Ginta — What’s the point of approaching gore and horror? A necessary discussion

Daniela Ginta writes her column each Friday for The Armchair Mayor News.

COLUMN — Halloween is approaching and it has been for a while, commercially speaking, as some stores started displaying their stock before September ended, yet the political turmoil in the Middle East has been obliterating the presence of one too many aisles of black clothing, zombie scars and blood-splattered fake machetes.

Once again, though, the irony is hard to miss. We allow ourselves to be entertained by serial killer disguises with the necessary accessories such as plastic axes, swords and cutlasses, and the many containers of fake blood. On the other hand, the internet offers the real version of it all through some media outlets that use extremely graphic imagery to describe the ISIS-caused mayhem.

It is hard not to cringe at the latter, but also at the fake, ‘fun’ version that we have on display until Oct. 31.

I feel compelled to ask: what about the children? Many have heard of ISIS, from the news or from other sources. Whether they say it out loud or not, they wonder about such violent situations. At the same time, we make a game out of blood-stained weapons look-alikes and downplay the suggested violence with ‘Oh, but this is different, this is fun…’

As much as we want to say that children understand the distinction between real violence and the ‘play’ version (hard not to struggle with the concept) the reality is they do not, not until they get older. Yet the Halloween paraphernalia does not come with any PG ratings.

Is it right to attempt to desensitize children to violence? We do not lack ideas to make any day fun, let alone a day when we can bring some jack-o-lanterns, silly witches and black cats along.

I wrote before about the troublesome transformation of Halloween into what I’m inclined to call Horror Day. In recent years it has become all about horror stories and related characters, blood-splattered everything, demons and zombies. No more simple silly fun; the creepier the better, many Halloween-related Internet resources suggest.

Many people would not tolerate the sight of gutting a chicken, yet suggested violence directed to humans passes with flying colours in the name of fun. Why is that?

In many schools children are being reminded of the ‘Hands off’ policy and they are being discouraged from playing anything that could lead to any injury – scraped knees and such. In fact, many are saying they feel too safe, at the expense of not having fun and not doing what children do best: play at their hearts’ content. On a side note, it is worth knowing that when left to play freely on a regular basis, children design rules that actually prevent them from getting hurt (Peter Gray, ‘Free to learn’, Basic Book Publishers, 2013).

Come Halloween, suggested violence becomes fun and adult-approved. Family oriented stores carry everything one could imagine and beyond, and the Internet can teach you how to make various horror-inspired props to make the night memorable.

Again, boundaries are blurry and if adults cannot define them properly, don’t expect children to do it.

As with other contentious matters such as inappropriate materials, we make it ambiguous enough for children to not find their bearings. Controversial matters make everyone squirm but we do it at the expense of our children.

The world is in turmoil and as much as we resent it, violence is as real as can be and will not go away any time soon. Making it look like fun, even for one day a year, sends the wrong message and it is disrespectful to those who live it.

I believe that children have an amazing capacity to understand things as they grow up, and we owe them a reality that is not confusing or downplaying violence. From domestic abuse that is often too well hidden, yet present in many a people’s lives in our immediate community, to the extreme violent incidents happening right now in the Middle East and Nigeria, violence is a reality too big to ignore and too unfair to do so.

If we want our children to care enough to be upright citizens and think with a compassionate mind when the time comes, then we have to avoid the double standards that will end up confusing and desensitizing them at a time when they need to understand right from wrong.

As always, it’s what they see that they learn from rather than what we preach to them. And, as always, we not only can, but we have the moral obligation to do better.

Daniela Ginta is a mother, scientist, writer and blogger. She can be reached at daniela.ginta@gmail.com, or through her blog at http://www.thinkofclouds.com.