Fairy Tales

A few years ago, when there was more controversy surrounding the violence in children's programming on television, there was research done comparing the violence in nursery rhymes and fairy tales to the violence on television. Research showed that there was more violence in these 'tales of old' rather than children's television.

It made me wonder why these tragic tales are passed on from one generation to another, without context, and without explanation. Is the telling of tragedy important for young people to see the world properly, or do stories/habits perpetuate themselves across multiple generations while becoming divorced from their original meaning?

Just a few examples:

London Bridges falling down, falling down
Ring Around the Rosy, A pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down.... talking about the Bubonic Plague
Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses, And all the King's men Couldn't put Humpty together again!
Rock a Bye Baby Rock/Hush a bye baby on the tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown. And Jill came tumbling after.
Old Mother Hubbard Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard To get her poor doggie a bone, When she got there The cupboard was bare So the poor little doggie had none.
There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, She had so many children she didn't know what to do; She gave them some broth without any bread; She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.