Pepsi

My daughter lets the boys age 5 and 7 watch horror movies. They love them but I don't think she should because they are way too young. They keep coming to the house to borrow my son's DVDs like " Cujo", " Jaws", "Fright Night", "Sleepaway Camp 2" etc. and the boys seem to be getting into horror movies.Nothing scare them they just sit and laugh

My first movie when I was a kid was "The Birds" and I still remember how scare I was when I saw it.

So the topic of this thread is at what age should kids watch these kinds of movies?

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Deafness

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rockin'robin

Good topic!....Small kids are prone to nightmares, and decipering the difference between real and fantasy. I remmy my youngest (at age 6) when I adopted him. He was very scared of the dark, would not take a bath with the door closed and would not go into a room by himself.

It took several months before he finally was able to close the bathroom door. He and his brothers had been allowed to watch anything on TV/DVD, etc.....(when they were younger).

All those horror movies he had watched at a younger age, probably 4 and 5 yrs. old, gave him problems, even at age 6.

Most all these movies are rated 'R' anyway, I'd keep the kids on PG movies.

Passionate4ASL

This is a hard one to decide. Of course every family will handle it different, I personnally refuse to show my 6yr old scary movies. Or any child that comes to my house to visit, even if their parents allow it. Also, I would expect other parents to ask before offering to show my daughter a scary movie.

I think using the movie rating system is a good guide.

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JennieLynn

KristinaB

My son started watching them early (6-8), but only when we were there. He did have nightmares, but he learned to deal with it. He is now 14 and really anjoys fantasy type movies. He is also beginning to write his own stories. Daughter has never really liked them and even at 15 still refuses to watch them. Must be the learning disabilities.

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KRISTINAB

Bottesini

I guess I am old fashioned, but I really think 12 or so would be the most appropriate time to start watching those.

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Bramus

I'd never bar them from watching a horror movie. Kids, for the most part, know what they can handle and if they asked me to watch a scary movie id let them and watch it with them.

Reba

I think I was about 9 or 10 when I saw my first "scary" movie, in black and white, on TV. It wasn't as easy for young kids to see fright movies back then because they either had to be taken to a movie theater, or watch them late at night on TV on Fridays and Saturdays. Opportunities were very limited. Also, the movies weren't as graphically violent, so the effect wasn't the same on kids as it is now.

Now, I certainly wouldn't let any kids under 16 watch R-rated movies, including the horror movies. For the old "classics", 10 years old is a good starting age. I'd have to check out the other movies before deciding which ones would be appropriate for each age.

Even if the little kids say that they like scary movies, and aren't frightened, it isn't necessary or beneficial to expose their tender minds to all those kinds of images.

~*Kaelei*~

I remember watching first horror movie when I was just only Five.... it didn't scare me, instead I got hooked on to it... and ever since, I've been fan of Horror movies and through out my childhood, I would watch horror movies with my Dad.

My son has seen some horror movies already such as 30 Days of Night, Boogyman 2 and it doesn't bother him at all. Instead he's into it like I was when I was a child. Whenever his father or I put a movie on, he would stop playing and join us, watching the movie. He knows what a Vampire is, or Zombie or Werewolf or a witch....

And he's almost four....

I know it's bad but apparently he seems to enjoy it and he doesn't get nightmares from it, not at all!

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Lissa

I watched my first horror movie around 13 years. I was and still am a wimp for watching horror movies.
Whenever they are old enough to watch the film, check the age.

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shel90

Like Kaelei, I just happened to watch some horror movies when I was really young and got hooked to them.

I am at war with my ex hubby about this issue..he thinks my 12 year old daughter shouldnt watch ANY kind of horror movies not even the Charlie Brown's Halloween cartoons. Oh boy...

However, I think it depends on the child and how well he/she can handle horror movies. My daughter seems ready to handle them but my ex hubby is still admandant about not letting her watch them. If she was still getting nightmares from them, I would be inclided to agree with him.

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Lissa

Depending on maturity level too. Also if they are able to cope

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Pepsi

A lot of great posts on this topic. Thanks guys

It does not seem to bother the boys any when they watch these movies. I still think they are too little to watch them

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Berry

Point A: It depends on the kid. I don't have nightmares now, never did as a kid. However keep in mind it is not always easy to tell what is going on inside another person's head, no matter what the age.

Point B: Each set of parents has a philosophy and they should be allowed to pass those beliefs on to their children. Example: Stephen King would not allow his small children to see Bambi because the death of a parent is so horrific to a small child. My mother wanted me to see the movie precisely because it shows that even in that circumstance I could survive and proceed to have a happy life.

Point C: If a child watches a movie, any movie, by themself they will draw their conclusions by themself. No matter how innocuous a show may seem if you are not there with the child to help guide the child's perceptions you have no idea what the child is getting out of the show.

By guide of course I do not mean to simply sit and tell the kid what to think nor to grill the kid relentlessly about what they got out of it. Just sit and discuss it. Allow the child to express their opinions and you express yours.

The best possible plan is to do your best to be there with the child during any experience to help guide the child through it, whether it be riding a bicycle, cooking the first pancake, watching "Kids R Us" on TV, or "Ghouls R Us" at the theater.

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Living life in the sandbox.

Cheri

I don't think there is really a certain age for letting a child watch any horror movies, If the child can tolerate watching horror movies, then it's up to the parents, it's not for me to say.

I'm 39 after watching any horror movies, I get really scared and I couldn't sleep with the lights off. So it depends on how sensitive the person is.

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