"Ring Around the Rosie" is about the black death, let history be history I say...

The kids don't even know what they're singing until they're older, and I know people might say the same about curse words, but that's an extreme viewpoint. The point is that you're building vocabulary, teaching through music, making them social, and all kinds of other yada yada in the process. Come on now... they're nursery rhymes for criminy sake. I think we can focus on other things more important to steer our kids away from than this, but that's just me. :-)

Well said, giveuahint!! I agree 100%!

Thanks!

My born again in-laws wanted to protect their girls from the evils of the world (much like the lifestyle they use to have). Hide them away and they will grow up to sweet angels!

Want to guess how well that worked? They were giving my kid crap one day for his being at a party that got raided by the cops. Well until he pointed out it was their girls were the ones that threw the party at a friends house.

Now guess what? They all are successful young adults with good jobs and starting to raise their own families.

Let kids be kids. I warned mine about driving drunk and drugs, but let them be. The kids they partied with are now my plumber, electrician and when my mechanic retires this year, my new mechanic.

It's a fact, all kids that grow into adults will stumble along the way. All you can do is the best you can to inform them of the consequences of their actions, and if they screw up then you get to say "I told you so"...some of the wildest people I know were preacher's kids, and for the same reasons you describe.

This all started with hearing on the radio this morning that many parents are changing lyrics to classic nursery rhymes because they don't like the words in the songs. Rock a bye baby says "when the bough breaks the baby will fall", Ring around the rosie is about the black death, the old lady who lived in a shoe gave her children broth for dinner, whipped them, and sent them to bed. Expand this to fairy tales, most of the brothers Grimm stories end up with children being gobbled up, killed, lost, or any number of different ways to meet a horrible end. However, these are all historical songs, stories, and rhymes that have been taught to kids for hundreds of years, they contain valuable lessons to be learned, and the lyrics should remain. Change my mind.

I won't change your mind, because I agree.

yes, this is all true but... (this is a big but) some parents don't wanna expose their kids to these sorts of elements my aunt won't even let me speak of magic around her three-year-old. sure maybe they could learn this lesson but not in such a bad way.
I'm not saying i disagree with you but I can see it from a different point of view.

Yeah, I understand, but kids get protected from everything these days...this is a tough world with tough lessons to be learned. I have a 2 year old, and I realize that either I can put things into perspective for her, or she can learn things the hard way. I'd rather prepare her for the salty part of life in my own words for her to form her own opinion than to let her be shocked by what she finds out on her own. I also had a grandmother who thought that the original super mario game was horrible because it "promoted violence" from jumping on the goomba's heads and squishing them. I feel my parents did me a solid by telling her that was silly, it's just a kids game. I see the other point of view, and sort of understand it, I just think it's folly to scrub too much out of the history of these songs and such.

Thats true. I mean, if you make the path for the child, and try to make it all perfect, theyre gonna be surprised when it turns out that life has that salty side, and that might make them... whats the word? Entitled, I think? no... I cant think of it now, but you get what im trying to say, right?

Older generations probably look down at us and think we're raising pansies...but to be PC about it (since that's the theme of this meme) I'd say the words you're looking for are naive, sheltered, and unprepared. Life isn't always a daisy. It's true, kids don't turn into adults at 13 years old and marry, start families, and begin hard living anymore like they did a hundred years ago or more, so there's not as much need to learn the hard lessons early. But, it prepares them for when bad things do happen.

Yeah, the times have changed, but the lessons havent. The way we teach them now though has, and I dont like that some parents try to shelter children. I was sheltered, but my parent do tell me things when they think im ready, or they talk to me when something big happens. I understand the reasoning behind that, and I can agree with it. What I dont agree with is when you have to tell children at a super young age about serious things, like mass shootings and mental hospitals.
I know mental hospitals are a weird example, but it fits for the story Im about to tell.

Now, over summer, when I went to the mental hospital, my younger cousin's ((The same ones that call me mom and dad on accident)) mother ended up in-pateint at the same hospital I was going to. My parents and grandparents tried to hide it from them ((Over summer they spend mon-thrus with my grandparents, and spend the rest of the time at their parents house)) but they knew something was wrong, because 1. their mom wasn't calling them to check in with them and 2. they didnt go with her on Thursday like usual.
They tried to hid the fact from them for a while, and I didnt like that at all. They would keep asking questions like, "Where is mom? Is she okay? When can we see her?" and everyone would either brush them off and tell them, "Dont worry about it, you wouldn't get it anyways." or just flat out ignore them. That just got me angry, since they were hiding the truth from kids, when the deserve to know what as happening. Maybe they wouldn't get it, sure, but they deserve to analyze the situation and come to their own conclusions.
Now, with them I was open to the fact where I was going, as I left the house in the morning, when they were awake, and when Id usually stay, play and take care of them, Id leave without eating. They would, of course ask, "Where are you going?" and Id say, "To the hospital. Dont worry, I wont be gone all day, and I'll see you later. Love you guys, bye." and then leave.
When their mom ended up in the hospital, they told me what happened, but not them, the 2 kids who needed to know most. Even more, they told me not to tell them. Now, this routine of "where is mom" and "Dont worry about it, go back and play" had gone on for about the 3rd day in a row now, and I had enough. I told them to come upstairs with me, and sit on my bed. Now that I think about it, they probably thought I was mad at them, but I really wasn't.

((Oh wow, I met the limit. Let me type the rest))

I quickly explained that their mom was going to the hospital that I was going to. They had never been to it, but they knew that it couldn't be that bad, since I always went back there.

They of course had questions, but I shushed them for the moment, and finished explaining. I told them:

"Your mom is in the hospital that im going too, the one that Im going to because Im sad. I dont know if your mom is sad, but she probably is. Some doctors sent her there because they thought it would be best. She has to stay there, and she cant leave because some other doctors have to watch her, and they have to keep watching her, because they want to see if its okay if she gets left alone. Shes not going to stay there forever, and you will see her again, we're actually trying to see if you can go see her on Tuesday. Shes gonna be back, I promise. Any questions?"

They of course bombarded me with them, and they were more or less the same ones. "Do you promise?" "Did she eat?" "Does she get to sleep?" "Is she still gonna be sad when she gets out?"

I answered all of them honestly. "I promise. Yeah she eats there, the foods really good too, Yeah, there some beds there, but roommates can be annoying sometimes. I dont know if still going to be sad. She probably is, but when she comes back, she will know how to deal with it better."

They seemed to be a lot more at ease when I told them everything. Their main concern was "Am I even going to see my mom ever again?" but nobody answered them, because they didnt want to give them even a shred of information about what was really going on.

Now, I could understand why they didnt want to tell them everything, but there are some points where you just got to tell kids the truth about the real world. Censorship is okay, but if you inadvertently make the results worse for the kids, like in my story above, what was even the point?

Am I right?

I think (from my isolated perspective) you handled it well. It's a similar approach to what my parents did for me, and what I will try to do for my daughter when the time comes. Lying to or hiding information from kids doesn't foster anything but distrust. Put things into words that they can understand, and some day they may wonder what actually happened. At that time, with a more mature grasp on life, they may want to know the whole story and it can be shared and discussed then. I also do not enjoy that kids have to learn about difficult things, but it's best to just be honest. Sheltering them only harms their development. Successful human beings need to know how to deal with difficult situations.

Yes, thank you. I agree with how you say its hard and sad that kids need to learn about these things, but they do need to know. If you shelter them, you hindering them in a way.

Interesting, any thoughts on the origin? Where did you hear it? I'm not an expert on such things, I just used that as an example for the topic of the meme, and it's a widely accepted origin as i understand.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ring-around-rosie/ looks like you heard right

Bimbo #5 - a dark ‘90s nursery rhyme

You got a chuckle out of me on that, lol

Lol, I just posted one in politics, similar theme! Check it out when it features :)