Here comes the bogeyman

Details

Author’s text

Threatening children with monsters in order to get them to behave properly has always been quite controversial, yet well-meaning. People usually bring up their offspring as conveniently as they consider without questioning the method itself.

Goya, among many other intellectuals, considered that scaring children with ghosts, non-existing beings, superstitions and threats was a terrible mistake, and that is precisely what Goya wanted to portray in this print.

Nowadays, threatening children with these irreal figures has become a very old-fashioned habit. However, it is undoubtedly difficult to identify and evaluate real danger when raising children. Hence children are not always given the necessary tools in order to properly defend themselves from existing risks.

Goya's comment

Education’s biggest mistake: obligue children to be scared of non-existing creatures. Hence they fear the bogeyman instead of their own father.

Comparison with the original print