Here's how it started. My girlfriend and I were watching Dawn of the Dead late at night. My daughter woke up, and walked into the living room. Before I registered that she was there and looking at the TV, she saw about 60 seconds of zombies. She asked what was wrong with those people, and I told her they were zombies. The next night when I put her to bed, she said she was afraid the zombies were going to come and get her. This became a nightly thing.

So I decided to make her unafraid of zombies. I got out my old PS1 that had been colecting dust in a box, and played the old Resident Evil games with her watching. Now she loves to watch me shoot zombies. Zombies have become a joke to her, and she doesn't get scared of monsters at night anymore.

Did I handle it the right way?

I don't know if there will be a long term effect on her from this. One thing I'm worried about is that I might get a call for an urgent meeting with her kindergarten teacher, who will say something like "Your daughter drew this picture. She says this is a policeman, and he's shooting this zombie in the head. Why is she drawing things like this?"

wouldnt worry about that, when i was a little kid i used to write stories about people being beheaded and erm..throwing up their own hearts..

its probaly just a phase which she'll either grow out off, or you'll have a great buddy to watch horror movies with. just make sure she knows its all make believe an i dont see why there'll be a problem.

i think you handled it just fine...mia has a bit of an issue with monsters, especially after i walked in one day and watched her watching thirteen ghosts

she was disturbed, so i went into the special features and let her watch them making the costumes for the ghosts, she is now an avid horror movie buff...and it's cute taking her into a movie store and she's asking for a scary movie...i do keep some limits on what she watches...but for the most part, she seems to handle most well...she likes zombies too...she'll do this cute little zombie walk with a groan, and now has terah doing it to...and then they'll jump on you to give you "the kiss of doom"

make them realize it's all "pretend" and children seem okay with it.

as for the teachers, mia's teacher finds her, imagination interesting...she doesn't even blink when she goes into detail about how vampires bite into your neck to "suck you dry"

i think teachers are more concerned about bruises and obvious behavior issues...not even questions about "naked people games" seemed to phase her...but that's another story.

it's a normal development for little girls i think...well, the cool ones anyhow.

I also think you handled it fine.. you got her over the 'scared' part and so it shouldn't become a phobia in her later years.. And as Spikess said, now you have a horror movie partner!!

As for the school teachers part... That actually depends on what part of the country/world you live in.. Here in Utah, the teachers would say something to you about their 'imaginations' going in the wrong direction.. But thats because most( not all) of the teachers here are brainwashed mormons!! LOL

I'm glad to hear that she isn't afraid of zombies anymore! Took my son 3 years to get over me playing RE1 !!

too true, when I have a kid, I'll ask you guys for advice, never would have thought of that to make her unafraid

I didn't think about that. That's a good idea too.

I tried that too, but my daughter got just as scared of the res evil zombies as the ones the she saw (accidentally from 'day of the dead') but then she saw me playing tekken and now believes that the only way to beat a zombie is a good spin kick to the help conjoined with 'HIYAAAAAA!'. Otherwise I think It's a great solution!

Just another reason why I loved playing "Resident Evil"... now a parental tool.

And to think some people say video games are bad for the kids.

If it worked, then you did it right.

If the teacher asks 'why is she drawing these pictures' I'd tell her to ask the kid why she likes drawing these pictures.

As long as she knows it's all make believe she'll be fine.

Neon

exactly how do you that as a tool?

I think you handled it okay... It wouldn't be really the way I would handle it but you handled it well... I mean, there is no right or wrong way to raise a child (not unless your talking about extremes and abuse but I doubt you abuse your kid) and I often find myself arguing with my boyfriends mother about how Sorcha shouldn't be watching anything that isn't baby einstein or she shouldn't be listening to anything other than classical music... Bullshit.

Sorcha loves the movie Pitch Black... It keeps her interested, the colours fix her onto the TV for ages... She likes The Nightmare Before Christmas too... She dances to the music... I watch horror movies in front of her all the time... She watches them too and more often than not, she laughs at them. I would rather expose my daughter to horror movies at her age now so when she gets older... She won't have the problem your daughter had... Although I thought it was cool the way you handled the situation, I doubt she would actually enjoy sitting through Dawn Of The Dead....

I'm not worried about when Sorcha starts school, she will know that movies are movies and they have no real value in real life other than entertainment. I mean, nobody should tell you how to raise your child and although you may often think, 'Am I doing this right? Is it best for my child?' Don't let people question what is right for your daughter you know whats best for her and if she wants to laugh at zombies then thats cool, at least she is not afraid and that is the main thing.

My cousin is 8 years old now and since she was little, her favorite movie was evil dead... I guess it is the normal for my family though, I mean, I was exposed to horror when I was very young too so really, I don't see the big deal. Good parenting isn't about what movies you should let your children see, its about doing the best you can to ensure that your child grows up with self-respect and respect for others, if you teach your kid that, then it doesn't matter what she watches on TV.... Theres worse things in the world than zombie movies...

Yeah, Barney's still around...

Kids are weird, and all different, so it's a case of what works best for each one.
Today's kids are way softer than they used to be, I remember my dead grandfather spending a few days in a our living room before his funeral. Victorians used to pose with their dead children for photos, siblings holding dead babies and the like. Just think of all the kids in poor countries that see death up close every day.

Children can cope with far more than we give them credit for. My tutor's son walked in on him opening up an autopsied body once when he was five years old. He walked through the room, said 'Hi Dad', then kept going. The next day at school he told his teacher he saw a man with his head open. The teacher called the parents in, and they explained, although the child never actually suffered nightmares or showed any problems.

I think the most pertinent part of what you did lies in the fact that you, her father, defeated the thing she was scared of. not only did she get a little de-sensitised to zombies, but she saw that her father can always be relied upon to blast the undead. (and find club keys, aid spays etc..)

The reason I don't let my child watch scary films is because although she has seen a corpse, I don't want her to be exposed to too much violence yet to preserve her innocence more than anything. R.Evil is pretend, but something like CSI is realistic, and if she'd seen the one the other day with the abused child put out as garbage it would have broken her heart more than anything to know that that kind of thing happens. It's one thing to be told not to talk to strangers, it's another to fully illustrate gory deaths and murders that happen everyday. There'll be plenty of time for that later.

Did you read the post that gave birth to this thread?

Hint: The answer can be found there.

i'll be nice. since it is possible for the situation to be used in many different ways, i was asking you how YOU used it. reading the first post again still leaves the question and the number of ways it could possible used.

Why, are you usually mean?

But as far as how it could be used, my original post was in response to how it was used in "this case" as explained in the 1st post of the thread. I have no idea how it would be used in other cases.

yes i am, and your imagination really sucks donkey balls

So what you're saying is, I may have to reconsider my stay here on these forums? With just over 20 posts, that wouldn't be as heart wrenching as you may think. After hunting through several sites I came to this one and thought I'd give it a go. Perhaps I need to continue my search over the millions that remain.

Sorry you don't think my imagination is up to par... the material you gave me to work with actually sucked bigger donkey ball.

How the hell am I supposed to, or care to for that matter, come up with ideas for "Resident Evil" as a parental tool?

Why should I dance for you?

You've taken my simple response to another members post and turned it into insulting me. I imagine it's because I'm new and you felt the need to put me in my place and show me how much power you wield in this limit realm. You've failed.



BTW... I don't like bullies.

I have read a number of your posts, and as of yet you have not broken any rules but you have not shown me much either. I do not care if you dance, sing, wing, or die for me as in the greater scheme...you don't matter to me at all. Outside of being a member of this forum, your life means nothing to me whatsoever.

I have come up with many ideas on how to use resident evil, or well any "horrific" video game as parental tools. It would wear off when the child got older, but....

Synikal, i don't think you could have done a better job then you did with the situation