Children fear death but not Halloween

Although about 60 percent of children list death as their number one fear, most don’t find Halloween scary; rather, the fun and playful way in which the holiday is presented can actually be reassuring, reports Magic Maman.

A French survey of 1,000 adults and 650 children between the ages of eight and 14 revealed that 59 percent of children fear the death of their parents and 21 percent say they fear their grandparents dying. Roughly half of the children surveyed were afraid of the concept of death in general.

Death was by far the biggest and most common fear in this age group, followed at a distance by a fear of abandonment – mentioned by 19 percent of the children – and a fear of accidents, which 17 percent mentioned.

When the researchers surveyed the parents, however, most thought their children would be most afraid of ridicule or not having any friends. According to the study, to help their children deal with their fears, mothers tend to encourage them to share their feelings and talk about what scares them, while fathers prefer to rationalize and explain.

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