Why read scary tales to a child

For the sake of her love, the Little Mermaid agrees to have her tongue cut out, Pinocchio becomes a murderer, the fox eats Kolobok alive, a terrible gray wolf pursues Little Red Riding Hood, a crazy old woman lives in a house on chicken legs in the middle of the forest … These are no longer fairy tales, but scripts for new films horror.

After reading such chilling details, many want only one thing: to say a huge thank you to the people, thanks to whose efforts fairy tales from horror stories have turned into cute and kind stories with an invariably happy ending. But are they really worthy of praise?

The British daily The Guardian recently published the results of a rather curious study by The Guardian. … … It turned out that about one third of all parents surveyed will not read a fairy tale to their children if they know in advance that there is something creepy and frightening in it.

Only about a thousand people took part in the survey, but even such a small experiment makes you wonder: do those children who do not read scary stories are deprived of something? Does it make sense to protect kids from negative emotions?

Many psychologists are sure that children who do not read horror stories lose a lot. Let's see what exactly, and at the same time find out what benefits the scary tales of the American Psychological Society can bring. …

Preparing for the harsh reality

Scary tales, like nightmares, are a kind of dress rehearsal for the fears that children may face in their daily lives.

How can you feel safe if you don’t know what to fear and what the feeling is like? The world can be a very scary and unkind place, and it will be much better if the children are ready for this in advance. Knowing how to confront fear is one of the most valuable.

Emma Kenny psychologist

Horror stories allow kids to experience a wide range of emotions that are still unknown in reality: anger, aggression, anger, a thirst for revenge, violence, betrayal. Scary stories teach children to experience fear and make them more prepared for real life.

Boosting and strengthening self-esteem

Unpleasant and frightening events from fairy tales can do a good job and greatly strengthen the child's faith in himself. Listening to a scary tale, the child will learn to internally pass the situation through himself and cope with fear.

In an unpleasant situation, the child will think something like this: "If my favorite fairytale hero was able to escape from the haunted house, then I will also be able to find a way out of the situation." Scary tales really help build faith in yourself and teach you how to overcome fear.

Margee Kerr Sociologist

If a child happens to encounter something similar in real life, he will already be a little prepared.

Enjoyment of emotions

As strange as it may sound, sometimes children really like to be afraid. Why not just tickle their nerves with scary stories from time to time? Moreover, it is absolutely safe!

The frightened brain produces an incredible cocktail of different hormones: it contains cortisol, the stress hormone, and adrenaline, the hormone of fear, and norepinephrine, which is produced during increased nervous tension.

In addition to these hormones, the brain also produces dopamine, the hormone of happiness and pleasure. When we read scary stories, we deliberately make ourselves pleasantly nervous.

Horror movies, horror stories and all sorts of haunted houses can be terrifying and funny at the same time. That is why it is so pleasant for us to sometimes experience all sorts of frightening situations on the screen and on the pages of books.

Rachel Feltman journalist

Remember, scary stories are good in moderation. You should not continue reading them if your child is very susceptible, experiences severe discomfort and then cannot sleep well.

Try reading something a little less frightening but no less instructive to him. But if the child is quite normal with such stories, then you should not completely deprive him of the thrill.