In an effort to protect their kids, some parents will keep them away from books, TV shows and movies that might be too scary. But to a certain extent, scary stories help children learn how to deal with fear in real life.
Photo by Rod Herrea.
As Cari Romm at Science of Us explains, scary stories, and even nightmares, are dress rehearsals for real-life fear. And according to sociologist Margee Kerr, scary stories are a helpful tool for developing confidence. Think about it. When you make it through a scary movie, haunted house or roller coaster ride, you end up feeling accomplished — like you made it through something. This little self-esteem boost carries over and teaches kids that, while things might be scary sometimes, it’s possible to make it through and they will be better off for it.
No, you shouldn’t be trying to scare the crap out of your kids, but it’s OK for them to read some ghost stories or get scared of the boogeyman every once in a while. They will learn how to cope with fear in a low-stakes setting and be more prepared for the many real obstacles they will face in life. Kids develop bravery and confidence, they’re not born with it.
How Scary Stories Help Kids Learn to Handle Fear in Real Life [Science of Us]
Comments
3 responses to “Scary Stories Are Actually Pretty Beneficial For Kids”
Well obviously the latest batch of college / university kids didn’t read any scary shit that’d explain their need for “safe spaces”…
I don’t think you know what safe spaces are.
Where people go when they feel “threatened” or my favorite “triggered” by that big scary thing the rest of us call life…. but your right I’ve never been to one, they didn’t exist when I was younger we just learnt to deal with life… btw I loved my scary stories as a kid.
Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.
~ G.K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, Book XVII: The Red Angel (1909)