Several months

ago, my mother-in-law was visiting my family. As is her routine, she tucked

my four-year-old son into bed at the end of the day. As she was leaving

the room, she turned to him and said a phrase that many of us have either

heard or used during our lifetime. "Good night, sleep tight, don't

let the bed bugs bite."

My son got

very quiet and sheepishly said, "Where are they?" He took her

words literally and thought there were bugs in his bed.

This interchange

is a perfect example of how differently small children see the world compared

to older children and adults. For children under the age of five, the

world is a very mysterious place. In their minds, things happen by magic,

they do not understand cause and effect relationships, and they cannot

understand anything that they cannot see.

For example,

water comes out of a faucet in the bathroom or kitchen. A young child

cannot understand that there are pipes inside the walls that run to a

well or a water system. In their minds, any faucet anywhere, will produce

water if you put it on a sink.

Movies with

goblins and monsters, even when they appear playful to us, may easily

frighten a child and the more realistic these images are, the scarier

they are to the child. I have been asked many times over the past few

weeks for my opinion of the Harry Potter books and movie.

Some readers

have clear opinions about Harry Potter because of their religious views.

For those who are opposed to the movie or Harry Potter books, the decision

is easy don't let your kids read the books or see the movie. For everyone

else, I have suggested caution about taking children to movies like this

one - not for religious reasons, but for developmental reasons.

It is disturbing

to me to see very young children at movies that could even frighten adults.

"Harry Potter" uses real actors rather than animation and the

special effects make the "magic" appear real, especially so

to a child who only understands what he sees. Therefore, when a child

sees a witch on screen who turns into a cat, he believes such a thing

actually happened and could happen again.

Even animated

movies can be frightening to the child who cannot clearly distinguish

between reality and make-believe. Prior to age four, children believe

all things are living - rocks, clouds, and trees. This is why a child

may say, "the sky is mad" if he hears lightening. Therefore,

animated movies are just as real to them as movies with real people.

In the new

movie "Monsters, Inc.," animated monsters enter children's bedrooms

through their closet doors. Even though these animated characters are

cute and funny, the possibility of a monster entering the room through

the closet door is very real to a young child. In the entire movie, there

are only two "bad" monsters, but it just takes one to make it

hard for a preschool child to sleep at night.

I have always

tried to be careful about what my children watched on TV, but sometimes

I have made a bad choice. When my eldest daughter, now a teenager, was

in kindergarten, I thought she might enjoy the first portion of "The

Wizard of Oz." I was sure she would like the munchkins and I had

planned to shut the TV off after that scene. However, I had forgotten

about the brief entrance of the wicked witch of the west at the end of

that scene.

Megan sat watching

with wide eyes. I explained that the witch was the same woman who rode

the bicycle earlier in the show, just an actress, and how there were no

real witches.

When she was

in bed that night, she cried out. I went to see what she needed and, of

course, she was afraid of witches.

Her words provide

a clear summary of how children can only process what they see. "I

know there are no such things as witches," she said to me as I sat

on the edge of her bed, "but, when I close my eyes my head just tells

me there are." The visual image was more powerful than her developing

logic. She spent the night in bed with my wife and me.

If you don't

want to fight such battles, think carefully about how your child will

perceive the television shows and movies that you are considering allowing

them to watch. Just because a movie is marketed to young children, doesn't

mean it is good for them. Understanding a child's perspective can help

adults make good decisions about what they allow their children to watch.

Back

to Healthwise Home Page |