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[poodaddy]

I do, but lately I've been thinking maybe I shouldn't. I don't let her play anything that I consider "feasible violence" like modern shooters or that type of thing, but I do let her play Bloodborne, Five Nights at Freddy's( I don't care for it but eh she loves it so why not), Sonic Dreams Collection(its horror to me....), and I let her watch the Best Friends Shitstorm on YouTube with me every October; and she loves that stuff, but lately I've been wondering if I'm kind of a fucked up parent for doing that.

A friend of mine who happens to be a child psychologist actually kind of implied to me that this kind of thing can somehow permanently alter a child's mind in a negative way, and it made me feel like shit. I mean I love horror stuff and I always have, and I seem to of imprinted that propensity towards darker things upon her unwittingly and now she's honestly so into that type of stuff that I feel like itd be more traumatizing for me to bar her from it now then if I just allowed it to continue. I mean she's a smart, active, social, fun loving kid so I don't see how it has possibly negatively affected her but what do I know?

TLDR; do you guys let your kids play horror games or would you if you had any? Do you think it's damaging in some way to allow a child to play horror games if they wish or is that just overprotective bunko in your eyes? If you've got older kids and they played horror games do you have any regrets or do you think it was just fine?

 

[SomTervo]

It's a tough one. I'm not sure about let her play directly, but maybe let her watch? I suppose the precedent has been set!

It's tough because I played and watched horror as a kid, so did my partner, so did most of my friends, so did my partner's little cousins...

... And we're all very well adjusted and healthy adults. They say indulging kids fantasies and doing stuff with them is the most healthy thing you can do, so I imagine that offsets anything problematic that might be caused? You're the safety net. You're right there.

Edit : how old is she?

 

[120v]

my 2 cents... horror, sure. violent horror, no.

definitely wouldn't want my kids playing something like bloodborne, but that's me

 

[poodaddy]

It's a tough one. I'm not sure about let her play directly, but maybe let her watch? I suppose the precedent has been set!

It's tough because I played and watched horror as a kid, so did my partner, so did most of my friends, so did my partner's little cousins...

... And we're all very well adjusted and healthy adults.

Right man me too. I mean I've been into horror, because of my dad I should note, since I was roughly 4 or 5 and I turned out fine. Hell I think it aided my adventurous nature if anything, but that could be nonsense. I don't know. I mean far be it for me to disagree with a Psychologist I suppose but I can't help but think there probably isn't much substantiated data on that. I guess I'm hoping that some random child psychologist on gaf will see my thread and divulge something of a divergent view or at least a challenge to the supposition posed by my friend. I suppose you're right though, the precedent has certainly been set by now so I don't even know why I'm asking. I guess I just wanna know if I've somehow done something terrible to my daughter already so I can feel sufficiently like a piece of shit if so lol.

 

[danmaku]

I think you should ask your friend more details on these negative effects. Horror content can traumatize a kid and have a negative impact on his personality, but every kid will react in a different way. If she already played FNAF and loved it I don't think she has problems handling this type of stuff. A friend of mine has a 6 yo kid and he loves FNAF too, but I wouldn't let him play something like Silent Hill 2.

 

[poodaddy]

my 2 cents... horror, sure. violent horror, no.

definitely wouldn't want my kids playing something like bloodborne, but that's me

I get that. I should say that she can't fight anything so she's not really seeing any violence; I just let her bomb around that terrifying nightmare and run from all the crazy villagers, werewolves, dogs, and crows till she's sufficiently scared herself silly and we both laugh like jackasses and then we just turn it off lol. I agree with you on the violence for sure though.

 

[Messofanego]

Is there even any evidence of horror in general having a negative long-term effect on children?

 

[tintin1029]

It really depends on the subject matter, and how explicit it is. If they want to play/watch scary stuff, I say let them learn.

So I might let them play Silent Hill 2 (have them skip the Pyramid Head cutscene), or Soma, but not Outlast.

Silent Hill 2 is a game that has such fucked up subject matter, but is subtle enough that you could totally miss it if you're not old enough.

And you all know how explicit Outlast gets

 

[Darksol]

Yes

 

[poodaddy]

Edit : how old is she?

She's a very well spoken and put together 5 year old whose obsessed with Halloween and spooks, but admittedly I've let her play the horror games since she was 4. A bit more background though; Halloween and horror stuff in general is a big deal in our family, probably because my dad's birthday is Halloween. So to us, Halloween is more than just a spooky holiday, it's like the biggest event of the year for us and it's always been like that. It's kind of like how some families really do it up for Christmas or Thanksgiving ya know? Well we're like that for Halloween. She doesn't have nightmares or anything and she loves talking to strangers, (a bit too much), so I don't know that it's really affected her social skills much if at all, but sometimes I wonder if it's affected her development in ways that I obviously can't see.

 

[TBiddy]

Absolutely.

 

[primasaurus]

Don't do it, a kids sense of what's real is very different to an adults, watching disturbing images can affect them right into adulthood even if they seem ok with it and you ask them if they are ok and they say yes

My wife was put infront of a TV as a kid to watch horrors, she says even today those images stick with her and disturb her

If you can't be sure why risk your childs future well being, a child that relies on the adult to protect them

 

[poodaddy]

Is there even any evidence of horror in general having a negative long-term effect on children?

Yeah that's kind of what I'm wondering. It almost seems made up to me. When she made that implication I couldn't help but flash back to those people who were implying that GTA would turn people into cold, ruthless, violent criminals when I was a teenager and how bullshit that turned out to be, but I found myself unable to just write it off simply due to my lack of knowledge in that field compared to her. I was skeptical though to say the least, so I figured I'd make this thread to get something of an idea of what others thought.

 

[Linconan]

You being the Parent knows what's best for your child.
Only you would know what your child can handle in the form of learning and understanding in this regard.

Don't let some guideline of social standards dictate what is and what isn't right, when it comes to your child.

Games are a great tool in development for Children imo and yes even horror games. With guidance from the parent/s of course to inform them of the subject matter at times.
All my opinion of course.


But i will say this, as a form of caution.
Be carefully on what is said and shown, to third parties. In this day n age people will use anything against you to push their own agenda and/or act like they know better for you and your child.

 

[tintin1029]

When I was really young, I would never play anything even remotely scary because I was too afraid, but I would always watch my dad or older brother play RE2 or SH2.

So if your kid really wants to, I say let them.

Never make them play Scary Maze Game though, that will traumatize the shit out of them.

Seriously, fuck the maze game/jumpscare videos.

 

[Bl@de]

Don't do it, a kids sense of what's real is very different to an adults, watching disturbing images can affect them right in to adulthood even if they seem ok with it and you ask them if they are ok and they say yes

My wife was put infront of a TV as a kid to watch horrors, she says even today those images stick with her and disturb her

Without any data on that it remains anecdotal evidence with a sample size of 1.

OT: Tough one. But I don't think so. At least I would not encourage them and maybe say something against it before they are 12-14. After that? Can't really keep them away from it. I know that I stayed up all night to watch Halloween as a 8 year old when my parents were not at home. Watching meant switching channels back and forth because I was so scared of Michael Myers. Same goes for Resident Evil when I was 10. Never wanted to leave the main hall because I was very scared. Still remember it but I'm not disturbed by it. It made me love and appreciate horror and I still have a lot of nostalgia for those moments.

 

[primasaurus]

Without any data on that it remains anecdotal evidence with a sample size of 1.

OT: Tough one. But I don't think so. At least I would not encourage them and maybe say something against it before they are 12-14. After that? Can't really keep them away from it. I know that I stayed up all night to watch Halloween as a 8 year old when my parents were not at home. Watching meant switching channels back and forth because I was so scared of Michael Myers. Same goes for Resident Evil when I was 10. Never wanted to leave the main hall because I was very scared. Still remember it but I'm not disturbed by it. It made me love and appreciate horror and I still have a lot of nostalgia for those moments.

He is talking about a 5 year old, why risk this child

 

[poodaddy]

Don't do it, a kids sense of what's real is very different to an adults, watching disturbing images can affect them right in to adulthood even if they seem ok with it and you ask them if they are ok and they say yes

My wife was put infront of a TV as a kid to watch horrors, she says even today those images stick with her and disturb her

It's never my suggestion though, she literally begs to play these creepy games. I ended up cutting her off from FNAF for a bit purely because I hated hearing the scream constantly as it's incredibly annoying but all it did was serve to really piss her off and make her mad at me for like two weeks. Exact words to my wife's boss" Daddy's mean". Ah what'd Daddy do? "He took my scary scary Freddy scream game and I told him give it back Daddy and he said no cause he's mean." Shit was embarrassing and it made me feel like a dick, so I caved and downloaded the damn game again only to continue feeling like a dick for caving.

 

[xVodevil]

Well in my horror loving family, I'd be never too early to get things started
Probably play together at first, but I don't see why should I keep the kid away from this kind of thrill, after careful explanation and showcasing something scary.

 

[tintin1029]

I'd much rather have a personal fear be created through something from a movie/game, then through an actual real life event.

 

[Bl@de]

He is talking about a 5 year old, why risk this child

Yeah I know. 5 is below 12-14 so it would be a no go with me. Too young to understand certain things. But he has to decide^^ Just gave my opinion

 

[NoblesseOblige]

If I had kids, yeah, I would. I'd get a kick out of it.


I probably shouldn't have kids.

 

[tintin1029]

It's never my suggestion though, she literally begs to play these creepy games. I ended up cutting her off from FNAF for a bit purely because I hated hearing the scream constantly as it's incredibly annoying but all it did was serve to really piss her off and make her mad at me for like two weeks. Exact words to my wife's boss" Daddy's mean". Ah what'd Daddy do? "He took my scary scary Freddy scream game and I told him give it back Daddy and he said no cause he's mean." Shit was embarrassing and it made me feel like a dick, so I caved and downloaded the damn game again only to continue feeling like a dick for caving.

Hey, if she likes the game and is already accustomed to it, why not?

I honestly still find it shocking how much of a hit for the kids FNAF became.

If I had kids, yeah, I would. I'd get a kick out of it.


I probably shouldn't have kids.

I feel pretty much the same.

 

[primasaurus]

It's never my suggestion though, she literally begs to play these creepy games. I ended up cutting her off from FNAF for a bit purely because I hated hearing the scream constantly as it's incredibly annoying but all it did was serve to really piss her off and make her mad at me for like two weeks. Exact words to my wife's boss" Daddy's mean". Ah what'd Daddy do? "He took my scary scary Freddy scream game and I told him give it back Daddy and he said no cause he's mean." Shit was embarrassing and it made me feel like a dick, so I caved and downloaded the damn game again only to continue feeling like a dick for caving.

I get your feelings in dealing with a insistent kid, but they dont know whats best for them thats your job

My son is the same, but it does effect him at night when he goes to bed, he gets really unsettled, but he will still watch if he can, it's a bit like watching a train wreck people just have to look but it doesn't mean it's good for them, in this case we talking little kids

And there is some evidence that it may effect some kids, just google it, one example here http://oureverydaylife.com/influence-scary-movies-toddlers-19566.html

Please don't risk it, not worth it for potential harm

 

[KonradLaw]

Don't have a child yet, but when I have he/she will get plenty of horror. Some of the fondest childhood memories I have are trips with my father, when at night he would scare me shitless with ghost stories

 

[GeNoMe]

We love Horror themed things in our household. Halloween is kinda a big deal for us as well. But we (my wife and I) are not exposing our two year old to extremely horror laced things. Jack 'o lantern's, comic/cartoony like halloween esque things are fine though (think Costume quest).

 

[Horseticuffs]

A subject I'm very passionate about!

Maybe I'm not typical of most parents. My kids are 13 and 10, and have been raised on horror. We just had a big family night out to go to dinner and see The Blair Witch. I go out of my way to find family friendly horror (The R.L. Stine stuff and Are you Afraid of the Dark? are excellent.), to stuff without nudity or sexual content (Alien, Pumpkinhead, Night of the Living Dead, Blair Witch Project, etc...), and as they've gotten older I've let my oldest watch stuff she can handle thematically. I've gone so far as to edit out the sexuality from a movie once (John Carpenter's Halloween) so that they could see it before I usually might let them just because A) I was bored, and B) I thought the film was such an important cultural touchstone that they should be acquainted with it.

I made a thread here a number of years ago on this subject where I took a good deal of heat for all this, but my kids are well-adjusted, on the honor roll, and thoughtful people in general. My oldest is still obsessed with horror of all stripes, whereas my youngest really likes kid-friendly stuff and the modern spate of ghost horror (House on Haunted Hill, The Conjuring Series, the Insidious Series, the Paranormal Activity films, the Sinister films, etc...), but she's more interested in Disney stuff and such.

As far as games I sure do let them imbibe. My oldest likes watching Youtubers play scary games (I couldn't care less about this, personally.), and both of my girls learned to navigate a 3d virtual environment from the original Left 4 Dead. To this day all these years later they still enjoy playing the L4D series. My oldest has played a bit of the new Doom, which they've both watched me play. They've watched me play Dead End Road, Deadly Premonition, Zombie Army Trilogy, some of the Resident Evil games, Odallus: The Dark Call, Slain!, Alan Wake, Bioshock, many others. We've played through some of the House of the Dead games, the Resident Evil lightgun games, Dead Space extraction, and I'm sure many I can't recall.

In short I do limit what content they can access but really just along lines of nudity/ sexuality and that is rolling back as they get older and more mature. Maybe that's 'bad parenting" in the modern sense but my first memory is sitting on the couch with my dad watching Return of the Living Dead and I still cherish that experience. Watching Robocop and Poltergeist 2 in a Drive-in with my mom and siblings at like 7 years old was the closest I've ever come to a religious experience. Where some folks associate negativity with horror content I feel nothing but warmth and wholesomeness, that's just how I grew up. The first movies I ever rented were Monster Squad (Still a family favorite) and Friday the 13th part 6 (Still my favorite in the series).

I dunno. Horror gaming and movies have always been a family activity to me. We've done a lot of good bonding over it all, and I think it has helped us all to develop as people. Since they were able to comprehend such matters I've been drilling into their heads the difference between fiction and nonfiction. When something horrible happened in the real world, we talk about it and what exactly happened and why. I don't feel it has negatively impacted them in any way, and I think they're better people for having it in their lives, as am I.

 

[poodaddy]

You being the Parent knows what's best for your child.
Only you would know what your child can handle in the form of learning and understanding in this regard.

Don't let some guideline of social standards dictate what is and what isn't right, when it comes to your child.

Games are a great tool in development for Children imo and yes even horror games. With guidance from the parent/s of course to inform them of the subject matter at times.
All my opinion of course.


But i will say this, as a form of caution.
Be carefully on what is said and shown, to third parties. In this day n age people will use anything against you to push their own agenda and/or act like they know better for you and your child.

Yeah I've always thought of games as tools for development as well, no different than books or movies really, and I see what you mean about social standards and agendas. It really does start to make ya wonder though after a while. It feels like the second you have a kid the whole world wants to tell you how to raise said kid, and after a while ya can't help but start second guessing what you know about your kids and what they love. That being said, I'm enjoying getting the different perspectives on it. Thanks for your reply man

 

[bosseye]

I don't think I would, 5 is a bit young but then it depends on the child I suppose. My 6 year old is very sensitive and easily concerned by creepy Halloween stuff, despite being fascinated by it - so I wouldn't let him watch horror films or play horror games just yet. Same for my 4 year old.

The only games we play together are friendly mobile stuff and my son and I play BeamNG Drive on the laptop every weekend for an hour or so. I'm toying with the idea of buying a WiiU for MarioKart etc.

Part of the whole games and children thing for me is how easily addicted they get, same for telly. You have to really be careful not to just give in and let them waste most of the day doing games or telly.

 

[Always-honest]

Well my son is 8, so no. He gets nightmares from Disney movies, so horror movies would probably drive him insane.

 

[Sanctuary]

Sure, why not? It just depends on the child in question though. Personally, I started watching horror movies at age nine, and it wasn't because I was initially "allowed" to either. It was something I did when visiting my grandparents, after they went to sleep (I'd watch HBO). The only negative reaction I had was that after wacthing the very first movie, I had to check all of the doors in the house to make sure they were locked. Twice. That's it. Never had a single nightmare either.

Technically, the first horror movie I saw was Salem's Lot at age seven. But this was mostly peeking through my fingers after being told to cover my eyes. Very first scene that I saw was the gurney scene with the tongue depressor cross burning into the forehead of a vampire.

When I was ten, my aunt just randomly started popping in various horror movies too like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Dawn of the Dead; both of which were pretty gruesome for their time.

A subject I'm very passionate about!

Maybe I'm not typical of most parents. My kids are 13 and 10, and have been raised on horror. -snip-

My aunt simply didn't seem to give a fuck, and after she saw that the first movie didn't phase me, she would rent a new one each weekend that I visited her. I'd also watch a show called Nightmare Theater, which was hosted by a character named Sammy Terry, that featured an older horror movie on a public TV station every Friday night. My mother took me to see Aliens when I was thirteen.

 

[Kevtones]

I used to fake sick from school to watch horror movies. When I found out there were horror games I solicited the homeless to buy me those games.

My kids shouldn't be scared.

 

[Menome]

Don't do it, a kids sense of what's real is very different to an adults, watching disturbing images can affect them right into adulthood even if they seem ok with it and you ask them if they are ok and they say yes

My wife was put infront of a TV as a kid to watch horrors, she says even today those images stick with her and disturb her

If you can't be sure why risk your childs future well being, a child that relies on the adult to protect them

Without any data on that it remains anecdotal evidence with a sample size of 1.

That's the big problem, it's all going to be anecdotal. I can completely contrast the above statement as my mother took the approach of letting me watch horror films at a young age with adult supervision. This was in order to show me that monsters aren't real, because she'd watch a film like Alien with me, then watch a comedy like Ghostbusters and point out that Sigourney Weaver is in both of those movies, so it couldn't be real.

I've grown up without those images sticking and disturbing me and just grew up to enjoy horror in an adult fashion.

 

[mokalovesoulmate]

Actually I do not allow my 13 year old nephew to play horror games.

But someday in the weekend I noticed his trophy...played Senran Kagura (EV), Bloodborne, Resident Evil remastered and Silent Hill remastered (PS3). It seems SKEV and BB is not finished.

I asked him, "what are you playing this whole week?" (I only at home on weekends).

"I played (mentioned above). What happened?"

"Na, nothing."

I am just being flat face :|

Until today there is no serious and strange things happened (and I hope never).

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Bloodborne is wacked out.

 

[tintin1029]

I'm sorry, but first-time horror exposure through Deadly Premonition sounds like the greatest thing ever.

I'll make sure my kids' first horror thing is that.

 

[breakfuss]

My dad used to let me watch all kinds of crazy stuff. Candyman...leprechaun...etc...and I'm pretty sure that shit fucked me up a tad. Bloodborne though lol? That has a bunch of disturbing imagery. I mean, it's your kid...and you know her better than anyone so I guess it's at your discretion..

 

[Bl@de]

I've gone so far as to edit out the sexuality from a movie once (John Carpenter's Halloween) so that they could see it before I usually might let them just because A) I was bored, and B) I thought the film was such an important cultural touchstone that they should be acquainted with it.

This sounds so american it makes me laugh
Scary, bloody? Sure. Boobies and teenage sex? Booooh, dirty, no,no.

Spoiler

If you're not american, I'm sorry^^

 

[tintin1029]

This sounds so american it makes me laugh
Scary, bloody? Sure. Boobies and teenage sex? Booooh, dirty, no,no.

Spoiler

If you're not american, I'm sorry^^

We can't help it, it's icky.

I do find it very ironic though that people would rather teach their kids about death rather than life first lol

 

[primasaurus]

Some soldiers get PTSD we don't know who until much later, we are all different, we don't know if one kid will be affected and the one that wont, why risk someone so young, they may be fine, they may not, why would you risk your own kid?

 

[poodaddy]

I'm sorry, but first-time horror exposure through Deadly Premonition sounds like the greatest thing ever.

I'll make sure my kids' first horror thing is that.

Actually I do not allow my 13 year old nephew to play horror games.

But someday in the weekend I noticed his trophy...played Senran Kagura (EV), Bloodborne, Resident Evil remastered and Silent Hill remastered (PS3). It seems SKEV and BB is not finished.

I asked him, "what are you playing this whole week?" (I only at home on weekends).

"I played (mentioned above). What happened?"

"Na, nothing."

I am just being flat face :|

Until today there is no serious and strange things happened (and I hope never).

I don't know what it says about me that out of all those games the one that I'd be really appalled at my daughter playing would be Senran Kagura....

 

[tintin1029]

Some soldiers get PTSD we don't know who until much later, we are all different, we don't know if one kid will be affected and the one that wont, why risk someone so young, they may be fine, they may not, why would you risk your own kid?

comparing getting scared from a horror movie to PTSD is a bit of a stretch

I don't know what it says about me that out of all those games the one that I'd be really appalled at my daughter playing would be Senran Kagura....

But Bloodborne is all good lol

But no, I agree.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

I would never let my kids play video games.

I played video games all the time and I turn out bad.

 

[Sanctuary]

This sounds so american it makes me laugh
Scary, bloody? Sure. Boobies and teenage sex? Booooh, dirty, no,no.

Spoiler

If you're not american, I'm sorry^^

Yeah, I never understood that mentality either. Brutal decapitations, or spears through the back of the skull that protrude through the eye socket are perfectly acceptable though!

On kind of a similar note; during my sixth grade graduation, a student was allowed to bring in a movie of their choice for the class. The movie that was picked was Amityville II: The Possession. Now it was totally cool to see someone getting shot in the face with a shotgun blast, and it was fine to talk about incest, but as soon as it was time for a shirt to come off, the person that brought the film would stand up in front of the TV with their arms outstretched, trying to cover the screen until that scene was over.

 

[poodaddy]

Some soldiers get PTSD we don't know who until much later, we are all different, we don't know if one kid will be affected and the one that wont, why risk someone so young, they may be fine, they may not, why would you risk your own kid?

You've made your point abundantly clear and I've noted it as I have all the others. I appreciate your input but I'm going to continue allow her to play the kid friendly horror games that she wishes to play. Oh and I read the article you linked. While interesting the study proved nothing conclusively and my daughter suffers from none of the symptoms described. Overall I'd say the study seemed extremely biased and used no substantiated data nor did it reveal any demographical information about the people used to populate the data for the study. Thanks for your perspective though.

 

[Horseticuffs]

This sounds so american it makes me laugh
Scary, bloody? Sure. Boobies and teenage sex? Booooh, dirty, no,no.

Spoiler

If you're not american, I'm sorry^^

Yeah, totally American, and I do understand. Here there is a world of difference between your kid going to school the next day and getting overheard by a teacher saying "Yeah, my dad let me watch Die Hard last night. It was so cool how cop guy blew away all those dirty terrorists and saved Christmas and, ultimately, his marriage!" and "Yeah, this tender portrayal of totally normal and natural human sexuality was aces!".

You may get sideways look at open house night in case A, you may get a visit from the Department of Children and Families in case B.

 

[poodaddy]

But Bloodborne is all good lol

But no, I agree.

I never said it was logical that I felt that way, just being honest lol. I don't even know why but if I came home and saw her playing PT I'd be like "cool should I grab the headset for that last bullshit part?!?" But if she was playing Senran Kagura I'd probably be legitimately upset lol. I dunno man :/

 

[Eggiem]

Short question:
Is there an USK 0 or 6 / ESRB E ''horror'' game?
I couldn't find any.

 

[poodaddy]

Short question:
Is there an USK 0 or 6 / ESRB E ''horror'' game?
I couldn't find any.

Spookys House of Jump Scares is decently kid friendly I think. I mean my daughter loves it at least but as I've already established she's something of an atypical example. I don't think it technically even has a rating though since it's free, I could be wrong on that though.

 

[Notor!ousG]

I don't see the harm.
As a kid I grew up in the 90's and played many horror games and watched horror movies.

I believe society has become too political correct on so many matters.

EDIT: I don't have kids, so maybe when I do have them, I'd revise my opinion.