Should my 9 yr old watch Horror films?

Question

I have recently seperated from my husband, meaning a move of home & school for my son and I. He hasnt settled in very well in school & it was very hard to get him to go until he made a new friend (a relief to me at first). However this kid is very 'street wise' & it turns out that he has been truanting with my son & getting up to all sorts (shop lifting ect.) which really upsets me as he was never brought up like that. On top of all of that this kids dad works in a video shop & lets his son watch all kind of things (mine also). I have spoken to his mother but she sais that I am ott. & that they realise it is only make believe. My son sais that if I stop him seeing this boy, he will not go to school or just 'bunk off' with him.
I have noticed a serious change in him (the way he is with me & his little brother).
Do all kids go through this 'fase' or should I be tougher on him, which is hard as he took the seperation badly & I feel guilty.
Advice would be very welcome, Jane xxx.

Answer 1

Girl wake up and smell the roses, does this name give you any thing to remember JAMIE BULGER. He was tortured and killed by parents that allowed their boys to watch horror films. If i where you, i would cut off all ties with this family. And just because you have separated from your husband, does not mean your son is in charge of the rules. Take him to school, get him through the doors and take him the head-teacher, explain what is happening, and i am sure that the teachers will keep a close eye on your son, till home time. Talk to your husband, get him to back you up, and do not give in to him. It is gonna be tough, and he will test your resolve, but if you hang in there, it will be worth it. Good luck. And please remember you are the parent not him.

Answer 2

Hi,

There are two issues presented by your question. First up is the question of horror movies. I watched them as a child and came to no lasting harm, although I do remember a few very sleepless nights. The final choice is yours though, if you don't want him to watch them then you should enforce this rule.

The main problem is the attitude your son is displaying at the moment. As a teacher I see this in the children of recently seperated parents quite often. Your son has been through a major upheaval, losing the stable family life he was familiar with, along with his familiar home and school. What he needs right now is stability. To create this, you have to be firm. You say he wasn't raised this way; so make him act the way he was raised.
Tell your son that he can't refuse to go to school, and that you will walk/drive him there every day and inform the teachers that he is threatening to truant. If he shoplifts again tell him that you will report him to the police (he won't know you don't mean it).
He's testing you at the minute to see whether you'll cave in or whether you'll stand firm. Be as strong as you can, it will be tough for a while but it will pay off in the end. Once he sees that you won't budge on these issues he'll eventually give in.

I hope everything works out ok for you, it's obviously a very difficult time for both of you.

Answer 3

Your son is reacting to the situation that he was placed in. He didn't ask for you to separate from his father, or make him move to a new house and go to a new school. He didn't ask for that. He's hurt, he's angry and he's scared.. he's a child. He wants to show you that he's all those things, and the way that he's doing it is through being rebellious.

He's 9, and you have the right to tell him that he's not allowed to see this other boy. You also have the right to tell him that he has to come home right after school, and he can't do things that he likes if you can't trust him.

You need to be hard on him about some things, and this is one of them. It may have started as a phase, but it's not going to end that way. He's made this friend for a reason, perhaps because this friend is just what he need in order to rebel right now, but he's going to keep this friend if you don't put an end to it.

You can't let him be in a situation where he's going to be shoplifting.. where are you? Is he going to the mall himself?? He's 9.. you need to reign him in a little bit.

But ... you're going to have to give him some attention if you want him to be a little happier. Take him some places you know that he likes to go. Do things with him that you know he likes to do. But don't allow him to have friends like this. He's your son.. and you'll only have yourself to blame if the cops drag him home when he's 14 saying that he stole a car..

it doesn't get better, it will only get worse.. so take action now, and start spending some time with your son.. he needs the attention, and if you're not freely giving him positive attention, then he's going to seek out negative attention ( the friend and stealing)

Answer 4

he's just rebelling just tell him that u love him and that he can always talk to u if he needs to. Say to him that ur happy for him to go out with this boy but u really would prefer him not to watch the films as he's not old enough and it could affect him, also if u find out that he's ben watching these films he won't be able to see his friend any more. The certficates are there for a reason. This is called using a conditional clause "if you do this... then this will happen" Make sure u follow through with the punishment or he will realise that he can do it again and again and that ur a pushover. Be firm u are the parent and ur doing an excellent job raising ur son Good luck!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

No. Your daughter, at 9 is very impressionable. If you read the paper you'll find that many killings, robberies occur because the person 1st saw it on TV, the news, newspaper, horror films, etc. So what you are setting up is for your daughter, at a very early age to see how life is on TV, etc, and she thinks it is real life. It is not. Do not let someone else control your daughters life. You should control her life at the age of age. You have that power until she can survive for her self, to give her a life of peace, love, joy, happiness, and spirituality. And what you give her you receive as well. Try it. You'll like it, no you will love it. May God Bless you. BT.

Answer 6

I would advice for you not to let him watch horror movies because they can get into is spirit, like demon type , I am not tryin to sound superficial but I'm Christian and I belive that a demon can get into a child soul if they watch horror films there have actually been allot of witnesses of that kind of stuff they let there children watch that kind of stuff and they came pocessed. Back to your child I would really reccomend that you keep a close eye on what he watches, so that won't happen and also you could put parental locks on the things you don't want him to watch.

Answer 7

your child is just acting like this because of the split, this is his way of dealing with it.the films are not a problem unless they are violent horror, which he should not watch. as for his Friend if you think he is the main problem you have have to try and wait it out you will just make your child worse at his age. try doing more yourself with him, take his mind of his mate, also c if the dad will have him and explain a few things to him about the way he is being. you never know he might listen to his dad a bit more than you. only if you feel you can do that. good luck

Answer 8

Kids love scary movies and they are able to handle them as long as you choose the right movies to show them. Obviously any movies with violence or gore or mature themes are not suitable at all.

But there are a lot of movies that have nice child-friendly themes and are perfect for your child to get a little scare but not enough to cause nightmares. Here's a link to a list of scary/ horror/ monster movies that are appropriate for kids:

http://www.scaryforkids.com/top-20-best-scary-movies-for-kids/

Make sure you read a little about them before allowing your child to watch. Very young kids or kids that are very sensitive may be a little too scared. But older kids can handle them easily.

The Goosebumps series of TV episodes on DVD is an excellent choice also. You can find a list of available episodes here:

http://www.scaryforkids.com/goosebumps-episodes-on-dvd/

Answer 9

young ones do not understand that each little thing is in basic terms make-have faith in horror action pictures, notably not at 9 years old. they are able to be badly traumatised, and there are stable reasons that action pictures have age certificates linked. Letting your son proceed down that direction woiuld not be doing him any favours. And by using asserting "in case you do not permit me i'm going to bunk off" he's putting himself in the commanding place over you by emotional blackmail. even possibly sub-consciously punishing you for isolating out of your husband. so which you mustn't provide in to him, yet take a great sort of time with him to describe why you're being organization. Our function as mothers and dads is to assist babies comprehend what's suited and what isn't, and that i've got faith young ones do understand and delight in whilst their mothers and dads attempt to do the suited for them, whether on the exterior they could revolt. it must be a solid theory to apply some exterior help for you and your loved ones to get by this area; why not ask for some counselling? all of the suited.

Answer 10

hmm i'm not sure if anyone has actually mentioned this as i was just about to leave b4 i read this question but felt i should mention something.....isn't it actually illegal to rent DVD's with an age cert on it i.e.18 ...to people younger than this? maybe have a quiet word in this gentlemans ear and let him know what u think perhaps? The age cert is there for a reason, maybe someone should give him the hint if he doesn't already know.