On the 5th June, Richard Dawkins caused a bit of
a fuss by making a number of comments about fairy tales. In an interview with Richard Bacon about fairy tales and
fantasy, Dawkins posed the question:
“Is it a good idea to go along with the fantasies of childhood?”
and added:
"I think it's rather pernicious to inculcate into a
child a view of the world which includes supernaturalism."
This provoked a media storm, resulting in a number of
articles misrepresenting his comments such as:
‘Fairy tales and believing in Father Christmas could cause
children harm. This is according to controversial biologist Richard Dawkins who
warned an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival about the dangers of
make-believe.’ (The Daily Mail)
‘Reading fairy stories to
children is harmful, says Richard Dawkins’ (The Telegraph)
Dawkins later clarified
his position on fairy tales in an interview with the Guardian, saying
"What I actually think is
that fairy tales can be wonderful. They are part of childhood, they are
stretching the imagination of children...about ten years ago I raised the
question whether a diet of supernatural magic spells might possibly have a
detrimental effect on a child's critical thinking. I genuinely don't know the
answer to that, and what I repeated at Cheltenham is that I think it is a very
interesting question. I actually think there might be a positive benefit in
fairy tales for a child's critical thinking" (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/05/richard-dawkins-fairytales-not-harmful)Following all this kerfuffle, Channel 5 news invited me to come on and discuss the importance of reading fairy tales to children.
It was one of those days when your opportunity comes at the worst possible time: my kids had been up in the night with colds, I hadn’t washed my hair in days, I was on my way to my day job where I had a meeting with the Treasury about the future of policing, my phone wasn’t fully charged, I had no make-up on and, worst of all, I was wearing green (a big no-no in TV world). So I rushed around like a mad thing stressing about it all.
My segment was really short and there was so much I wanted to say that I couldn’t fit everything in!
My
3 minutes of fame is here:
I wanted to say:
Fairy tales deal with difficult and dark themes. They provide a vehicle for children to explore those themes within the safe space of a familiar tale, with fantasy characters. They help children come to terms with real fears and they encourage empathy for others with less fortunate lives.
They are not particularly about magic. They are stories of human behaviour – of struggle, of survival, of hope. They deal with the enduring concepts of love and friendship and the triumph of good over evil. They carry morals (love someone for who they are) as well as warnings (don’t talk to strangers).
As adults we read and watch a lot of fantasy, from genre shows like Games of Thrones, to action films like James Bond. We don’t constantly need to remind adults that 007 couldn’t really have jumped out of a plane and opened his parachute the second before a plane exploded, or that The Matrix doesn’t comply with the laws of physics. As adults we know that fantasy is escapism and fun. And we can distinguish easily between fact and fiction. We should accord children that same level of intelligence – we shouldn’t patronise them. I don’t know a single child who really believes that a frog could turn into a prince if you kissed it! Children understand allegory and they recognise the moral portrayed in the story.
I believe that, for the most part, we should let children choose what they want to read and what stories they want to listen to. There is a reason fairy tales have lasted so many years and are still being made into blockbuster films in 2014 – they are exciting and adventurous and they deal with issues that are still relevant today.
And as for me: I’ve
learned that I need to carry a phone charger and a little make-up bag with me
everywhere I go!
P.S. Philip Pullman has
written a much better article than mine on Dawkins and Fairy tales here:
Abie's latest book, The Fairytale Hairdresser and Snow White, is in book shops now.
