The Impact of Watching Horror Movies
I recently heard about a study about childhood horror movie watching. This study said the average person watches their first horror movie by the age of 10. At first, I was shocked by this. But then I gave some thought to my own experiences growing up.
I watched my first horror movie at 12. It was about a haunted house and it terrified me so much that I can still to this day remember the vivid images. For many years I was terrified to be home alone. The fear that I battled because of that movie was huge.
When my oldest daughter was 6 the original Jurassic Park movie came out. It was a big hit and everyone was talking about it. I knew she struggled with fear already and so I told her she couldn’t watch it despite her pleading. Her friends at school were watching it so she wanted to as well. Then she went to a friend’s house and came home terrified. When I finally found out that they had watched Jurassic Park I understood why. It took her quite a while before she was ok being in her room alone at night. Those were some tough parenting days.
I wouldn’t classify Jurassic Park as a horror movie but to my daughter it was terrifying.
Many people like to be scared and that is why horror movies are so popular. But what does the impact of fear have on us? And what does this have to do with parenting? When deciding what to allow a child to watch it is important to consider carefully what the Bible has to say about topics like this because that is the foundation for life.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:18, 19
The phrase, “fear not” is used over 80 times in the Bible. Fear is not something God wants for us. His love will drive out fear.
When we watch movies that stimulate a fear reaction we are subjecting ourselves by choice to the very thing that His love drives out. Fear is crippling and destructive.
When we watch a movie, especially one that stimulates a fear reaction; we have real physical reactions that can have lasting effects on us. The physical reaction can be increased heart rate as well as a spike in adrenaline and cortisol levels.
What is the impact of watching horror movies
People have been known to have the following issues after watching a horror movie.
- Phobias
- Anxiety
- Sleeplessness
- Nightmares
- Aggression
- PTSD in young children
- Desensitization
So why should Christians not watch a horror movie? The simple answer is our thoughts. Everything we watch, listen to or are in any way exposed to becomes part of us. Long after exposure we think about those things at random times.
The Bible is full of instructions on this topic! My favorite verse is Philippians 4:6-8.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”
Anytime we are deciding on issues like this we should be asking ourselves if the movie lines up with these things. If the movie is going to stimulate a fear response perhaps we should choose something different for entertainment.
As parents, it is our job to protect our kids. Allowing a child to view images that will stimulate a fear response before they are able to distinguish reality from fantasy can set the child up for a life of phobias, fears, and nightmares. It also teaches the child the opposite of what God says we should be thinking on.
Teach your child to think about things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellence and things that are worthy of praise.
For more parenting tips Click Here to download my free 3 Powerful Tips that will Transform Your Mothering Overnight.
