Posted on 12/26/2007 6:19:51 AM PST by Kaslin
Don't send in the clowns
Hospitals are being urged not to decorate children's wards with paintings of clowns in case they upset young patients.
State-funded research has found that in a survey of more than 250 children aged four to 16, all disliked the use of clowns in hospital decor, with even the teenagers seeing them as "scary".
"Given that children and young people do not find hospitals frightening per se - and only express fear about those spaces associated with needles - this finding is somewhat ironic," said Dr Penny Curtis of Sheffield University.
The aim of the Space to Care study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, was to ensure children's needs are part of hospital planning.
Researchers discovered that, although children appreciated colourful walls and ceilings, many found the decor babyish.
The fear of clowns, known as coulrophobia, can cause panic attacks, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea and feelings of dread.
It is one of the 10 most searched-for phobias on Yahoo! search engine.
Earlier this year, organisers of a music festival had to change their fancy dress circus theme after some ticket holders told them they had a phobia of clowns.
The Bestival, held on the Isle of Wight, had asked festival-goers to turn up in curly wigs and large shoes.
Psychologists who have addressed coulrophobia say it usually develops out of some traumatic incident in childhood associated with a clown.
Another factor is the representation of evil clowns in films such as Stephen King's It.
Tony Eldridge, secretary of Clowns International, said their make-up had been toned down in recent years.
Clowns traditionally wore exaggerated make-up so that they could be seen from the back of a theatre or circus, but now that most did children's parties, the make-up did not have to be so loud, he said.
It would be sad if hospitals no longer had pictures of clowns, added Mr Eldridge, who is also a director of the Clown Museum in London.
"We live in a world where everything is banned and it has got rather silly."
You have a good point
Yep. I’m one of them.
Not the sort of “hide under yoru bed in terror” type of fear - but they make me very uneasy, and they’re just downright creepy.
Sounds like a Stephen King novel.
Now THAT’S scary......
I had a dream that night (well, a nightmare) which repeated about a half a dozen times until I was about 12. The nightmare recurred as an episode of "sleep paralysis" - something else I only learned about many years later as "Old Hag Syndrome". You feel like there is an evil presence in the room sitting on you or pressing you down, and you cannot move or cry out. In my case, it was the Clown. It is quite an eerie thing and a bit traumatic for a child. It hasn't happened to me for over 30 years, yet I still get chills when I think about it. As Stephen King might tell you, the human mind is capable of some pretty wild things.
Depends on the clown. I have liked a few of them, Emmett Kelly, that clown in the movie Toby Tyler, Happy the Clown ( a Delware Valley tv clown), and Loranzo (another Delware Valley TV Clown)
Jack Handy
This from a clown.
I hate clowns. I don't find them scary, just boring and garish. I do sort of like the white clowns, though--Pierrot or whatever the character is called.
Oops, sorry I missed your much better photo.
I’ve never been a big fan of clowns. For too many it’s more about them wanting to be loved than making people laugh.
ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.