Negative effects of movies on children

“TV repeatedly triggers our orienting response — the instinctive reaction to pay attention to any sudden, changing, or novel stimulus. This orienting response evolved in the species because it helps us identify potential threats and react to them. Media producers use features such as edits, cuts, zooms, pans, and sudden noises to continually trigger our orienting response. In short, they exploit basic psychological and biological mechanisms to get and keep our attention.”
― Douglas A. Gentile, Media Violence and Children: A Complete Guide for Parents and Professionals


When you watch a violent movie or a movie filled with suspense (you know how it goes — it’s usually a night time scene and there is that slow scary music in the background to add extra fear) your body is essentially in ‘threat mode’. Even though you are passively watching a scary scene, your body will be reacting as if it is happening to you. It’s not happening directly to you but parts of your brain (the amygala and the hypothalamus) pick up the signals from your body and activate your threat system. Your body tenses up when you are watching violence/horror/suspense/thrillers and your breathing changes. These subtle changes alert the brain and your body goes into fight/flight/freeze mode. Of course, on a conscious level you may not fully be aware of this but this is what will be happening.

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