Folktales vital to develop children’s morals, values
ABU DHABI: Kuwaiti researcher Bazza Al-Batni stressed on the importance of folk tales in developing morals and social values in children. These stories, being one of the favorite methods of learning for children, promote positive behavior and provide information about society and heritage, Al-Batni said yesterday on the sidelines of the 5th GCC Heritage and Oral History Conference held in Abu Dhabi, under the slogan ‘Moral Education: An Authentic Part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Heritage.’
Folk tales will protect children against negative ideas and wrong values spread over social media these days, she noted. It will also enrich their language input and teach them about their society’s traditions and culture, she added.
Meanwhile, Batni said she wrote a book on Kuwaiti folklore and heritage and she had translated it into French, German and English to spread knowledge on Kuwait’s heritage around the world. Batni had previously won an award for children stories from the GCC Arab Education Office in 1977. She also took part in directing many television and radio shows and programs for Kuwait and the Gulf states, while she is the author of many children books and other folklore books.
The conference kicked off on Monday with the participation of some academics, researchers, and experts at Gulf universities and institutions. In a speech at inaugurating the event, Saif Ghobash, Director-General of the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), Abu Dhabi, underlined the importance of moral education for building young generations.
He said “we look forward to applying a unified Gulf approach in the field of moral education and other subjects which prepare our children for the flourishing future.” Organizing the event in UAE enhances efforts exerted by the DCT in order to build a promising Gulf partnership on the level of culture and heritage. The event themed “Moral Education: An Authentic Part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Heritage” featured several sessions which discussed different expertise and experiments in moral education. — KUNA