For the last few years, the trend among many modern parents has been not to allow their children to watch classic cartoons or learn some of the legendary nursery rhymes or fairy tales for fear these will, inadvertently, impede the mental health of their children. After all, if the big bad wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood” is outside the door, waiting to eat Grandmother, how well will a child sleep at night for worrying about his own Grandma being gobbled up?

First of all, we must analyze Little Red. No kid old enough to take off through the woods to her grandmother’s house is going to run around the neighborhood wearing a red cape. Maybe a black cape with a batman logo, but a red cape? Who is going to believe this is real? On second thought, one of my former students reminded me that he wore a costume to elementary school almost every day and that I had a hard time believing him until his cousin corroborated the story. I apologized to this grown man just a few months ago for thinking he was fictionalizing rather than journaling the truth. So, maybe there are some creative kids who wear capes as their daily attire. So noted.

However, I doubt there are many whose mothers would pack a picnic for their little girls and send them alone into the forest. The forest has always been a symbol of evil (at least in stories). I doubt many adults would take off through a forest today, alone, unless they had a stick or a gun. (I’d have a stick.) They certainly would not send their daughters.

Why didn’t Mama go too? Even little kids know they shouldn’t be alone in places of danger. If Little Red hadn’t seen her grandmother in a long time, then chances are Mama hadn’t been to see her either. Mama probably wanted to watch “The View,” so she sent Little Red off on her own with nothing but a basket, knowing the risk of the Big Bad Wolf. Like any good mother, she did warn her not to “dawdle” along the way. What mother would send a child off by herself into a forest and then warn her not to talk to strangers? Hmmm.

Let’s think about Mama. Maybe she had worked a long shift and wanted to rest. Little Red was up early and so full of energy that she was wearing Mama out. Mama needed a break, so maybe she said, “Why don’t you go see your grandmother?” Send her off with a warning freed Mama of any guilt if something were to happen. “I told her not to stop along the way.”

Naturally, Little Red stopped. Likely having never watched the evening news, she didn’t know the dangers that might be lurking behind the trees until one of those dangers popped out.

What did she do? Talked to that big bad wolf! He asked her one question and she spilled her guts. Told him everything. No matter how much parents drilled kids not to talk to strangers, most will, especially to those with smiles and say, “Wanta see my puppy in the car.”

Back to the story. By the time she arrived, the wolf had eaten Grandmother. Gobbled her up. After the gobbling, the wolf put on her nightgown, jumped into bed, and waited for his next meal. What kid would think this really happened?

Little Red knocked on the door. How many of you knock on your grandmother’s door? Around here, very few of us because it is always open. Then she went through the crisis of trying to figure out what was wrong with Grandmother. Never mind that the chameleon had big pointy ears sticking out of a nightcap. Wouldn’t that be a clue? How long HAD it been since she’d seen her Grandmother?

Then we went through all that about the “better to hear you with,” and “the better to see you with.” Was this girl clueless? Then she finally realized the person in the bed wasn’t Grandmother at all. Really?

She yelled and a woodsman came to her rescue, grabbed the wolf and made him spit out Grandmother. “Now you spit her out right now!” Out she popped. A modern story would have the woodsman shooting the wolf or clubbing him to death with a stick of wood, but he took him back into the woods-deep into the woods-so he couldn’t hurt anyone else. Even a kid knows that wouldn’t have happened.

All this time, Mama is at home taking a nap or watching “All My Children.” If she had had a phone, she would have likely called to see if Little Red had arrived. Today, we badger our children via cell phones, text messages, or by Twittering to make sure they are safe. How does that affect their mental health? “Yes, Mom, I arrived at work.” The “child” is thirty.

The children who are isolated from the classic nursery rhymes because of the violence may be the same ones who know all the characters in Harry Potter or “Star Wars.” Those who are not allowed to watch cartoons will never know the comic violence of Tom and Jerry. What a pity.

Instead of looking at the so-called violence, parents could actually teach many lessons from these stories. I usually make up stories for my grandchildren that have both an antagonist and a protagonist. The antagonist always wins, but like normal kids, they really like to hear more about the bad guy. Should I be worried?

Don’t you think even children can discern between fact and fiction at a very young age? Of course, they can. I have never met a person who was adversely affected by nursery rhymes or cartoons or fairy tales, have you? Maybe there is someone right now who is admitting that watching Peter Pan made them jump off a roof.