Blogpost 5:Effects of Superheroes on Children

Superheroes are awesome because they get to do other people can't. They get the attention of people and it makes some individuals jealous or intimidated. Superheroes seen from movies, or read from comic books affect people. Everyone is interested in superheroes, not only the teenagers but also the youth, the children. This blog is all about how Superheroes affect the minds of the children. Of course there are two sides to the effect. The positive side and the negative side.

 In my research, I came upon an article entitled "From Superhero to Real-Life Hero: Encouraging Healthy Play" by Shelley Butler and Deb Kratz from the website "earlychildhoodnews" that children uses Superheroes as motivation for them to be better people when they grow up. Why superheroes? Because Superheroes by definition are courageous, powerful, and they seem to overcome any obstacle that comes their way. Young children are faced with challenges or obstacles everyday because they learn new things daily. Of course sometimes they won't be able to overcome these challenges so they feel small, powerless, fear. They are unable to do what they want to so they become troubled. But when they get to play as a superhero. They feel strong and awesome so they feel relieved for the moment because they get to be the person different people wants to be. So in short, being the superhero affects the child and makes them more happy. When they are playing, the character they portray gives them knowledge in what is right and what is wrong. So they learn lessons not only about which power is stronger but also the lessons valuable in life.
"Through play, children test the waters, try out roles and behaviors, investigate right and wrong, experiment with language, use creativity, find outlets for physical activity, and learn more about difficult skills like impulse control and conflict resolution" says the editors. It simply means that play is very important to a child's learning process because they get to test out things that they find interesting. What more if they play as super heroes? They get to be the character they wish and they get to feel happy.

The next article is entitled "Superheroes Send Out 'Wrong Message" to boys" by Richard Alleyne from the website "Telegraph" is about the bad effect superheroes bring to children especially boys. The article claims that movies with scenes of the superheroes beating up the villains causes the child to be more violent. It gives kids more information and knowledge about the things they shouldn't be doing, like fighting each other. They become more prone to fights because of the things they see in the movies. They will think that it's cool so they themselves will try it out.

Next argument they bring to the table is that most superheroes in the movies show bad behavior that children shouldn't do. Like in the movie Iron man wherein the main character there is Tony Stark. When he is not in the suit he exploits women and show of his richness to other people. Not a good trait to show the children isn't it? 

"There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday." They say that in the comic book, the superheroes were presented as powerful gentlemen. They were more respectable in the comic series than in the movies nowadays.

In my opinion, it will depend on the people surrounding them too. Of course the kid will get confused with what is right and wrong, but if their guardian is always there to clear things with them then it will be alright. They will be guided in the right path because they will get answers from people older than them.