This article was published by Community News. It is reproduced here in its entirety.
By Danielle Bouchat-Friedman
Posted Apr 12, 2012 @ 11:48 AM
How children learn about grief through film
One rarely thinks about death or the lessons being taught while watching a Disney movie. But when analyzed, the messages being delivered to children about how and why people die are quite misleading.
On Wednesday, the Delaware Grief Awareness Consortium, comprised of volunteers with expertise and experience in the delivery of supportive services to grieving children and adults, held a seminar exploring how popular children’s movies present death and grief. Dr. Elissa Miller, director of palliative care at Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, led the lecture, “What Children Learn about Death from Film.”
Miller showed through numerous movie clips that children are learning that death is something that only happens when you are old, and it is often a very peaceful experience. According to Miller, a child does not understand the meaning of death until the age of 10.
Another popular theme in children’s movies is how people die. Rarely do movies show people dying from an illness, Miller said, but rather, they die by falling, from a natural death, or they are killed by someone.