In the beginning…there were stories!

It could be said that, as long as there has been language, there have been stories (National Geographic 2024). Stories have been used to make sense of the mysteries of the world, to help understand, to provide warnings, lessons and moral guides since people began (Van Pelt, 2018). From cave paintings, to folk tales, right up to the TikTok sensation Dhar Mann, humans have used story to educate and inform as well as to entertain.

Stories encourage the development of empathy which enables us to make social connections (mencap 2024). Without the ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel it is very difficult to build positive relationships (wellbeingpeople.com, 2024). Stories also provide a non threatening, indirect method of addressing social problems - think about those fairy tales you were told as a child - did it occur to any of us when listening to the story of Little Red Riding Hood that we were learning about stranger danger? Or that Jack and the Beanstalk was an example of seizing the opportunities that life gives you? Maybe, but maybe, like me, you just enjoyed hearing someone create a magical world of escapism and wonder. And maybe there was a little bit of incidental learning thrown in.