In the military there is a practice called Operation Security, OPSEC for short.  What it entails, is the practice of carefully minding your words and actions to avoid leaking confidential information to inside and outside security threats.

Well, as a Mom, I, along with many other concerned parents quickly learned that it doesn’t take long for our children to pick-up in appropriate information and or negative habits simply by watching and listening to who? US!  What’s more, they will not hesitate to repeat them verbatim and at the most inopportune times. Additionally, we should be careful not to expose our children to scary things early in their development.

Scary movies for example can scar a child if they are exposed to them before they are able to ascertain a real threat from a false one!

Moreover, the increasingly realistic effects that have become the attraction in todays movies can have a lasting effect on your kids.

Even older kids, who have their parents approval to watch intense programming, or even go to a haunted house, can suffer needlessly, with lack of sleep for months depending on the realism of the film or activity.  It is simply not a wise decision to expose your child to these types of things before they are mentally developed enough to understand them.

For teens, it is not necessary to rule out ALL scary films but know your child and be careful to appropriately expose them to activities and stimuli which is designed specifically for their age and mind-set!

Just food for thought ~ as usual I would like to know your thoughts.