<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Several authors draw attention to implicit or explicit messages about the real world, aspects that we probably think less about when choosing a story to read to young children. Examples of behavioural antimodels can be easily captured by a competent pedagogue or parent in narrative writings such as fairy tales or stories belonging to well-known writers from the international and Romanian literature. The present study envisages a qualitative investigative approach, based on semi-structured interviews, aiming to explore parents’ perceptions regarding the effect of preschoolers’ exposure to stereotypes and verbal and behavioural aggression found in many of the traditional fairy tales and most circulated stories. The results of the study were compiled by investigating the responses of the 12 participants (N=12) based on three dimensions of analysis. Thus, a first dimension focused on the vision of the effects of aggression present in literary texts on children and the way to manage passages marked by violence. The second dimension sought to identify the opinion of the parents interviewed in relation to the possible consequences of the repeated exposure of children to clichés and stereotypes. The last unit of analysis aimed to picture the participants’ beliefs regarding the need to harmonize the subjects of fairy tales and stories heard by preschoolers to the current lifestyle of today’s society. The end of the paper includes a series of discussions with reference to the educational implications, limitations of the study and future research directions.</p>
</abstract>

Several authors draw attention to implicit or explicit messages about the real world, aspects that we probably think less about when choosing a story to read to young children. Examples of behavioural antimodels can be easily captured by a competent pedagogue or parent in narrative writings such as fairy tales or stories belonging to well-known writers from the international and Romanian literature. The present study envisages a qualitative investigative approach, based on semi-structured interviews, aiming to explore parents’ perceptions regarding the effect of preschoolers’ exposure to stereotypes and verbal and behavioural aggression found in many of the traditional fairy tales and most circulated stories. The results of the study were compiled by investigating the responses of the 12 participants (N=12) based on three dimensions of analysis. Thus, a first dimension focused on the vision of the effects of aggression present in literary texts on children and the way to manage passages marked by violence. The second dimension sought to identify the opinion of the parents interviewed in relation to the possible consequences of the repeated exposure of children to clichés and stereotypes. The last unit of analysis aimed to picture the participants’ beliefs regarding the need to harmonize the subjects of fairy tales and stories heard by preschoolers to the current lifestyle of today’s society. The end of the paper includes a series of discussions with reference to the educational implications, limitations of the study and future research directions.

Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales

PhD student enrolled in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences in the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi

Journal of Education, Society & Multiculturalism

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Children\u2019s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales"}

Several authors draw attention to implicit or explicit messages about the real world, aspects that we probably think less about when choosing a story to read...

Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales

Published Online: Dec 06, 2023

Page range: 85 - 105

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jesm-2023-0019

Keywords
children’s stories, aggression content, deviant behaviors

© 2023 Mihaela Romaniuc et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales

Published Online: Dec 06, 2023

Page range: 85 - 105

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jesm-2023-0019

Keywordschildren’s stories, aggression content, deviant behaviors

© 2023 Mihaela Romaniuc et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
children’s stories, aggression content, deviant behaviors