Is it ok to let children watch scary or violent movies?

[mamananaluv]

 I don't let my children watch these types of movies. Childhood is only a blink of an eye in time and I would like them to remain relatively innocent from such worldly horrors. What is your opinion? Is it ok because it's not real and only a movie?

[Whaaaaaa....O.o]

Not mine, my kids are like me and have terrible nightmares, hence why I am up. I had another. :(

[BuckeyezRule]

Quoting Mommy_of_Riley:

It depends on the individual child.

Some people are never okay with watching things like horror movies... Others are okay from a young age.

It all depends on the child.

I never watch scary movies as a kid, and, honestly, for ME, it took a it to remind myself it's not real.

Our kids, like hubby as a child, love and bug to watch horror flicks. I've explained movies aren't real, though I'm a true crime junkie, and I let my kids know and understand real events. We talk, and I answer any questions they have. Or, hubby does.

Quoting _Kissy_:

My kids just got done watching the Final destination dvd's. 

I'm pretty much open minded about what they watch, except nudity, which is weird, sex is more natural than blood, guts and gore.

[Healthystart30]

No, first of all, I just don't see the need to let my children watch violence/horror on TV, and I believe it desensitizes children to violence, and can cause emotional and behavioral problems.

[momof31995]

Oh hell what do I know about parenting I taught my kids to shoot guns responsibly.

[katzmeow726]

Depends on the child...and it depends on what you consider too violent or scary.

My kids love the Ninja Turtles movies the avengers animated series, star wars, Spiderman, Hellboy movies, and (select) episodes of Inuyasha...

All of which some people consider scary or violent for 3 year olds.  But they enjoy it, and don't get scared so I have no issue with it. 

[katzmeow726]

Oh, and iron man and thor...they LOVE those movies.  Ds wants to be iron man for halloween this year.  And every time it storms, they get excited and yell that Thor is getting the bad guys...it's very cute

[shannonnigans]

Truthfully I encourage tons of reading over all of this. I'm not trying to sound snobby, and in fact I'm pretty loose about what to watch as far as TV and movies when they are on but I was always encouraged to be a voracious reader and it was the greatest gift I could ever have received.

[bluerooffarm]

 My 5yo loves scary movies!  His favorite holiday is halloween (even over Christmas!)  He loves The Brother's Grimm and Sleepy Hollow.  We are much more careful about nudity and sex than we are of scary stuff.

But he is also very gentle and very empathetic with real life.  He knows the stuff is not real and he loves to pick out actors in other movies.  He can even pick out some voices in animated stuff.

[FromAtoZ]

Depends on the child, their age, the movie and other factors.

My 12 year old has seen the 'Paranormal Activity' movies.  

There are others I would not let her watch.

I'm not a fan of letting young ones watch a lot of this stuff but as they get older, it varies for many.

[StevensCare4u]

 We dont, but BM does let the girls. They have nightmares about the man with long nails scaping their face up. (freddy) Thats their moms favorite movie. The only thing our kids are allowed to watch is the Disney Channel or Sprout. I dont even allowed NICK casue the shows are way to CRAZY. That IMO is why kids bounce off the walls.