Can scary stories, movies or games really disturb children?

Probably every time when you read scary stories to your child or let him watch a scary movie or play scary games , you ask yourself is that right for him, or is there any negative influence on his development that these things cause. There can be seen everything in the movies you can not have a full control over the scary games, and there is a bit of violence in every story – remember Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood an all the murders in them…



Experts say that when is about the stories, it’s very important the format in which the story is told. When the child watches it on TV or on a film he gets the story which can be really scary for him but in a situation when he reads the story, it is less likely to frighten him. The thing is that children have a bigger control over their imagination when the images are not provided for them. It would be useful if you two can read the story together first and after that, when he watches the video version, there would be a smaller possibility of having nightmares. When it comes about the scary games, it would be nice if you check out from time to time if there is too much blood or other scary images in the games. If your child shows some evident signs of fearfulness think of reducing the time he spends in front of the computer.



Good thing is that all of these scary manifestations can actually help children deal with their life and the stages of psychological growth. The stories about heroes and their challenges help them learn how to deal with issues like anger, parents’ problems and their separation, living up to expectations… Many times children make up their own solutions about the problems that heroes have which is also beneficial.



But if we set aside scary games , movies or stories, there are so many scary images in the news or in the newspapers and children are around you when you consume them. This does not mean that you should watch TV or read newspaper only when you are alone but that you should be sure that you can answer him all the questions about the thing that you are watching or reading. This way you can explain him all the situations but if you feel that you can’t do this, switch to a different activity.