How Children Can Draw Lessons From Books And Films Preparing Them For Adult Life

How do we avoid the allure of the world with its bad entertainment and devices, but still satisfy the human needs and desires for belonging and common experiences among peers, who will truly becoming the future community of our children? One way may be drawing from real life lessons from books.

Laura Ruth

September 26th, 2024

"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker."
- C.S. Lewis

What if I said that we have the same goals and dreams? How would I know that?

Well, we both want to get our children to heaven. They are our most valued assets. We would even hope that we could give them everything they need to become a saint and to join the Saints that reside in the Beatific Vision for all eternity.

We all live in the same world and face the same obstacles.

How do we avoid the allure of the world with its bad entertainment and devices, but still satisfy the human needs and desires for belonging and common experiences among peers, who will truly becoming the future community of our children?

Children Should Be Immersed In Tales Of Heroic Deeds And Examples

One way to do this is to immerse our children in the stories so that they can learn valuable lessons from books. They should hear and read stories of war heroes, legends, fairy tales of Grimm, fables of Aesop, and biographies of saints.

Good stories enable children to face what evils exist in the world in a form and manner that they can handle and comprehend. That means that you don’t expose them to the dangers of society around us, but you expose them to good literature which presents the evils in such a way that they are not immediately threatening.

Instead, they give you and your children space and time to contemplate what the characters in the story should do or could have done better. This translates to virtues and wisdom that we can internalize and have at the ready for the day when we’ll need to use these in scenarios that we will encounter in the real world. These are invaluable lessons from books.

READ: Breathing Life Into Good Stories So That Our Children Gain Confidence By Relating To The Past

Powerful Lessons From Books That Inspire Change and Justice

Credit for above image goes to @ChorusInTheChaos

Literature also usually gives a satisfactory ending to the story so that all the characters are either reformed or converted at the end or given their due, and justice is accomplished, depending on what is most appropriate.

You can choose what literature you bring into your house and what you allow your children to peruse.

You are the gatekeeper.

What a relief it is to discover someone else fighting with you on your side. When you realize that there are others in this world who also want the best for your children, including their spiritual best, it’s as though you found a valuable ally in the fight.

READ: Inspirational Short Stories To Keep Valor Alive In Today's Modern World

Exploring the Dynamic Characters and Their Influence in Cardinal Wiseman's Fabiola

Cardinal Wiseman was very aware of the power of a good influence that one can have on another. His main character Fabiola came into her own as a young adult in ancient Rome. She would go from a self-centered, flighty girl to a young lady who knew her worth, but still respected and treated others around her with charity. She owed that metamorphosis to the saints that comprised her inner circle of friends and acquaintances. Agnes, Sebastian and many others influenced her for the good.

This story takes place during a time which is alarmingly similar to our own. We are living in a post-Christian society and we are seeing striking similarities to the pre-Christian society as found in Fabiola. Like the Christians in this story, we are called to be a light in a darkened world and bring the flame of truth to those who have wandered so far from it that they don't even know what it is. 

READ: Join The Adventure Of This Timely Tale Of The Catacombs As It Comes To Life On The Big Screen

The Stories That Make You Are The Stories That You Carry With You All Your Life

Good books, uplifting literature and noble stories can be the inner circle of good influence for our children. This is a great way to teach your children real life lessons from books.

Like Fabiola, we should take special care that we surround our children with good friends who lead with heroic example even if these can only be found in literature and good films. Thank you for taking the time to look at this Industrious Family Films project which is bringing to life the good story of Fabiola and help us give our children an inner circle of holy friends so that they, too, can go forth and be a good friend to others.

As a mother of 4, Laura Ruth is passionate about promoting wholesome entertainment through literature and film. Laura has generously contributed to Industrious Family through her work in public relations for the company.