What are some children's stories that actually have harmful morals?

Snow white, one cute single girl living with seven men.
The shame of it.

@SQUEEKY2
As a princess, she would have literally no idea how to do any of the household chores that the story sexistically relegates her to.
Realistically, she would have been the dwarves’ sex slave.

I never read the actual story of the Little Mermaid, but the movie, to me, set horrible morals. We have a rebellious child that completely disobeys her father. She makes a deal with the devil to get what she wants. When things go horribly wrong (as they will given these conditions), all those she loves have to pay the price to make things right for her. In the end, she is rewarded for all the trouble she caused.

The original brothers Grimm stories were grotesque. It had one of the evil step sisters slicing up her foot to get it to fit the glass slipper.

One of my old teachers once told us about a story (I think it was from the Grimm brothers) where a couple of children ran away from home. I don’t know what happened in the middle of the story but in the end they came back home safe. Only to have their parents grind them down to minced meat and feeding them to the ducks in a nearby pond. I don’t know if the moral is wrong, but the punishment seems a bit harsh to me.

@nerdgirl578
The moral of that story should be that it is right to escape from abusive parents and to never return.

@ragingloli I guess you’re right :)

It was a harsh, abusive time then. Life was abusive.

That the president of the country is always a man worthy of respect.

Androcles and the lion. As the old Fractured Fairy Tales cartoon (I think that was it) put it, “If a lion tells you he won’t eat you, don’t you believe it! ‘Cause he’s a lyin’!”

Green Eggs and Ham. ( No, sometimes it’s not ok to try something just because it’s different. )

The Wizard of Oz has strong, often noble women and weak but kind and insecure men who obey and rely on women and girls for direction and protection, and that’s a good thing in today’s culture. The men turn out to be humbugs and frauds when even thought to be great and powerful

But people in America once shunned the fact that you are NEVER supposed to have a laughing, joyous celebration that someone, even an enemy, has died. To rub it in, we should not teach children to celebrate that one’s enemy went to eternal fire and torment in Hell. As the munchkins sang, in the refrain:

She’s gone where the goblins go below!
Below, below yo ho!
Lets all get up and sing, and ring the bells—
Ding, dong, the merry- O Sing it High! Sing it Low!
Laughter, the wicked witch is dead!

I know a man who studied traditional fairytales and he once told me they’re usually symbolic for how to overcome obstacles in order to lead a succesful life, generally directed to boys. He also said the dragon or monster in these stories are typically a symbol for the future mother in law…

Along the theme of this thread, if you’ve never seen them, check out the Zach Morris is Trash videos on YouTube. In each episode, they condense a show of Saved By The Bell, focusing on the character Zach Morris and show how his performance throughout the show is self-serving and destructive to those around him. Not really what the creators of SBTB were pushing, I think.