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The world is good, bad and everything else in-between at the same time, and we try to stick to the good bits. I remember reading that children gain the ability
by rich_sasha 2y ago
The world is good, bad and everything else in-between at the same time, and we try to stick to the good bits. I remember reading that children gain the ability to understand that around the age of 7. Prior to that, seeing the bad taints the whole world for them.
I can't tell if that's true, but intuitively rings so. Now, if it is of life-or-death importance to condition your children never to go into the forest alone while you are tilling the fields, perhaps that's a good tradeoff. Most medieval people died in their childhood anyway, worrying about their psychological baggage in adulthood was premature optimisation.
But in 21st century, I think we can do better, and wait with teaching children about the good and evil parts of the world until they are more ready for it.
That's not to say we dumb everything down and take away nuance. But it doesn't have to be gory. Bluey is full of nuance and suitable for all ages.
- squidbeak 2y agoMy parents read Roald Dahl to me and would put on Watership Down years before I was 7, without ever tainting the world for me. The same was true for several generations of British kids. A happy ending after a disturbing struggle is more like a way of instilling durable optimism in children.
- wonder_er 2y agostrongly agree. I've been loving anything/everything produced by the animation studio "Studio Ghibli". I was introduced via the first few works created by the first director, Hayao Miyazaki, it's absolutely ruined me for nearly all other works that claim to be for children. Their productions feel so dignifying to everyone, embracing the full human experience, not so necessarily dark and disturbing.
- rich_sasha 2y agoFunnily enough, my parents read Watership Down to me too, I would have been around 4-5 then. They skipped the worst bits, and yet still I remember being scared. I liked the rest of the story, including the happy end. You can sanitize without hurting, and even if you think you remove the worst bits, it can still be too much, for some children at least.
- wirrbel 2y agoI think i once heard Neil Gaiman explain that he doesn’t think that the level of violence is what distinguishes a book for adults from a book for kids but whether or not the protagonist looses control in the novel and to which extent.
- pneumatic1 2y agoMy 4 year old and I just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He sometimes got a little nervous when the other kids disappeared, but he loved the story. Charlies virtue was so obvious to him. We just brought home a stack of more Roald Dahl from the library.
- kridsdale3 2y agoThe Charlie sequel is super disturbing and violent. I remember how I felt as a 7yo reading it.
- Swizec 2y ago> I remember reading that children gain the ability to understand that around the age of 7. Prior to that, seeing the bad taints the whole world for them. My country had a [short] war when I was 4 years old. Kids are plenty capable of experiencing bad and not being permanently tainted by it. Takes parental guidance of course. I also grew up on the version of Little Red Riding Hood where they actually get eaten and the hunter has to cut them out of the wolf after killing it. It was one of my favorite stories growing up because bad things happen but they get rescued. Anyway I think my argument is that bad stuff exists and you can't hide it from kids, but you have to guide them in how to process and have some uncomfortable conversations sometimes.