The Horror Genre’s Effects on Children
The Horror Genre’s effects on children
Horror movies are a part of modern life, bringing in box office bucks and generating watercooler buzz. Whether they beg you to take them to the latest big-screen release or rent DVDs for a sleepover, you might find that as your kids mature, they become more eager to explore the horror genre. These films can generate long-lasting effects in susceptible kids. I can remember as a kid watching my first horror film it was the Stephen King movie IT. from that day forth clowns were not my best friends at all. So in other words you can say that was a very traumatic experience for my young self and this is what I want to explore the effects of the horror genre on children. I will research how it gives children unwanted Phobias, anxieties, sleep deprivation and violence and aggression.
It is not easy to predict who will develop an anxiety disorder from watching horror films, but children and teens might be at higher risk than adults. According to groundbreaking Swiss developmental theorist Jean Piaget, cognitive development is based on schemas, or ways of understanding the world. As people grow and learn, their schemas change. Many children and teens do not yet have the life experience to put horror movies into perspective, putting them at risk for lingering anxieties. Parents know your kids best, so they have to consider their overall development when deciding what to let them watch. If they are normally anxious, fearful or timid, or if they have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality, skip horror films for a few more years. I learned this the hard way as young child as the movie IT gave me an unwanted anxiety I began to associate makeup with clowns and makeup as one in the same I began to get scared of my own mother and sister. If they were to put on blush or deep mascara this would send me into a frenzied rant through the house. Horror films work on our endorphins, just like anything else that sets off anxiety thus getting the required reaction from the audience the director seeks. It also made me not want to participate in Halloween activities, for about two years or so. Every Time the family attempted to take me out to trick or treat I would see a clown mask and that was the end of that trip for me.
Phobias are another side effect of how horror effects children. True phobias paralyzing, crippling fears, sometimes irrational can make movie watching an awkward or potentially horrifying experience for some people. There’s a difference between being “afraid” of a scenario and having a true phobia. I, for example, don’t like the thought of swimming in the open ocean, where god knows what is swimming around below me. But do I love watching Jaws I will admit I do. I don’t particularly like heights either, but it’s not like I have a problem with Vertigo. But giving phobias to young children can give children the wrong perspective on certain things and situations. Let's take the movie Arachnophobia, arachnophobia is described as the irrational or extreme fear of spiders. And this movie did just that to a lot of children. The film came out in 1990 it was directed by Frank Marshall and written by Don Jakoby and Al Williams. The film starts out as a very venomous South American spider hitches a ride to America in a coffin where it makes it to the morticians house where it then breeds with a common house spider thus creating an army of deadly and abundant super killers.
Psychologists believe that one reason why a person develops a fear spiders is because of some direct experience with the arachnids instilled that fear in them. This is known as the “conditioning” view of arachnophobia. And this is not good for children as they will develop a greater phobia as they get older. Most individuals with a phobia go to great lengths to avoid a perceived danger which is much greater in their minds than in real life. If confronted with the source of their phobia, the person will suffer enormous distress, which can interfere with their normal function; it can sometimes lead to total panic. And if a child begins to panic they may start to hyperventilate. For some people, even thinking about their phobia is immensely distressing. A phobia begins when a person starts organizing their lives around avoiding the object of their fear. A phobia is much more serious than a simple fear. People with a phobia have an overpowering need to steer clear of anything which triggers their anything which triggers their phobia.
Sleep disturbances are another effect of the horror genre on children. children have trouble sleeping immediately after watching a scary movie. Shadows seem more intimidating, noises are magnified and dreams are often unsettling. For most adults these effects are short-lived. But for children however, sleep disturbances persist for weeks, months