Children and horror movies

Me personally, I think its down to the children - if they want to sit down and watch they can, as long as they know that what happens on tv is just pretend and they know the difference between right and wrong. I think as long as the child is happy watching it then there is nothing wrong. We were only allowed to watch films suitable for our age which is probably why I dont like horror/scary movies now!!

My kids are older than your lot..My daughter will be 13 next month and my son will be 15 in October...My daughter doesnt care for scary movies unless she can snuggle wiht me and has something to cover her eyes and ears during a scary scene...Oddly enough she loves gory movies like the Saw flicks LOL....My son on the otherhand is just as much of a twisted individual as I am...He started playing games like Mortal Kombat when he was just 2 (which was really funny all things considered LOL) he saw his first horror movie at the age of 4 which I WAS NOT cool with simply becuase he DIDNT WANT to watch it but his dad didnt seem to care....thats a story all in itself and neither here nor there at this point...He's been actively watching horror movies, graphic tv, reading semi graphic books, playing violent video games etc etc for a good 6 or 7 yrs now and like you I dont see a problem wiht it.... Ppl like to say things like how the kids will become violent and act out what they see blah blah blah but I think that is a big fat load of crap....PROVIDED THE PARENT IS DOING THEIR JOB THERE SHOULDNT BE A PROBLEM.....My kids have ALWAYS known the difference between reality and fantasy..they know that the movies, books, tv shows, vid games etc etc are all fantasy....and even though they watch the things they do and play the games they do etc they are both very passive, gentle, kindhearted kids....

I watch horror movies with my nieces and nephews, and their parents do not see anything wrong with it either.

It is good for kids to get matured and know about the things early in life. You are doing a good job as an parent. They should know things.

Well i personally think that those movies for a three or four years old even a five year old is "over there heads". As a child my dad showed me a lot of scary movies as i watched with him. I remember spending many nights scared in bed because of this. I do not think that these movies should be shown to anyone of that age. Plus i doubt that the children would understand them. Age 7 i think is fine for this but any younger isn't really worth it. I would allow my children to watch most movies at about 12 or 13. Before age 7 though the movies wouldn't make any sense to the children and even though they might not have any terrible affects on the child i do not see what the point is. By they way i love the question.

I think that it's fine along as the kids don't start acting on it. I think that it's good not to hide your kids to much from the world. also I rather my kids watch a movie and see something with me the first time, then for it to happen one day and they get shocked for life. kids should know about rap, kidnaping, killing, murder, and other things that way they can better detect it when they might have to face it someday. There are other shows besides cartoons that kids can watch. It good that they don't only watch fantasy and fiction but also real people.

my son doesn't want to watch horror movies too much. he has a hard time sleeping and going inside our rooms without lights. although its good being introduced to different kinds of films, it was better for my son not to watch these.

I used to watch all kinds of films as a child, including horror films. I was allowed to, because I always really understood the difference between real and pretend. I used to love watching programmes about special effects in films, and how they were done, and enjoyed horror films. they never scared me, because I knew about how the nasty effects were acheived, and that it was just pretending.

I was always very liberal in what I let my kids watch. I raised them right and I did not feel that what they watched was going to out influence me. If you raise your kids to know right from wrong then it shouldn't matter what fiction they watch on tv.

It seems I am a more conservative father. I am planning to let my son be exposed to a pure environment for the first 3 or 4 years of his life. Then the other side of life would be added to him. In this way, I hope he will be positive during all his life, though he will surely suffer in life. If children see the dirt of the world too early, they may easily get depressed and it may be lasting for all their lives. Am I right? By the way, i have a son, 3 years old.