Struggling to understand this

[BakersDozen]

My dc participated in an annual Young Playwrights Festival this last weekend. Nine plays were written by young people, most of which were comedies. One play almost did not make it into the Festival at all as the content was very disturbing. In fact, it was so disturbing that the play was scheduled first after intermission so parents could wait with their children in the lobby or outside (many of the attendees were families of those participating so there were many young children in attendance). Many of the teenage actors chose to wait outside as well.

 

The play was about a woman who killed seven people and buried them in her yard, claiming a voice told her to do it. The woman ended up in the electric chair (this was not shown except with a silhouette scene) and the play concluded with the woman's daughter in a counselor's office sharing about the "inner monster" that was now talking to her. Final scene was counselor edging away from the daughter and letting out a horror-film worth scream.

 

Here's my question: If you were the parent of the child (age 10) who wrote this play, what would you think? Would you be concerned? Or would it just be par for the course given our society's fascination with horror/death? I just cannot fathom a child coming up with this kind of stuff, although I suppose there might be exposure to things my dc are not exposed to (movies/books, family member with mental issues, etc.).

 

I have to confess that when this play won the audience award (not the judges' award), I was shocked. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems such content should lead not to celebration but to counseling.

[Joker]

It wouldn't freak me out. My best friend growing up loved watching horror movies with her dad. We were eight. I couldn't watch those types of movies but they didn't bother her. So, I could imagine that kids who are able to handle that stuff and see if from an early age could easily come up with that type of play. Maybe he'll be the next Stephen King?

[Mommy22alyns]

Personally, I would be weirded out if my almost 10 yo came up with that content.

[Parrothead]

Perhaps he is another Kim Henkel in the making.

 

Kim wrote both the story and screenplay of Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

 

I'd be concerned if my dd wrote something like that. But it doesn't fit her personality. Perhaps this kid has a fascination with horror flix.

[NotSoObvious]

My 10 year olds would never think of that, have never watched or read something like that, and would not be allowed to see something like that.

But, we don't watch horror movies and I'm in the 10-is-too-young-for-Hunger-games camp. We do, however, read Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and those can be violent. Double standard? I don't know.

 

 

 

 

 

[Carrie12345]

We're big on fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and gruesome history in our house. Wouldn't shock me at all if my kids incorporated those things into their own art.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing out loud at everybody sitting there seeing what has emerged from this young person's mind. Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes has gotten older joined a playwright's festival.

 

I'm absolutely not an expert on mental health in any way. Totally not. But I do have a very close relative who is schizophrenic with grand delusional paranoia. This family member's doctor told the rest of the family that as long as you're wondering whether you might be this kind of crazy, you almost certainly aren't. If you are talking about scary thoughts that you have, or journaling or novel writing or discussing, then you are processing the dark stuff in your mind in ways that are probably healthy. If you are hiding your thoughts from the world while making your plans, that's getting into scary territory.

 

Or something like that. Anyway, there's a Twilight Zone element to this particular play that, to me, makes it outside the writer's internal thoughts about his own potential actions. It's a story he thought up to share, both to horrify and to entertain. How is that different from Stephen King novels or horror films?

[Lang Syne Boardie]

And even though I understand and think it's funny from my vantage point 'way out here, I wouldn't appreciate my child being in that audience, nor would I want to watch it myself. But I do recognize that people with "art" that I don't like, do need their place to express it.

[nertsmommy]

I was reading Stephen King at that age and my parents didn't filter anything I watched. I wrote some stories then that I would be concerned about if it were my child. I don't let them see stuff like that. I'd think that the child probably watched those kinds of films at home and drew his inspiration from them.

[Catwoman]

Personally, I would be weirded out if my almost 10 yo came up with that content.

 

 

Same here.

 

I'm not sure the kid who wrote the play is mentally deranged or anything -- he or she might be a perfectly normal child for all I know -- but I would find it creepy if my ds had written something like that when he was 10. Honestly, it would creep me out if he wrote it now.

 

I think the most disturbing part is that it was written to be frightening and disturbing, not like the kid was joking around and trying to be morbid-but-silly. I can't imagine having those terribly disturbing and graphic thoughts coming into the average kid's head at that age.

 

I probably sound old and stuffy and boring, but I would have absolutely zero interest in reading or seeing that play.

[TeacherZee]

As a teacher I would ask some questions of the parents and the child (and I have with similar content with the teenagers I teach). Perhaps, as others have suggested, the child has watched horror movies or read Stephen King. It wouldn't be cause to call CPS (mandatory reporter) but I would ask questions.

 

That said, I have just waded through a class worth of stories with beheading, children murdering other children, ghosts, zombies, blood and gore. But the assignment was to write a scary story :D

[Lolly]

As the mother of a child about that age whose hired writing coach was shocked beyond belief at some of her content, no, I would not be shocked or concerned. My dd has been this child. The things that came/come from her imagination are enough to make grown people scared. Her ability to draw the situations with words is...horrifying? to other adults. Some of the things this child imagined even in her toddlerhood were amazingly scary. Her nightmares were unreal. By the time these kids are 10, the parents (at least me) are fairly used to it. I applaud the contest for allowing the play into the competition. These kids do not need to be silenced. I think they handled it well by warning the audience.

[Catwoman]

As the mother of a child about that age whose hired writing coach was shocked beyond belief at some of her content, no, I would not be shocked or concerned. My dd has been this child. The things that came/come from her imagination are enough to make grown people scared. Her ability to draw the situations with words is...horrifying? to other adults. Some of the things this child imagined even in her toddlerhood were amazingly scary. Her nightmares were unreal. By the time these kids are 10, the parents (at least me) are fairly used to it. I applaud the contest for allowing the play into the competition. These kids do not need to be silenced. I think they handled it well by warning the audience.

 

:iagree:

 

A well-written play is a well-written play, so I don't think the kid should have been penalized for the content -- and it doesn't appear that any actual, graphic violence was shown in the performance. I may be mistaken, but it sounds like this was more of a psychological drama, rather than a violent slasher.

 

I also agree with you that it was a good idea for the organizers for warning the audience that the play might be inappropriate for some audience members and potentially disturbing to others.

[Tammyla]

I would have been uncomfortable with my child(ren) being exposed to that at such a young age. When I say uncomfortable, I would have considered not participating and expressing my feelings to the director or who ever was in charge.

 

It seems like the plays should have been more friendly towards children to participate in as both actors and audience members.

[butterflymommy]

I'd say it would freak me out were it not for the fact that my 11 year old has written all kinds of blood and gore in the form of stories & comic books (complete with gross illustrations). They don't watch anything rated more than PG but we do allow world of warcraft.

 

I have a friend whose very sane, hard working son writes very graphic murder mystery plays.

 

So there's no accounting for taste.

[bolt.]

I'd be disturbed if my child spontaneously came up with ideas and presentation like that. I would be disturbed about her mind and inner life. However, if a child watches tv and reads books or sees other artisic expressions with that sort of plot and presentation, I wouldn't find that spontaneous and I wouldn't worry about a thing... That's just being good at observing, adapting and producing items that you see and enjoy.

 

What I mean is that it's not odd when a child who has seen a penguin draws a penguin. It would be odd if a child just made up a creature that looks exactly like a penguin by drawing it out of thin air. It's not odd for a 10yo to like a good murder mystery and be able to produce one. It would be odd for a 10yo to spontaneously invent the murder mystery genre out of thin air.

[bzymom]

I would appreciate the option to take my kids out before it was shown, but it wouldn't freak me out. I don't like horror movies or books, but I know plenty of people who do, and whose children do as well, so I wouldn't read much into it on its own. If this were a child who seemed to be struggling with darkness and whose behavior was concerning in other ways, that would be different.

[TranquilMind]

My dc participated in an annual Young Playwrights Festival this last weekend. Nine plays were written by young people, most of which were comedies. One play almost did not make it into the Festival at all as the content was very disturbing. In fact, it was so disturbing that the play was scheduled first after intermission so parents could wait with their children in the lobby or outside (many of the attendees were families of those participating so there were many young children in attendance). Many of the teenage actors chose to wait outside as well.

 

The play was about a woman who killed seven people and buried them in her yard, claiming a voice told her to do it. The woman ended up in the electric chair (this was not shown except with a silhouette scene) and the play concluded with the woman's daughter in a counselor's office sharing about the "inner monster" that was now talking to her. Final scene was counselor edging away from the daughter and letting out a horror-film worth scream.

 

Here's my question: If you were the parent of the child (age 10) who wrote this play, what would you think? Would you be concerned? Or would it just be par for the course given our society's fascination with horror/death? I just cannot fathom a child coming up with this kind of stuff, although I suppose there might be exposure to things my dc are not exposed to (movies/books, family member with mental issues, etc.).

 

I have to confess that when this play won the audience award (not the judges' award), I was shocked. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems such content should lead not to celebration but to counseling.

 

Yikes! A TEN year old wrote that? A teen, I could understand. But ten?

 

Yes, I would be concerned if that were my child.

[TranquilMind]

My dc participated in an annual Young Playwrights Festival this last weekend. Nine plays were written by young people, most of which were comedies. One play almost did not make it into the Festival at all as the content was very disturbing. In fact, it was so disturbing that the play was scheduled first after intermission so parents could wait with their children in the lobby or outside (many of the attendees were families of those participating so there were many young children in attendance). Many of the teenage actors chose to wait outside as well.

 

The play was about a woman who killed seven people and buried them in her yard, claiming a voice told her to do it. The woman ended up in the electric chair (this was not shown except with a silhouette scene) and the play concluded with the woman's daughter in a counselor's office sharing about the "inner monster" that was now talking to her. Final scene was counselor edging away from the daughter and letting out a horror-film worth scream.

 

Here's my question: If you were the parent of the child (age 10) who wrote this play, what would you think? Would you be concerned? Or would it just be par for the course given our society's fascination with horror/death? I just cannot fathom a child coming up with this kind of stuff, although I suppose there might be exposure to things my dc are not exposed to (movies/books, family member with mental issues, etc.).

 

I have to confess that when this play won the audience award (not the judges' award), I was shocked. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems such content should lead not to celebration but to counseling.

 

double post

[justamouse]

Watching horror movies could be the family culture. I live next to a horror writer and really, she is just the most delightful person and I adore her. Her family culture was that of watching horror movies and reading ... and that's what she likes.

 

What matters is that it was well written. :D

[GSOchristie]

Um...I would be concernered that her parents have let her watch/read things in this vein. I don't think that she's got a problem, but why does she know in enough detail to write a play that people with mental problems are killing people? Maybe I'm old fashioned (probably I'm old fashioned :), but I don't think that's appropriate subject matter for a 10 year old.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Completely dependent on the child. One of my kids might write something like that, my other one never would.

[justamouse]

Um...I would be concernered that her parents have let her watch/read things in this vein. I don't think that she's got a problem, but why does she know in enough detail to write a play that people with mental problems are killing people? Maybe I'm old fashioned (probably I'm old fashioned :), but I don't think that's appropriate subject matter for a 10 year old.

 

 

I think it's a very healthy way to process things like Newtown.

 

GK Chesterton said, "Fairy tales are more than true; not because dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." So, to write it, to process the sickness of the person that way, could be very healthy. Kinda kicks back to what Tibbie said about if you are wondering if you ARE that sick person, you aren't?

[bolt.]

Generally the most mature subject matter many children would be exposed to are Bible stories. Entertainment stories are condiderably more tame.

 

Most murder mysteries are not that gruesome except that people have died and someone is a murderer. Not everyone shelters children from that genre of entertainment. Honestly, her play sounds a bit like the genre of 'arsenic and old lace'.