I was asked to research when and why the filtering of children's stories started. This is something I started to look into at the beginning of the semester, but I was unable to find enough credible sources to back up my hypothesis.

A Spoon Full of Salt

Attitudes toward child rearing changed fundamentally after Dr. Spock's book in the late 1940s. His book, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, was not the first "owner’s manual" for children, but unlike others, Dr. Spock emphasized constant encouragement with instilling a sort of "you can do or be anything" mindset in a child from an early age. His approach resonated in the American Post WWII society because we believed the economic boom we were experiencing was a sort of manifest destiny, rather than the result of the fact that we were the only industrialized nation that had not just had our manufacturing infrastructure bombed into rubble. The American middle class believed the economy and standard of living would just continue to grow forever, so they cultivated a belief in children that they would achieve all their dreams. The result is a society that does not believe in consequences that they cannot fix, and does not see the need to expose children to sadness, fear, or anger as if these are emotions future generations will not have to deal with.

The validity of the belief that quality of life would increase exponentially aside, removing half the spectrum of emotional colors from the palate of literary art that children are exposed to robs youth of some of the most powerful and beautiful gifts art can offer.

Spock, Benjamin. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. (New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1946)

1. Watson, John Psychological Care of Infant and Child, (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1928).

2. Holt, Luther Emmett. The Care and Feeding of Children, (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1894).