Gathering for a movie night with the family is a simple yet delightful bonding activity that everyone from the oldest to the youngest family member can enjoy. Popcorn, snacks, cozy blankets, and everyone gathered together to watch a great film is a picture-perfect moment that creates fond memories.
However, there is one thing that can potentially ruin a good movie night for a family with young kids: horror flicks. Why? Well, because of the frightening nature of these types of films, they can have a negative impact on children, especially those under 10 years old.
While some may argue that it’s harmless to watch horror movies with your kids, especially since there is parental guidance involved, the truth is that watching these horror-filled films may have a variety of consequences for young, impressionable minds.
How horror movies can affect your children
Emotional wellbeing
Horror films are filled with all sorts of hair-raising scenes and unsettling elements like blood, screaming, violence, ghosts, and terrifying monsters beyond their imaginations. While those are thrilling and exciting for grown-ups to watch, it can be extremely terrifying for a 6-year-old.
Horror movies are made to scare the audience and make their hearts race for a thrilling encounter, but for kids, these experiences can transform into anxiety, insecurities, fears, phobias, and nightmares.
Because they aren’t mature enough, they can have trouble distinguishing fiction from reality. They perceive what they watch in horror flicks as something that can happen to them, which can lead to night terrors, sleep disturbances, panic attacks, and increased anxiety. Commonly, they become afraid of the dark, imaginary creatures, or sleeping alone after watching a horror movie.
Maturity and cognitive ability
Even if your child seems mature for their age, they may not yet have the cognitive abilities to process and cope with horrific scenes in horror movies like adults can. Their psychological immaturity makes them vulnerable to confusion and fear, struggling to separate reality from fiction.
Moreover, these movies often include mature themes — gore, murder, paranormal forces, demons — unsuitable for young audiences. These themes can adversely impact their cognitive and emotional development. While a vivid imagination is crucial for cognitive growth, the terrifying scenes in horror movies can warp this imagination, leading to fears and anxiety.
Behavior
Apart from the emotional effect on children, horror movies can also negatively impact how they behave. Children are easily influenced, and they often learn from what they see. Exposing kids to these movies can encourage them to imitate aggressive or violent behaviors they see in these films, which can then affect their conduct and way of interacting with others.
If not addressed properly, this can become problematic for their emotional development, as well as their views on violence, gore, and aggression.
Frightening movies can also cause desensitization in children, wherein exposure to horror themes can make them insensitive or nonreactive to violence in the real world. They may, in turn, lack empathy, which impacts their emotional responsiveness.
Saying no to showing kids horror movies
No matter how you look at it, horror movies aren’t made for kids, which is why parents should be mindful of the films they expose their children to or allow them to watch. Age-appropriate content and parental guidance are important in helping protect and shape young minds.
While it’s true that children do not see things the same as adults, it’s also important to remember that they also vary in sensitivities and developmental stages. Some children are more mature than others for their age, while others are more sensitive and fearful.
Parents know their children best, which is why, apart from adhering to movie age-appropriate ratings, it is also recommended that parents screen and check potentially sensitive films (suspense, thrillers, action, etc.) to gauge if the themes align with their child’s maturity and development.
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