• OttoVonNoob@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    Incase you ever have an event like this. Grain of salt though, I’m a youth worker but dont have a degree in child psychology. You ask the child to imagine how the animal feels. Even if the child does not have empathy, the imagine part forces their brain to try to understand. If it persists also seeking professional help never hurts.

    • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      This exact thing happened with my cousin. We were staying at a cottage with his family and he had a day where started really enjoying catching frogs and yeeting them against rocks to kill them for some reason. He must have killed like 30 when his mom found out. Then she explained to him that frogs are living animals with mommys and daddys of their own and my cousin suddenly became so traumatized he cried for hours.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      I used to love doing these types of things as a child and I was terrified of dismemberment in movies. One day, my dad told me that what I see in movies is what the frogs, fish, and bugs that I’d torment (essentially anything that didn’t make terrifying noises) would endure. That was a massive turning point in my life.

      • dudinax@programming.dev
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        9 months ago

        When I was four I stomped on ants for fun. Then one day my big sister rushed over and buried one of them and put a marker on its grave.

        I still stomped on them, but kept thinking about what she did and I eventually stopped.