Television and Fear in Early Childhood

Joanne Cantor, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison

from Telemedium, 2002

    We know from child development research that a preschooler's view of the world is very different from that of older children and adults.Nowhere is this fact more important than when predicting what will frighten preschoolers on television and in movies. Preschoolers’ reactions to the mass media are often hard to predict, because it's difficult for parents to remember how we perceived the world and how we reasoned about it when we were that young.
 

Research shows that preschoolers’ reactions to television and movies can best be summed up in the simple phrase: “Seeing is believing.” As for the seeing part, how things appear is more important than anything else.For example, we did an experiment in which we created four versions of the same story by manipulating a character's appearance (she looked either attractive and grandmotherly or ugly and witchlike) and her behavior (she was either kind or cruel in her interactions with a cat who had wandered into her home).[See illustration.] In judging how nice or mean the woman was and in predicting what she would do next, preschool children were much more affected than older children by her looks and less affected by how she had behaved.Consistent with these findings, research shows that the movies and TV shows that frighten preschoolers typically have grotesque, scary-looking characters, such as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.Often, these grotesque characters are actually the "good guys," like The Incredible Hulk from the 1980's television program or E.T., The Extraterrestrial from the movie of that name (re-released this year for its 20th anniversary). Preschoolers can't seem to see beyond these characters' ugly exterior to understand their benevolent motivations.
 

As for the believing part of "seeing is believing," if preschoolers see something, they’ll likely believe it. The distinction between fantasy and reality is very difficult for children in this age range.Research shows that preschool children are much more likely than older children and adults to be frightened by fantastic happenings in a program, that is, by events that could never happen in the real world.To them, a sorcerer casting an evil spell is as scary as a kidnapper or a murderer.
 

Research shows consistent images and themes that scare preschoolers in media presentations.The most prominent of these are as follows:
 

  • Vicious animals, witches, monsters, and other grotesque characters.
    • Children don’t need to be taught to fear vicious- or creepy-looking animals (such as an attacking lion or crocodile; spiders, snakes, and bats) and strange-looking characters like monsters, witches, and mutants.It is especially terrifying if a character transforms from normal-looking to grotesque (the way a werewolf does).
    Natural disasters (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods), accidents (plane, train, and car crashes, fires and explosions), and visual images of intense violence (from knife fights to terrorist attacks) are especially frightening to preschoolers.
    Most preschoolers don't understand the concept of death so they haven’t imagined the possibility that either or both of their parents could die.However, many movies for young children (from Bambi to The Lion King and beyond) are built around this theme. And many children start worrying about their own parents’ death when they watch these movies. Preschoolers also form strong attachments to the younger characters and the loveable animals in the stories they watch. If these characters are threatened with intense harm, young viewers feel threatened, too.
    A shriek or scream, a threatening tone of voice, or an ominous musical score is more likely than the words characters say to frighten a preschooler. Even babies are startled by intense and threatening sounds long before they learn language. Preschoolers’ emotions are strongly affected by these nonverbal features.
    Calming preschoolers' media-induced fears is a challenge for parents as well. Telling a young child that what they've seen is not real is not apt to help.Young children's fears are more likely to be quieted by getting them out of the situation as soon as possible (waiting for the happy ending probably won't do any good), by giving them attention, warmth, and reassurance, and by avoiding similar content in the future.More advice and information about these topics can be found in the book I wrote for parents, "Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them. Harvest/Harcourt, 1998.

     
     

    Additional References






    Cantor, J. (2002). Fright reactions to mass media. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media Effects, (2d Ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
     

    Cantor, J., & Sparks, G. G. (1984).Children's fear responses to mass media:Testing some Piagetian predictions.Journal of Communication, 34, (2), 90-103.
     

    Cantor, J., & Wilson, B. J. (1984).Modifying fear responses to mass media in preschool and elementary school children.Journal of Broadcasting, 28, 431-443.
     

    Cantor, J., & Wilson, B. J. (1988).Helping children cope with frightening media presentations.Current Psychology:Research & Reviews, 7, 58-75.
     

    Hoffner, C., & Cantor, J. (1985).Developmental differences in responses to a television character's appearance and behavior.Developmental Psychology, 21, 1065-1074.
     

    Sparks, G. G., & Cantor, J. (1986).Developmental differences in fright responses to a television program depicting a character transformation.Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 30, 309-323.

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