[_____V_____]

The third and final reply, came from Finalist Despare.

"Should we be up front with children who ask about monsters about the kinds of evil that are out in the world? In what ways does believing in monsters help children understand the world?"


"Of course we should be up front with children, the only way to help them avoid evil in this world is to try and help them understand it. Now I’m not saying we need to graphically describe every horrible thing that can happen to a kid but they should know that not everybody is good and that there is always going to be danger around. I like monsters because they’re easy to explain for the most part, much easier than humans. Monsters are often, with a few exceptions, created to personify an evil and to truly be something terrifying and/or deadly. People have much more gray area and all the evils of this world are difficult to explain because they can be much more terrifying than anything on the silver screen. I don’t think a child believing that a monster exists helps them per se, but I think that knowing that the atrocities committed by monsters can be real is helpful. You can tell a little boy not to go outside at night because Dracula will get him and probably keep the little guy from leaving the house later than you would like but that wouldn’t help him in the least. On the other hand, if you sit your boy down and explain to him that there really are people out there who will try and tempt him to go with them he can be more aware. Knowing what could potentially happen is powerful and if you don’t talk to your kids about the “bad people” in this world and what they need to look out for you’re leaving them unarmed. Not telling your kid that a teacher or priest shouldn’t touch them in a certain way is leaving them vulnerable and even with our creatures out there to be the faces of evil that’s a tough thing to convey to a kid. It all boils down to what you show the child and how you explain it, for instance, I personally wouldn’t sit my six year old girl down and show her I Spit On Your Grave to teach her about human monsters and rape. I would however show her Frankenstein and talk to her about prejudice, violence, mob mentality, and death among other things and I honestly think having such a concrete visual teaching aid would be very helpful. I hope I’ve answered your question and while I know that a lot of this is just my opinion I feel very strongly that children should be educated and talked to, not patronized and shielded from reality."



This is what esteemed Judge Austin316426808 had to say in his verdict...

"8/10. Reward."


Congrats, Despare!! You win a Rocket Launcher, with 2 Rockets!! (to go alongwith TWO bonus HPs you win for the 08 points)


Very well done indeed.





Now we go into The Zone...


...next.