With all the walking and running around that trick-or-treating kids do, Halloween provides a wonderful opportunity for physically engaging entertainment for children who are often engaged in sedentary recreation like playing electronic games and watching television. However, Halloween can give kids quite a scare. Halloween features telling creepy ghost stories. What if they are scared of ghosts?
Halloween is celebrated every 31st of October and children all over the world look forward to trick-or-treating in their costumes obligingly purchased or creatively improvised by their enthusiastic parents. Halloween costumes are often modeled after supernatural figures such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, vampires, monsters, and devils. However, many parents prefer costumes of superheroes and fairy tale or legendary characters like Snow White, Peter Pan, and Robin Hood. With the dormant “trick” option, the trick-or-treating tradition has become mostly a “treat”, where children get candies and cookies as they go from door to door with the “trick or treat?” question.
With all the walking and running around that trick-or-treating kids do, Halloween provides a wonderful opportunity for physically engaging entertainment for children who are often engaged in sedentary recreation like playing electronic games and watching television. However, Halloween can give kids quite a scare. Halloween features telling scary ghost stories. These scary stories range from accounts of “true” life-threatening experiences with ghosts and other paranormal entities to creepy folk tales of supernatural or paranormal creatures like ghosts, demons, or deities to horror stories about vampires and mummies. These scary stories are convincingly narrated and depicted through documentary videos and films shown on television and in movie houses. Many children hear about these videos and films and some get to watch them. What if they stay awake at night afraid that a ghost will come and harm them? What if they don't want to be left alone frightened that malevolent paranormal creatures will attack them? What if vague shadows and creaky sounds spook them? What if they are scared of ghosts?
Children are often attributed with a strong and vivid imagination. My observation confirms such attribute. Children see more in casual things around them. For me, a dead frog ran over by a car on the road is a mess that needs to be cleaned. To the kids playing by the road, it was a tragic event that took Mama Frog away from her tadpoles. In his book The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery illustrated children's imagination through Drawing Number One and Drawing Number Two that both depict a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. The first drawing is clear enough for a six-year old but grown-ups thought of it as a mere hat. Drawing Number Two was drawn to make grown-ups see clearly. If your children get scared of ghosts, try hard to understand the creativity and inventiveness of their imagination.
If your children get scared of ghosts, it is advisable to discourage or prevent them from watching horror movies. Refrain from telling ghosts stories and keep them away from gatherings where there are. Never ever inhibit them in anything whatsoever by telling them that a monster will gobble them up or a ghost will take them away (some desperate Moms and guardians do). Show them that getting scared of ghosts is unnecessary by example. If they sense that you are scared of ghosts, they are likely to feel twice as scared. Fear can be quite contagious.
This fear of ghosts in children normally manifests at night when it is dark and quiet. With their limited vision, imagination can make shadows take creepy shapes. In the silence of the night, random noise can be imagined as a threat. If they are too scared, keep them company assuring them that there is nothing to be scared of. Take this great opportunity to hug and kiss them. Advise them to pray. Scolding at this time won't help. Allow them to discuss why they are scared to enable you to understand the root of their fear and to know how to change the thoughts and beliefs that cause their fear. Guide their imagination to something pleasant. Replace their scary thoughts with worthwhile experiences. If they ask you if ghosts exist. Be candid. My usual reply to this question is “I don't really know. If there are, I doubt if they would harm us.” It will probably help a lot to explain that what are depicted in horror movies are make believe and will not happen in real life.
What if ghosts frighten us? I guess, a little bit of scare is reasonable. Happy Halloween!
With all the walking and running around that trick-or-treating kids do, Halloween provides a wonderful opportunity for physically engaging entertainment for children who are often engaged in sedentary recreation like playing electronic games and watching television. However, Halloween can give kids quite a scare. Halloween features telling scary ghost stories. These scary stories range from accounts of “true” life-threatening experiences with ghosts and other paranormal entities to creepy folk tales of supernatural or paranormal creatures like ghosts, demons, or deities to horror stories about vampires and mummies. These scary stories are convincingly narrated and depicted through documentary videos and films shown on television and in movie houses. Many children hear about these videos and films and some get to watch them. What if they stay awake at night afraid that a ghost will come and harm them? What if they don't want to be left alone frightened that malevolent paranormal creatures will attack them? What if vague shadows and creaky sounds spook them? What if they are scared of ghosts?
Children are often attributed with a strong and vivid imagination. My observation confirms such attribute. Children see more in casual things around them. For me, a dead frog ran over by a car on the road is a mess that needs to be cleaned. To the kids playing by the road, it was a tragic event that took Mama Frog away from her tadpoles. In his book The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery illustrated children's imagination through Drawing Number One and Drawing Number Two that both depict a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. The first drawing is clear enough for a six-year old but grown-ups thought of it as a mere hat. Drawing Number Two was drawn to make grown-ups see clearly. If your children get scared of ghosts, try hard to understand the creativity and inventiveness of their imagination.
If your children get scared of ghosts, it is advisable to discourage or prevent them from watching horror movies. Refrain from telling ghosts stories and keep them away from gatherings where there are. Never ever inhibit them in anything whatsoever by telling them that a monster will gobble them up or a ghost will take them away (some desperate Moms and guardians do). Show them that getting scared of ghosts is unnecessary by example. If they sense that you are scared of ghosts, they are likely to feel twice as scared. Fear can be quite contagious.
This fear of ghosts in children normally manifests at night when it is dark and quiet. With their limited vision, imagination can make shadows take creepy shapes. In the silence of the night, random noise can be imagined as a threat. If they are too scared, keep them company assuring them that there is nothing to be scared of. Take this great opportunity to hug and kiss them. Advise them to pray. Scolding at this time won't help. Allow them to discuss why they are scared to enable you to understand the root of their fear and to know how to change the thoughts and beliefs that cause their fear. Guide their imagination to something pleasant. Replace their scary thoughts with worthwhile experiences. If they ask you if ghosts exist. Be candid. My usual reply to this question is “I don't really know. If there are, I doubt if they would harm us.” It will probably help a lot to explain that what are depicted in horror movies are make believe and will not happen in real life.
What if ghosts frighten us? I guess, a little bit of scare is reasonable. Happy Halloween!
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