《白雪公主和七個(gè)小矮人》、《長發(fā)姑娘》等古老的經(jīng)典童話,轉(zhuǎn)而選擇現(xiàn)代童話故事。 三分之一的父母說,他們的孩子在聽到《小紅帽》中陰森恐怖的情節(jié)后被嚇哭了。 近半數(shù)的父母們不愿給孩子念童話故事《紡線姑娘》,因?yàn)楣适碌闹黝}是綁架和處決。 同樣,《金發(fā)姑娘和三只熊》也很可能被遺棄在書架上,因?yàn)楦改競冇X得寬恕偷竊是不對的。 這一調(diào)查涵蓋了2000名成人。開展該調(diào)查是為了紀(jì)念美國熱門電視劇《格林》今晚9點(diǎn)在Watch首播,人們將看到6集根據(jù)傳統(tǒng)童話故事改編的情節(jié)大膽的電視劇。 調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),接受調(diào)查的父母有四分之一稱在孩子五歲前不會(huì)考慮給孩子念童話故事,因?yàn)楹⒆勇犃诉@些故事會(huì)提太多讓人尷尬的問題。 52%的父母說,灰姑娘給孩子傳遞了不良信息,因?yàn)樵撏捗枥L了一個(gè)成天做家務(wù)的年輕姑娘。 Watch的總經(jīng)理斯蒂夫?霍恩西說:“睡前故事本應(yīng)讓孩子平靜下來,讓他們進(jìn)入甜蜜夢鄉(xiāng)的。 “但就像我們在《格林》中看到的,童話可以是陰森、戲劇化的故事,所以可以理解父母會(huì)對給小孩念這種故事感到擔(dān)心。 “作為成人,我們可以看到童話里包含的純真,但一個(gè)想象力十分活躍的五歲小孩則會(huì)太把故事當(dāng)真。 “盡管像我們在《格林》中看到的,經(jīng)典童話故事包含陰暗的本質(zhì),但是善良最終會(huì)戰(zhàn)勝邪惡,而且每個(gè)故事都有道德寓意?!?/p> 研究還發(fā)現(xiàn),三分之二的父母盡量避開會(huì)讓孩子做惡夢的故事。 不過,半數(shù)父母認(rèn)為,傳統(tǒng)童話故事相對于《咕嚕?!?、《匈牙利毛毛蟲》、《奇先生妙小姐》等很多現(xiàn)代兒童圖書能更有力地傳遞道德信息。 不再給孩子念的十大童話故事: 1. 《漢斯和格蕾特》——兩個(gè)小孩被遺棄在森林里的情節(jié)會(huì)嚇到年幼的孩子。 2. 《杰克與豆莖》——被認(rèn)為“太脫離現(xiàn)實(shí)”。 3. 《姜餅人》——將難以解釋姜餅人被狐貍吃掉的情節(jié)。 4. 《小紅帽》——被認(rèn)為不合適是因?yàn)楦改覆坏貌唤忉屝」媚锏淖婺副焕浅缘簟?/p> 5. 《白雪公主和七個(gè)小矮人》——“矮人”一詞被認(rèn)為不合適。 6. 《灰姑娘》——故事里描述的年輕姑娘做所有家務(wù)活已經(jīng)過時(shí)了。 7. 《長發(fā)姑娘》——小姑娘被綁架的主題讓父母擔(dān)心。 8. 《紡線姑娘》——念到執(zhí)行死刑和綁架的情節(jié)讓人感到不快。 9. 《金發(fā)姑娘和三只熊》——傳遞了關(guān)于偷竊的錯(cuò)誤信息。 10. 《蜜蜂王后》——這一故事不合適是因?yàn)橛袀€(gè)人物名叫“傻瓜”。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: ditch: 拋棄,丟棄 scrap: 廢棄 gruesome: 可怕的,陰森的 condone: 寬恕 gritty: 勇敢的,大膽的 prompt: 引起,激起 |