"There's no such thing as Monsters!" and other lies to tell small children

"But Daddy!"
Says little Jordan as his father attempts to turn off his Ben Ten night light for the 5th  time  
"You haven't checked under my bed for monsters!!!"
With a hefty sigh daddy repeats his mantra 
"Jordan! There's no such thing as Monsters! I'm beginning to think we should stop you from watching Doctor Who if it's going to make you imagine such nonsense."
It's a lie of course!
Daddy knows there are Indeed Monsters!
He hears about them on the news every day!
He's convinced he's met a fair few!
It's just that none of them can be defeated by a Sonic Screwdriver.
So until little Jordan is old enough to cope with that knowledge, like all good parent's, he's decided to protect his offspring from the horrors of the adult world by lying! 
Loving parent's often lie to their children.
That may seem like a bad thing to do.
Until you consider the alternative........
"But Daddy!!"
Little Jordan squeals.
"You haven't checked under my bed for Monsters!!"
His father saunters to the bedside and with a knowing smile ruffles his sons hair and replies.
"Well of course I haven't Jordi there aren't any monsters under your bed!"
"There aren't?"
"No son there aren't!"
"Why not?"
"Well son most Paedophiles and murders are grown-ups and you couldn't fit a full grown-up under your little bed lad. No son I'd be able to see the feet sticking out one end.Unless they were very short that is. No the monsters are much more likely to be lurking outside in the dark somewhere. Waiting for Mummy and Daddy to go to bed before they break a window or pick the locks or something. Even if they had already sneaked into our house it's much more likely they'd be hiding in the attic or the cellar. Even then you've probably nothing to worry about until after Mummy and I go to bed!"
"Pleeeeease Daddy! Don't go to bed tonight!"
"Oh Jordi don't be daft! I have to go to bed! If I don't get enough sleep I could make some serious mistakes at work and loose my job. In the current economic climate it's very unlikely Daddy would get a new job. Being unemployed would make Daddy very depressed. I may even start drinking or taking drugs. I certainly would stop being the man mummy fell in love with and she might fall in love with some other man. That would make Daddy very angry and what with the drink and the drugs I might decide to kill mummy. I might decide that the only solution to my pain is to kill you....and then mummy....and then myself. Now You wouldn't want that to happen now would you Jordan?"
"No Daddy .....Please don't Kill Mummy will you?"
"Well I'll certainly try not to Jordan but you can never be certain what the future will bring.
War for example! There are lots of people out there who don't like our country. You never know one day they might start a war with us or we might start a war with them. If that happens it's not daddy going crazy you need to worry about Jordi."
"What should I worry about then Daddy?"
"Bombs! Oh and chemical weapons! Invading forces intent on genocide. Errrm. Oh Yes! Riot's and looters terror brings out the worst in some people and they don't care who they hurt as long as they get what they think they need to survive. Times get like that and you could get run through with a bread knife for a loaf of bread."
"I don't want to eat bread any more daddy can we throw it away?"
"Oh now Jordan! There's no point worrying yourself to death about things that might never happen. Besides you're much more likely to die of Cancer!"
"What?"
.....Well this could go on for ever but I think it's pretty safe to say little Jordan wouldn't be getting much sleep that night ...or ever again.
No lying to children about how hard, dangerous and down right scary this world is. Is possibly the only way to get them through their childhood in one psychological piece. So they don't grow up to be hard, dangerous and  down right scary. 
Now I'm not saying we should entirely shelter them from reality.
Tell them about stranger danger.
Mental health should not be a taboo subject.
And if you want them to never be exposed to the knowledge of War, death, famine and disease you'll have to never let them watch TV, or use the Internet, or read a book.
However, Saying 
"Don't worry sweetheart Mummy and Daddy will always  protect you." 
or 
"I'd never let anything bad happen to you."
Doesn't mean you're a bad dishonest parent it just means you have hope for your child's future and you want them to have hope too.
So go ahead tell little Jordan there are no monsters.
But look under the bed for him just in case.