Scary Stuff

Sometimes an otherwise enjoyable movie or family program is spoiled by an unexpected scene or image that really scares children who are watching. Or it could be a news item that causes distress, or an advertising poster that uses a frightening face.

What’s a parent to do?

Here are some tips for dealing with harms that have already occurred. This link will also give background understanding of children’s different reactions to scary content in a range of situations and at different ages.

• This link focusses on distressing content in the news, and gives tips for managing such exposure at different ages, including your own self-care.

Here are some tips for checking movie or program content in advance:

• CMA’s age-based movie reviews can help you identify content in movies that are likely to scare children and at which ages.
• For TV programs, the networks all apply the Free TV Code of Practice, and the standard symbols of G, PG, M and MA15+). It helps to check out programs in advance.

If you’d like to help stop the intrusion of scary ads/trailers in family programs or spaces.  You can:

• complain to the Ads Standards Board about individual scary trailers, ads or billboards.  The Board judges if content has breached the AANA Code of Practice. 
• And/or you can add your voice to those trying to achieve real change in the placement and content of such ads, to better protect children.