Chapter 2: DISCUSSION

 In what ways could Mythical creatures be bad for kids?

I.  Definition of Mythical Creatures
   
Myths and legends have provided us with some truly horrifying monsters. Mythical Creatures is bad for kids as the researcher said, mythical creatures is a n imagination of children, it's only a myth that many believes. They can be bad for children in the way telling them a story it can scare them traumatize them or they can have phobia. The phobia or fear for mythical creature's is called Cryptozoophobia. Parents have been inventing stories about monsters to scare their children for them to obey and it is effective for centuries. Mythical Creatures are species that never been seen. Though, some say they have detected creatures that a normal people can't imagine. Mythical creatures are monsters that well-known in folklore and myth. They are legendary creatures that at one point believed to be real beings.

Mythical Creatures according from the Oxford, "Mythical creatures associated with children's literature are often amalgamations of common animals and sometimes combinations of beast and man. Some of the mythical figures known to children are dragons, griffons, satyrs, centaurs, unicorns, and Pegasus. Many of them have their origins in various world mythologies" (http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195146561.001.0001/acref-9780195146561-e-2303).

Examples of popular mythical creatures are the Cuco the Child Eater, Black Annis, BabaYaga, and Kappha.
     "Cuco" the Child Eater one of the most famous in Hispanic countries. The Cuco is a mysterious being name-dropped in various traditional lullabies as a horrible, unknowable whatsit with an appetite for the restless. A Latino version of "Rock-a-Bye Baby," for instance, can be translated as "sleep little child, sleep now, or the Cuco will come and eat you.This belief affected many children in Hispanic countries.
     "Black Annis, Baba Yaga and Other Creepy Old People"In England they have Black Annis, who lived in a cave dug out with her own iron claws and wore the tanned hides of naughty children as a skirt. The Slavic Baba Yaga lived in a dancing chicken-leg hut and rode a magic cauldron when she ventured out to go hunting for kids. This belief made children lessen eating candies but the joy being a child just been vanished.
      "The Kappa", Kappa are sometimes said to be out-of-control rapists. Instead of a brain, these slimy duck-billed turtle people simply have a hole on their head filled with water, Kappa factor into a lot of Japanese myths and,  they do their share of boogeying on the side. Parents told their children that a Kappa might attack them if they play by a lake or river unattended, and the critters are used on warning signs even to this day. This belief gives children trauma to not swim anymore in lakes or rivers. and its a bad thing.

II.   Reasons why people believe in mythical creatures

A. Mythical stories
There are several stories about mythical creatures or shall we call monsters. Stories of them are so popular that it is all read by many, even in schools, libraries, and mostly read in house's. Some of the stories are enchanted, exciting, and adventurous but, there will be no excitement if the story is not frightening. Mythical creatures in stories are made to entertain and to scare people. And that so, it will affect the society and it will bring fear to the public.

Mythical Stories are believed by many children. They're the one who's mostly been affected by the stories. The minds of children are to wild and that's why they are easily to believed. And that so, children can have illness of trauma or phobia a condition that can't be easily removed. There's a proof that children are mostly affected to the stories.

Claire Fallon wrote an article about "9 Children's Books That Terrified Us", Its natural we protect our kids from whom who hurt them. We read them bed time stories before they sleep kiss them before they fall asleep but, why does other parents read them terrifying stories? Scary stories is one of the way to discipline their children it is the way to obey them. Many writers and experts believe children actually benefit from reading stories that frighten or unsettle.

Claire also mentioned "Some psychologists have suggested that children can learn to cope with the frightening realities of their world -- possible loss of parents, interpersonal conflict -- by exploring these darker facts of life in the safe, fictional world of a storybook"(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-fallon/9-kids-books-that-terrifi_b_4178249.html).

There are different ways to discipline their children. Parents should be the one to blame why kids are suffering Trauma or phobia.

B. Mythical movies
Mythological creatures are popular now this days. that's why there are many movies that involve in mythical creatures like "Harry Potter'', ''Narnia'', ''The Hobbit'', and ''Lord of the Rings''. This movies influence people. And that's why some people especially the children believe in mythical creatures, because of the fact that this creatures are shown in movies.

Cliff Wheatley wrote an article about "The Most Influential Monsters in movie History". Taking us from Nosferatu to Jurassic Park, We thought the most important movie monsters in the history was the time to take a look at. The Universal Monster movies was produced through 1948 and the movie Dracula, is the reason why people influenced in Mythical movies.

Cliff Wheatley mentioned that, "Movie monsters can come in many forms. They can be giant beasts created by the shortcomings of mankind, or they can be super-killers that haunt us from beyond the grave. From vampires to dinosaurs to giant apes to zombies and beyond, the movie monster has been a staple of cinema since the earliest of horror movies in the late 19th century"(http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/06/the-most-influential-monsters-in-movie-history).

Because of this, Mythical  movies like Dracula, Frankenstein , Godzilla and etc. people are motivated to watch. Whats a movie if there's no antagonist, And because of that people will gather information about mythical monsters. They will know the characteristics of a monster and they will apply it to people for what they see. Judgement of people will take over which is a bad effect.

C. Science in Mythical Creatures
When it comes to science monsters and myth are nothing. Well, the word Science is big term of explanation. All of the philosophy has an answer when it comes to science, there's always contradictions and conflict just to prove that its studies are correct. And also according to science the study of Mythical creatures is called the Cryptozoology.

On the site www.st-andrews.ac.uk, the article was about "Mythical sea creatures can reveal scientific truth". According to Dr. Charles Paxton, Sighting a Monster can provide an important data statisticaly. And he also studyied the anecdotes about creatures, such as Kraken or the Loch ness monster, that can reveal information regarding human perception.

Dr. Paxton said, “If you look at the distribution of reported distances of sea monster accounts, they're much closer than you would expect by chance alone” 
(http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2011/title,71602,en.php).

According to what Dr. Paxton said  the creature will only reveal itself if there only very few people around,because the fewer of people the higher percentage it will reveal itself.

III. Mythical Creature Effects to Children

A. Fear
Children are the most fearful people to all. There the one who gain more impact of fear than adults. And that's why children are one of the most affected in terms of fear. Many of kids' fears seems ridiculous to us adult but to them the world is full of threats more than that we know. Most fears fade when kids develop, but if your child's fear continue and consume him, he'll need your help to overcome them.Scariest mythological creatures from around the world that causes fear to children an effect that a child can have when it comes story telling or watching movies. Some children are more sensitive and emotional in their feelings and that's why children is mostly affected when it comes in scaring.

Aletha Solter wrote an article entitled, "Child afraid of night-time monsters". Most children feel less fearful when a parent is nearby. They have real needs to be physically close to somebody who will protect them against all imagined dangers. Fear is very common to a kid between the ages of three and eight. Their fear comes from what they heard in a story, and what they see in movies. They feel powerless in a world that is sometimes confusing and frightening.

Aletha Solter also mentioned that "I personally feel that movies should be screened very carefully for young children, because there are often scenes of separation, loss, danger, or violence, with frightening creatures. Most movies marketed to children are not appropriate for children under the age of seven or eight years. But please don't blame yourself for letting your son watch ET. You had no way of knowing how it would affect him" (http://www.awareparenting.com/answer2.htm).

Scary monsters that is shown in wide screens should be more careful. Because sometimes children can't control their emotions and it might causes them trauma, And also for the parents we should guide our children in terms in watching don't allow them to watch if you know that the movie that is shown is to violent and frightening.

B. Nightmares
Fear, horror, despair, anxiety and great sadness is one of the reasons why nightmares response.
Sleeping in an awkward position can may also cause nightmares even having a fever, eating before going to sleep can increase and activate your body's metabolism and brain activity, that causes strong motivation for nightmares.

TPSicotte wrote an article entitled "Bed Time: When Young Children are Afraid of Monsters". This article children has a wild imaginations that is why they are scared sometimes in sleeping because they are imagining things that are somewhat not normal for others to see. As a kid they still cannot really distinguishing the reality, fantasy and they tend to mix things up so that's why they are really afraid of monsters because they think they were really real even though it is just a dream.

TPSicotte also stated that, "It is typical for young children to have a good imagination and to believe in magical creatures and monsters. Between the ages of three and six many kids have a difficult time separating the fantasy world from the real world" (http://tpsicotte.hubpages.com/hub/Bed-Time-Young-Children-Afraid-of-Monsters).

Kids are really imaginative and their thoughts in their minds are not yet in correspond with the real world so that's why some of them always imagine monsters. Because they are always scared with things that they don't know.