Children and "Scary Stories"

I say don't let them watch scary movies when they are young. Even though they may say it's OK. It instills scary thoughts in their head that are unnecessary. When they are too young, they may think that some of this is normal or real. Wait until about 16 yrs. "Too much" is not good either at any age.
Sue

There is no specific age it varies due to the kid. my son used to be petrified of the mummy on twilight zone he would watch the show fine but hated the mummy. We went to wal mart one day and the mummy was a budwieser display he seen it and was never scared of the mummy again.
my son started reading harry potter as soon as it come out. I think he was 12 if i rember right. My 2 yr old is scared of the hand shadow on monster house and we cant watch anything that somebody is wearing a mask. Ice age has scared my 2 yr old when the mammal yells enough. no telling what scares them it is purely a judgement thing. If you start watching a movie and he seems nervous turn it off immediately what scares one kid wont scare another. explain to him if you know there is a scary part how they do the scary part its a dummy or whatever. a stuffed bear etc. but none of us can tell you what is right for your child it has to be a judgement call by thier reaction

Children have different sensitivities to scariness. In general, I'd say be very selective about visual media, as books don't have quite the same terrifying potential. My kids are attracted to spooky short stories, and had no problem with the first 3 HP books. The fourth one starts on a darker note. I'd steer them away from the Twilight books as long as you can, not due to the scare factor, but the eroticism. In my opinion, it's just bad literature.

It really depends on your kid and your personal beliefs. I wasn't allowed to watch scary movies or anything that had too much sexual content but I was allowed to read whatever I wanted and definitely read some things that were "inappropriate." I guess my parents felt that whatever I ran across while reading wouldn't really stick because I had no reference points and since I was mostly reading things on their bookshelves it was all content they were familiar with. Really it's only in retrospect that I realize what I was reading. For example I read most of the Clan of the Cave Bear novels at around 9 or 10 but only recently became aware of how much sex there is in them. At 9 or 10 I was totally fixated on the animals and the day to day life of the characters, the hunting and gathering and such. Completely missed the sex.
If you're concerned about what your kids are reading then my advice is to read whatever it is first, that way you'll be able to judge whether or not it's something you want them exposed to and answer any questions they have about the content.
I recently read Harry Potter and really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading it to my kid whenever he's old enough to understand enough to enjoy it. My dad read me the Hobbit when I was three and I LOVED IT. Still do. Twilight I've stayed away from, it just sounds like crappy writing. Goosebumps and those Scary Stories books were probably when I was about eight?
So I guess I don't have a real answer for you. But you do have a lot of reading to do. It'll be fun.

I would say, know your kid and know the reading material. Pick out books together and read them before they do, that way you can edit, or discuss parts of the book that my be "difficult" with them knowledgeably. Good Luck, Nat

That's a great question, and one I asked our public librarian. As a rule of thumb, your child should be approximately the same age (within one or two years, depending on your own child's maturity level) of the main characters in the book. Talk to your librarians for further advice on specific books.

Kids love to be scared, especially in the safety of a book. That said, if it's too scary, I discourage my children from reading scary books before bedtime so they don't have bad dreams!

Good luck!

My son (oldest child -- only one who can currently read on his own) will be 9 in August, and he's always been rather sensitive to scary, so we've been somewhat careful about what he reads and sees. The good thing is that at this point, he can recognize when something is getting "too scary" for him and will stop watching or reading it. He was reading The Hobbit in Kindergarten and loved it. I don't intend to read it with my daughter (will be in kindergarten next year) for quite some time unless her fears change -- she's very afraid of spiders, and at one point Bilbo and his friends are captured by giant spiders -- I know that scene will terrify her, though in general she's less sensitive to scary things than he is. I guess what I'm saying is it depends on the kid, what exactly their fears are, and what's in the books. At this point, I'm very glad my son can self-censor like he can, because he's reached the point where he is able to read any book he comes across, and though he trusts my judgement on things like this, sometimes I'm wrong. He has just started the Harry Potter books this year, but prefers the Septimus Heap books because they are a bit less dark and the scary parts are less intense -- it seems like they are aimed at younger kids.

The author of the Harry Potter books has stated that the 1st book should be read around 3rd grade, she was not going to let her own daughter read it until then. The Twilight books are for young adults and I am Shocked when I see young kids (5-9) with signs saying they love Edward on T.V.
My son is 7 and has seen all of the Star Wars except for parts of the last ones ending (very violent) He plays the Lego games which tell the stories of SW and Indiana Jones so he thinks he knows those movies. It depends on how well you know your kid too..maturity etc. Kids in 3rd grade have brought their reading skills up just to be in Harry Potter reading groups.

My kids are nine and are picky about what they'll read because in some books the tension is too high or the fear-factor too scary. So that means even though they can read at the HP level, they aren't interested. But they've read almost all the Lemony Snickets. They stopped partway through Alice in Wonderland, and Percy Jackson and the LIghtening Thief. But they are interested in finishing both, although some of the parts are scary and they need to take breaks.

They're also picky about the movies they'll watch. We havent gotten to the point where we'll fast forward through the bad parts. We just skip the whole movie. But we dont feel like we have to watch every movie that comes out.

As long as it passes your parental approval, from that point it's up to the child. I expect my kids will be reading HP later than most kids, and that's okay too.