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Expert Q&A
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| By EQ Doctors Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D. Steven E. Tobias, Psy.D. Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D Psychologists | ||
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Should a 19-month-old watch scary movies, such as The Mummy, with his parents?
Well, this is a complicated topic. We ask you to think of the TV in your home like a guest, a visitor you choose to let in and spend time with. As a parent, you have to ask yourself not only whether something is good or bad for your child to watch, but also if that's how you want your child to best spend his or her time. Even if you could make a case for having a 19 month old (or 19 year old, for that matter) watching The Mummy, you would be very hard pressed to make the case that this is the best thing the child or parents could do with that child's time. Now, we have heard some people react by saying, "This is not fair. I want to sit down and watch this movie, and I don't want to have to worry about what my kid is seeing. The kid won't understand it anyway." Well, again, it's not the best use of a child's time ... and it may not be such a hot use of parents' time either, while their child is awake.
Being a parent does involve soul-searching and sometimes giving up certain things that are not appropriate for our children to be exposed to. There are those who would argue that if it's not appropriate for our kids, it may well be something for adults to give up. At the very least, it seems that our responsibility as parents is to use the time we have with our kids constructively and with Emotional Intelligence. There are other chances to see the Mummy. If it's important for you do so, best to do it without your toddler, or even your elementary school-aged child.
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