It’s a valid question. I originally read about it in a physical book, then wrote the (misconstrued) headline from memory before finding a digital source that people could click on. I’ve corrected it now.

Fun fact: the monikers used for these children in the book are used in coloquial speech to describe children that misbehave or exhibit behavioral discrepencies:

• shock headed Peter: an unkempt, filthy child
• fidgety Philip: ADHS or hyperactive child
• Johnny-Head-in-the-Air: daydreaming, absent mindedness
• wicked Frederick: cruelty to animals (sociopathy, lack of empathy often reveal themselves this way early on)
• Soup Caspar: eating disorder, perhaps
• etc

The original book was written by a medical doctor dealing with children, go figure!

That but it was also just a depiction closer to reality: for instance famine and starvation were a common theme in Grimm’s collection of tales (Hänsel & Gretel, the star money, etc). But in the modern world [industrialized west] we know longer have a direct cultural experience of it.

Similarly gone down have:

• corporal punishment, mutilation (the girl without hands, Cinderella)
• indentured servitude, slavery (Rumpelstilzchen)
• cannibalism (Hänsel & Gretel); note that this in the context of a famine
• austerity at old age (the Bremen town musicians)
• despots abusing their power (Snow White)
• maternal death, parental absence (Cinderella, Snow White)
• child labor (Cinderella, Mother Hulda)

Went to a local rock concert once. Had to go into the middle of the crowd to fetch a friend and alert him of something that had happened. The music was unbearably loud for me. Noticed that virtually everyone was wearing ear plugs.

Found it absurd. Why not lower the volume instead and have people forego the plugs? Less noise pollution in the local area too. After the concert was over I asked some participants about it. Everyone claimed they liked the loudness or that it was necessary somehow. My impression: they liked to keep up with the appearances of being hardcore, it being for tough folks. But they didn’t want the actual hearing damage.

Can we appreciate #7?