2nd QUARTER 1997 EDELWOLF

What Fairy Tales Have Taught Our Children

An experiment compiled by Cheryl Ann Post

Cheryl Ann Post visited her daughter's elementary school to survey the children in a class about what the word "WOLF" meant to them based on the education they recieved at home and at school. It was not surprising what our society instills in young people. The word "WOLF" put many fears in all the children responses, due to fairy tales told by their parents, the movies, television shows, and reading children's stories about these animals.

The children's reponses to the question, "What do you think of when you hear the word 'WOLF'?" were:
Robby Lambert - "I think wolfs can bite hard. I think wolfs are very scary."
Tina Nicole Aveni - "When I think of a wolf I feel scared. The reason I feel scared is because I think one day someone is going to get attacked and I do not want that to happen to anyone that I know of or don't know so that we can all have a good life. That is how I feel about the word 'wolf'."
Lorraine Caporusso - "When I hear the word 'wolf' I get very scared because I think he is going to eat me."
Steve Dugan - "When I think of something scary like my sister, it's mean and hairy. You think it's going to eat you all up, plus I think of the Three Little Pigs. There are werewolves, that's what my sister is, she's dangerous."
Nicole Lamach - "When I hear the word 'wolf', I think of Beauty and the Beast because Bell's father got chased to a castle when he shut the gate. The wolves got his foot."
Carly Schwartz - "When I think of wolves, I think of dogs because it has four legs. Wolves that may be in the circus are always tamed so they cannot bite the tamer with their sharp teeth. Wolves can be mean and scary to some people."
Dawn Hendricks - "Dogs and wolves have sharp teeth. That's why you should never touch a wolf or [a wolf] touch your dog or your family."
Tom Pannone - "When I think of the word 'wolf' I think of them coming to eat me for dinner, but I imagine what it feels like to get ate for dinner. It probably really hurts when your'e by yourself with nobody to help you."
Jamie Greenwood - "Wolves have very sharp teeth and claws. All wolves are probably mean. But wolves are also pretty and wolves are smart because when they are near an enemy, they get ready to attack. I wonder how old they are and why they howl at the moon at midnight. Wolves are fun to learn about."
Vinnie Marino - "When I think of the word 'wolf', I think of The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
Denise Skriapas - "When I hear the word 'wolf', I feel scared and I would start to scream. Then I would start to run home. If I saw a wolf I would not want to look at it so I would scream and run."
Andrew Kressley - "I think [of a ] wolf as a killing animal. Some people probably think it would be nice to get away from them. The wolf is not tame so it could turn on someone. It can be sad if a doctor said I'm sorry but your kid is dead."
Derek Haas - "I think of Little Red Riding Hood."
Jamie Swenk - "When I think of the word 'wolf', I think of mean, big, and bad. I think it is ugly and has sharp teeth. Worst of all I think of the word 'hungry'. You have to be careful, they are very tricky."
John Ciacco - "When I hear of a wolf, I think that they are mean, rotton, stinking, and low-lifes. I think that because in every story they are killing someone."
Lyn Speiser - "I think how cute they are. I also think how furious they can be. I wouldn't go near them. When I think of the word 'wolf', I also think of greed."
Jody Hoffman - "They howl at the moon at night time. Then I think about the part that scares my sister--the big sharp fang just after they show their ferocious teeth! Let me give you some advice; don't ever go to bed without your lights on."
Kevin Cunningham - "I think of fighting because wolves fight a lot."
Michael Bradley - "When I hear the word 'wolf', I go crazy. They are yellow-fanged, hairy monsters. They are mean, furious, and so dangerous and [are] a bad example for children. I think they are butthead[s]. They are slimey rats. They are so slick they can get into a chicken coop with a hundred dogs around it. OOppps! That's a fox. They are very ugly and they have no 'popential'. That's all I have to say about those hairy monsters."

When Cheryl returned to the school after their first opinion of the wolf, she read The Wolf's Tale (wolf's version of Little Red Riding Hood) to the class and revealed the flip side of the book which gave a different version, and discussed there's two sides to every story. Both sides should be heard before forming an opinion. Cheryl discussed the meaning of fiction and non-fiction. Along with this, she pulled out books from a box, and showed the students the books on real wolves with pictures. They all expressed how beautiful they were!

She asked the children, "Then why did you write they were ugly?!" They exclaimed that they had no idea.

"What would you do if you met a wolf face to face?" She asked, to see what their response would be after some education. With them thinking she was pulling another wolf book out of her box, she then surprised them by lifting out a real live wolf puppy! Awe was on the childrens faces with a hands on experience with a real wolf!

Cheryl left all the books and a wolf video with the teacher for the class to look at another day. The next week, the class watched the video and looked through the books and were given another chance to answer the question, "What do you think of when you hear the word WOLF?" This time the responses had most definitely changed:

Tom Pannone - "When I think of the word 'wolf', I think of them very nice and not ferrocious anymore. I'm not afraid of wolves, because they're more afraid of you than you are of them. Also I learned when a wolf pack hunts, the members of the pack work as a team. Wolves hunt many different kinds of animals and some of their prey is very small."
Jamie Greenwood - "When I think of a wolf, I think of nice animals who are mistaken for mean animals. I love wolves now that I know they aren't mean animals. I know I don't have to be afraid."
Denise Skriapas - "When I hear the word 'wolf', I see 'pretty and beautiful'. I now know wolves are not mean and I really like wolves now. Now the wolf is my favorite animal."
Carley Schwartz - "When I think of wolves, I think of my dog Max, because he was my first dog. All of us in class are hoping they can save the wolf and some more endangered animals. The wolf only needs to survive. We hope there will be more wolves by the time we are grown up."
Lyn Speiser - " It was fun petting a real wolf. It is a beautiful animal. Wish we had more on this."
Jody Hoffman - "When I hear of the word 'wolf', I think of the puppy that you brought. I'll think of you because you brought in all this stuff that made me realize that wolves aren't bad. I hope you come and visit us again and talk more about the wolf! Howwowowl! Oh! and one
more thing, they are very intelligent animals."
Jamie Swenk - "When I think of the wolf, I think of gentle. I think of the word cute. I think of shy and friendly. I thought they were ugly before you came."
Dawn Hendricks - "I think wolves are cute, very much. When you see
a wolf and it's a boy, go take and go find a girl wolf."
Robert Wilhelm - "They are not mean and vicious. If a wolf came up to me I would pet it. The wolf does not howl at the moon. Wolfs will not kill you."
Derek Haas - " When I hear the word 'wolf', now instead of thinking of a mean and nasty animal, I think of it as a nice lovable animal like the cub you brought in."
Michael Bradley - "When I think of 'wolf' now I think of intelligent, cute, shy, and loving. Ever since Vicki's mom came in and told us all that information, I have turned a new cheek. Thank you!"
John Cicco - "When I think of a wolf, I think of cute, friendly, and shy. Before Vicki's mom told the facts about wolfs, I thought they were rotten down low-lifes. Now I know a lot more about wolfs."

Many other children's responses were similar, but one very important thing was accomplished. THEY ALL GOT EDUCATED!

When she received these new opinions, Cheryl's conclusions were, "When I read what the kids now FEEL and KNOW about wolves since my visit, I see how one person can make a difference! Reading these was the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. They made me feel so good. I want to share this with you because I know the personal satisfaction I'm feeling will reach your heart too. We ARE making a difference. Let's keep up the good work!"