So what should my SIL have told my nephew about the truck with the bloody dead baby on the side? The one that he, in his little five year old mind, rationalized was going to kill his brother?
Would you let a five year old watch “The Passion of the Christ”?
>Would you let a five year old watch “The Passion of the Christ”?
No, but if he happens to see it by accident I’m not going to wring my hands thinking his life is ruined either.
Furthermore, given the choice of seeing it at 5 and never seeing it at all, I think the former is preferable.
No, I would not let a five-year-old watch The Passion of the Christ, nor most 12 or 13 year olds. That is a 120 minute extremely intense movie. I would move my child who is disturbed by any images away from the images. There were many things on TV that upset my son when he was small - cartoon shows that were targetted to children, but which were too violent for his particular sensibilities at the time.
Especially since your nephew had the experience of dealing with a premature sibling - imagine how many small traumas he experienced in his hospital visits - I would have told him what I said in a previous post. Stressing the idea of babies being wanted and precious, grownups should do everything possible to make sure that every baby is born and loved.
Here are some suggestions for your sister-in-law to tell your nephew about the bloody dead baby:
"Sweetheart, no one is going to kill you or your little brother. Daddy and Mommy will protect you, because we love you so very, very much. That's what mommies and daddies do -- they love and protect their children."