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Stories with moral--- Really?

I was recollecting some of the stories we were taught in school. There were many good ones. But two of them fascinated me.
One was about a boy who was on a ship with his father standing on the deck. The father had to go down and had instructed his son to not come down till he is called for.
The sea a stuck by sudden storm and the boy stands on the deck holding on to the railings. But does not move from his place. The Strom gets stronger, but the boy is undeterred. Finally the boy gets lost in the storm but stuck to his father's words.
The moral we were taught was to be like the boy and listen to our parents come what may.(Really??!!)

The other story was about a great personality, who was careful about the everything he used and never wasted a thing. Once he was in darkness and had to light a candle. He stuck a match and it went off immediately. He felt responsible for wasting the match and preferred being in dark rather than wasting one more.
Moral: Do not waste anything and be responsible.

Now when I look back and think of the story and their morals, I can't relate to either!! I can bet it's not just me.
In case one, the story should change if the moral was supposed to be 'listen to your parents come what may'. If the story had to be retained, both moral and ending should be changed. Such stories should ideally target to make the child smart and make him think independently. Why would anyone want their child to follow their instructions even if it meant losing his life??
In case two, again the moral needs to change. One would waste ones own time by being in darkness. Was the personality in the story not guilty of wasting some precious hours???
So what moral based story are you spinning for your child??


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