Why Do so many moms think that if your kids watch violent movies they will be violent?!?!?!?

Question

I so hate when moms say "oh if your kids will watch violent movies they will become mass murderers! That is just a joke.

Sure it may be not appropriate for a 6 year old to be watching texas chainsaw massacre... But a 13 or 12 year old who is into horror movies will obviously know its fake.. He is not going to become a mass murderer.

Kids by the age of 12 fully understand what going on in a movie. My friend has 3 sons and the her 13 year old is a gorehound, he loves horror movies. And he is about the most polite kid you would ever meet.

And also, I usually ignore the ratings of movies. Movies that were oscar nominated, or very well made movies that may have an R rating, does not mean its a horrible movie to watch.
It may be complicated for young children to follow but there is no harm done.

If there is a movie that may show nudity (bare bottem or boobs) for a couple seconds.. Cmon people... How does that ruin a 13 year old..

Answer 1

Maybe they can understand that it's fake but in fact there are side effects when kids watch violent movies:

- emotional blunting
- belittlement of violence
- increased aggressiveness
- loss of sense of reality
- ...

All these effects are scientific proven. Not each child becomes a mass murderer but nevertheless it's irresponsible of parents to let their kids watch horror movies.

Another thing is nudity. I wouldn't have a problem with this. But I think Americans are more prude concerning this?

Answer 2

I agree with your take on the whole thing. I have been a major horror movie buff since I was 4. YES 4 YEARS OLD! My first horror movie was Salem's Lot and I loved it. Since then I have seen almost every horror movie ever made and GUESS WHAT??? I'm not a mass murderer, I didn't shoot anyone is school, I'm not "emotionally blunted", and I'm only desensitized to other horror movies that are crap! I'm a VERY Christian woman with 3 kids, an amazing husband and a great family. I'm also a Child Psychology major.

My son, who is now 4 years old, is exactly like I was at his age. He LOVES horror movies. He is a very smart, very advanced little boy and he understands that nothing on TV is real, it's all pretend, and that they are all wearing masks and costumes and that the blood is just "ketchup". He does not run around our house trying to kill his baby sister, he does not repeat any of the language he might hear in the movie and we don't let him watch anything that has too much nudity, violence or gore.

He loves Silent Hill and It and even The Ring. I'm not a bad parent and I am not subjecting him to any more violence or nudity than he sees on regular, non-cable, television these days. It's what he likes. One other poster said that "if a child already had violent tendencies" and I think that is a key element for those that have grown up to "violent" after watching these types of movies....there was already something wrong with these types of kids....it wasn't the movies that brought it out, anything could have done it. The tendencies were already there.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

OK my boys are only 6 and almost 3. I do censor what they watch from t.v shows to movies. I do not restrict them to tree house shows and Disney movies how ever I do pay attention to not only the level of violence and language but to the types. For an example I do not let my boys watch wrestling on t.v. And I monitor the amount of ninja movies. Why? because my boys like to try out the moves they have seen.With each other,Friends and on mom and dad.Now we have told them that those things that they see are just stunts on t.v and real people will get hurt. Many many times. Still that does not mean that they always listen.so in order not to provide them with any extra ideas I limit what they watch.I limit the amount of blood and gore as not to give them night mares and so on and so forth. I am not saying that I will never let them watch those kinds of movies it will just be as they grow and mature.

Answer 5

actually, if you do some research on it you will find that it does affect children to watch this kind of stuff. it desensitizes them to violence and COULD lead to problems in the future. im not saying that every child who watches violence is going to grow up being a mass murderer, but some will. and some people dont like to take the chance. the nudity thing, well, some parents think that it will make them want to be sexually active and it can. again i say can, not a guarantee. there is a reason that our society has gone to crap, people murdering, stealing, etc. every day, im not saying that violent TV is the only cause of this, there are many other factors but im sure that it does play a part. back when crime rates were low there werent all these crime shows like CSI, Law and Order, etc. etc.

Answer 6

When I was 13 about the only type of movies they had for teenagers were all slasher films, like Friday the 13th series.

I turned out fine and so did all my friends. Except none of us like to watch the news... it's too scarey!

Answer 7

I agree with the first answer. It is also the desensitisation that concerns me. There is so much time for them to watch this stuff why rush it. But if you feel you have to justify yourself to everyone go for it, but don't make out we are the bad parents because we won't let our kids watch what we consider inappropriate movies. They are 12 not 20. Let them be kids, this is part of the problem of kids growing up too fast.

Answer 8

I completely disagree. I don't want to fill my children's heads with filth at that young of an age.

Besides, I've seen it happen time and time again. Young kids who watch violent TV shows and things mirror the moves and actions.

Answer 9

When you expose your kids to violent movies, it exposes their little minds to the aspect of thinking about those things as okay and allright because why else would you watch it, they are learning about many things and killing shouldn't be one of them they are impressionable, to expose a young child to it is to warp them to take a little bit of their innocence away

Answer 10

oh yea riiight.... thats a crock of hose "smack" i watched all kinda violet movies when i was younger, and im not messed up emotionaly upset, or anything, i was just scared watching freddy krouger at age six... aside from that i just learned that FILMS ARE GREAT...