Around the Web – The Importance of Fairy Tales for the Lives of Our Children
New Covenant School is a PK2 – 12 private Classical Christian school in Anderson, SC.
This article was originally published on the Society for Classical Learning website and has been republished here. “Around the Web” content is provided to promote and encourage conversation and is not necessarily endorsed by New Covenant School.
These are troubling times for our children. The range of dangers—both physical and spiritual—that exists cannot be understated. Our children are in jeopardy. We can measure a precipitous decline of morality in our youth, and we see them commit chilling acts of violence.
In my book, Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination, I endeavored to show parents and teachers how they might begin in order to launch our children on the path of a life well-lived, to live a godly life in a world that often scorns what that represents and to equip them with the virtues to better discern good from evil.
In these times, Christian parents and teachers must find the means to address the whole question of character and virtue, despite the chatter of modern sophists who seek to persuade us that we wrong our children by instilling our own values in them. Christians, however, believe that we live in a moral universe governed by a gracious God. We believe that the Father who loves us and sent his only Son to redeem us from sin and death also holds us accountable as parents for how we raise our children and what kind of persons they become. The kind of boat in which we cast off our children onto the sea of life makes a difference as to whether they sink into the abyss or reach the shores of Paradise.
Click below to continue reading on the Society for Classical Learning’s website.