Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Where Are They?

By GREGORY K. MOFFATT, PH. D
Child's Play

Several months ago, my mother-in-law was visiting my family. As is her routine, she tucked my four-year-old son into bed at the end of the day. As she was leaving the room, she turned to him and said a phrase that many of us have either heard or used during our lifetime. "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

My son got very quiet and sheepishly said, "Where are they?" He took her words literally and thought there were bugs in his bed.

This interchange is a perfect example of how differently small children see the world compared to older children and adults. For children under the age of five, the world is a very mysterious place. In their minds, things happen by magic, they do not understand cause and effect relationships, and they cannot understand anything that they cannot see.

For example, water comes out of a faucet in the bathroom or kitchen. A young child cannot understand that there are pipes inside the walls that run to a well or a water system. In their minds, any faucet anywhere, will produce water if you put it on a sink.

Movies with goblins and monsters, even when they appear playful to us, may easily frighten a child and the more realistic these images are, the scarier they are to the child. I have been asked many times over the past few weeks for my opinion of the Harry Potter books and movie.

Some readers have clear opinions about Harry Potter because of their religious views. For those who are opposed to the movie or Harry Potter books, the decision is easy don't let your kids read the books or see the movie. For everyone else, I have suggested caution about taking children to movies like this one - not for religious reasons, but for developmental reasons.

It is disturbing to me to see very young children at movies that could even frighten adults. "Harry Potter" uses real actors rather than animation and the special effects make the "magic" appear real, especially so to a child who only understands what he sees. Therefore, when a child sees a witch on screen who turns into a cat, he believes such a thing actually happened and could happen again.

Even animated movies can be frightening to the child who cannot clearly distinguish between reality and make-believe. Prior to age four, children believe all things are living - rocks, clouds, and trees. This is why a child may say, "the sky is mad" if he hears lightening. Therefore, animated movies are just as real to them as movies with real people.

In the new movie "Monsters, Inc.," animated monsters enter children's bedrooms through their closet doors. Even though these animated characters are cute and funny, the possibility of a monster entering the room through the closet door is very real to a young child. In the entire movie, there are only two "bad" monsters, but it just takes one to make it hard for a preschool child to sleep at night.

I have always tried to be careful about what my children watched on TV, but sometimes I have made a bad choice. When my eldest daughter, now a teenager, was in kindergarten, I thought she might enjoy the first portion of "The Wizard of Oz." I was sure she would like the munchkins and I had planned to shut the TV off after that scene. However, I had forgotten about the brief entrance of the wicked witch of the west at the end of that scene.

Megan sat watching with wide eyes. I explained that the witch was the same woman who rode the bicycle earlier in the show, just an actress, and how there were no real witches.

When she was in bed that night, she cried out. I went to see what she needed and, of course, she was afraid of witches.

Her words provide a clear summary of how children can only process what they see. "I know there are no such things as witches," she said to me as I sat on the edge of her bed, "but, when I close my eyes my head just tells me there are." The visual image was more powerful than her developing logic. She spent the night in bed with my wife and me.

If you don't want to fight such battles, think carefully about how your child will perceive the television shows and movies that you are considering allowing them to watch. Just because a movie is marketed to young children, doesn't mean it is good for them. Understanding a child's perspective can help adults make good decisions about what they allow their children to watch.