Children’s 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 to young children. Examples of behavioural antimodels can be easily captured by a competent pedagogue or parent in narrative writings such as...

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Main Authors: Romaniuc Mihaela, Vechiu Adina-Petronela
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2023-12-01
Series:Journal of Education, Society & Multiculturalism
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/jesm-2023-0019
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author Romaniuc Mihaela
Vechiu Adina-Petronela
author_facet Romaniuc Mihaela
Vechiu Adina-Petronela
author_sort Romaniuc Mihaela
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj.art-e6e66b69be7d4b8f8858d9ac991772092023-12-11T07:37:54ZengSciendoJournal of Education, Society & Multiculturalism2734-47542023-12-01428510510.2478/jesm-2023-0019Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy talesRomaniuc Mihaela0Vechiu Adina-Petronela11PhD student enrolled in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences in the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania2PhD student enrolled in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences in the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania, and a teaching assistant at the same facultySeveral 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.https://doi.org/10.2478/jesm-2023-0019children’s storiesaggression contentdeviant behaviors
spellingShingle Romaniuc Mihaela
Vechiu Adina-Petronela
Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
Journal of Education, Society & Multiculturalism
children’s stories
aggression content
deviant behaviors
title Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
title_full Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
title_fullStr Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
title_full_unstemmed Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
title_short Children’s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
title_sort children s exposure to aggression and stereotypes presented in fairy tales
topic children’s stories
aggression content
deviant behaviors
url https://doi.org/10.2478/jesm-2023-0019
work_keys_str_mv AT romaniucmihaela childrensexposuretoaggressionandstereotypespresentedinfairytales
AT vechiuadinapetronela childrensexposuretoaggressionandstereotypespresentedinfairytales