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What Children Say

wishface

Critical Thinker
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Joined
Mar 28, 2011
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I've just read an article listing the creepiest things reddit users have claimed their kids have said. http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2016/02/24/creepy-things-kids-say-21-stories/

This leads me to ask if anyone has done any research into why kids make such statements - some of which really are creepy, especially claims about kids referencing dead siblings they otherwise didn't know (assuming the truth of the reporting).

Is it just adults ascribing meaning to things kids say? Is it kids repeating, in likewise fashion, things they've heard and picked up without knowing what they really mean?

Do they see dead people? :boxedin::D
 
I agree the key element in all those stories - the genuinely creepy ones at least, rather than the silly/bizarre ones - is the word 'claimed' and your scepticism of the truth of the reporting. I'll believe that someone will post a story that adjusts, misremembers or downright makes up something that sounds cool before any other explanation...
 
Has anyone studied such claims, not just in kids, regarding unusual knowledge claims?
 
Reading this makes me realise, once again, that adults really don't know how much attention kids pay to adult's conversation.
 
As 3point says....Folks seem to be quite unaware of just how much information even toddlers absorb. This accounts for a great deal of supposed "reincarnation" stories.

"But junior never met dear departed uncle Josh!"

But Junior was certainly around when you adults were discussing your uncle....
 
When do children start having dreams? And when do they realize the difference?
 
Sounds more like a comedian's writer's imagination.

I have 4 kids and while they say funny stuff? ... nothing like that.

I've been present when friend's and relatives's kid's said something funny ... but on retelling its edited substantially for effect ... basically parents make up stuff ALL the time for fun.
 
There are two separate things going on in those statements--some are 'creepy' because they are sadistic, you have to wonder whether the kid is going to grow up to be the next Jeffrey Dahmer...whereas the others are 'creepy' (to the author, at least) because they have a 'paranormal' component to them. I can't speak to the former, but as for the latter I don't find it surprising or creepy in the slightest. When I was a kid I had an extremely active imagination and I saw all sorts of 'ghosts' and other 'paranormal' things going on. I didn't think it was a big deal back then and I still don't. I grew up... :)
 
It reminds me of the trailer I saw for Heaven Is Real, or whatever the recent movie was called.
A little kid "dies" and comes back, and supposedly saw Heaven. He claims to have seen his Grandfather, who died before he was born. The kid's father shows him a photo.
"Is this the man you saw?"
"Yes. That's Grandpa."

Even allowing for exaggeration and dramatic license, odds are, there were pictures of the guy somewhere in the house.
Maybe it's just me, but the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the scene was "That's not how you do a photo lineup! You show him pictures of multiple people and ask him to pick out the person he saw." ;)
 
Interesting article. Enjoyable read. Yet, they are stories that may have been embellished, as people so often like to do. Even if we are to take them as literal retelling and an explanation doesn't come to us that is rational, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Children have a great deal of ability to comprehend, long before their ability to speak. I had a portrait of my father hanging on the wall. He had died when I was young, so obviously my young son had never met him or had ever attempted to show curiousity towards the man whose photo (head-shot) was hanging on the wall.

When he was first starting to talk he would point to the portrait and say, "granpa" and "airplane", while pretending to fly. Yes, my father had been a pilot. However, I'm sure at some point in his first 2 years or so of life, I discussed my father with someone.

Perhaps this is a good lesson. Be careful what you say around toddlers. They don't forget. It may in the future be something they use against you when the little buggers want to creep you out.
 
I'm a preschool teacher and often hear kids say interesting things. A lot of it can be put down to things seen or heard. Last year, however, on September 11th, I was explaining (very briefly) about the planes that crashed and that we must send love from our hearts to the families. A little boy in my class said he once had a dream that he was on a plane that crashed into a building. I asked him what happened after it crashed. He looked at me and frowned. He said 'Nothing else happened, we crashed. '. There was something about the way he said it that made me stop and think. He's not the kind of child to make up fantasy stories and even during game play, his games were always very realistic. He seemed really lost in thought for an hour or two afterwards. I have another similar story. I'm a believer in numerology and past lives and when my Mom died I had her chart done. My Mom died in November 2009 and my niece was born October 2010. My numerologist believes she is the reincarnation of my Mom based on the similarities in their charts. Bella doesn't know this and we've never discussed it with her, obviously. Often though when my sister tells her to do something and she argues, my sister will say 'I'm your mother! I'm telling you to do it! ' and Bella responds, 'Well I used to be your mother and you never listened! '. Make of it what you will. I think there's something to it.

Sent from my SM-G800H using Tapatalk
 
Alisa said:
I'm a preschool teacher and often hear kids say interesting things. A lot of it can be put down to things seen or heard. Last year, however, on September 11th, I was explaining (very briefly) about the planes that crashed and that we must send love from our hearts to the families. A little boy in my class said he once had a dream that he was on a plane that crashed into a building. I asked him what happened after it crashed. He looked at me and frowned. He said 'Nothing else happened, we crashed. '.
Click to expand...

You then explained how you reacted to his comment, why did you react in the following way?

There was something about the way he said it that made me stop and think. He's not the kind of child to make up fantasy stories and even during game play, his games were always very realistic. He seemed really lost in thought for an hour or two afterwards.
Click to expand...

to what do you attribute his behavior?

I have another similar story. I'm a believer in numerology and past lives and when my Mom died I had her chart done. My Mom died in November 2009 and my niece was born October 2010. My numerologist believes she is the reincarnation of my Mom based on the similarities in their charts.
Click to expand...

What similarities were attributed?

Bella doesn't know this and we've never discussed it with her, obviously. Often though when my sister tells her to do something and she argues, my sister will say 'I'm your mother! I'm telling you to do it! ' and Bella responds, 'Well I used to be your mother and you never listened! '. Make of it what you will. I think there's something to it.
Click to expand...

Please tell me what that "something" means, to you. Thanks in advance.
 
Kids say a lot of stuff; it's hardly surprising that once in a while they hit on something that really affects someone for one reason or other.

I write fiction, and once in a while I'll get strangers telling me that I happened to remind them of something in their own lives, without any intent on my part. It's not at all uncommon for a reader to attribute meaning to something that wasn't intentional on the part of the author.
 
Alisa said:
I'm a preschool teacher and often hear kids say interesting things. A lot of it can be put down to things seen or heard. Last year, however, on September 11th, I was explaining (very briefly) about the planes that crashed and that we must send love from our hearts to the families. A little boy in my class said he once had a dream that he was on a plane that crashed into a building. I asked him what happened after it crashed. He looked at me and frowned. He said 'Nothing else happened, we crashed. '. There was something about the way he said it that made me stop and think. He's not the kind of child to make up fantasy stories and even during game play, his games were always very realistic. He seemed really lost in thought for an hour or two afterwards. I have another similar story. I'm a believer in numerology and past lives and when my Mom died I had her chart done. My Mom died in November 2009 and my niece was born October 2010. My numerologist believes she is the reincarnation of my Mom based on the similarities in their charts. Bella doesn't know this and we've never discussed it with her, obviously. Often though when my sister tells her to do something and she argues, my sister will say 'I'm your mother! I'm telling you to do it! ' and Bella responds, 'Well I used to be your mother and you never listened! '. Make of it what you will. I think there's something to it.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum, Alisa.

Are you aware of cognitive biases such as confirmation bias? The reason I ask is because they make it surprisingly easy for us to inadvertently fool ourselves into thinking we see meaningful patterns and correlations which aren't really there. If you're interested in exploring this possibility, here are some useful introductory articles:

http://skepdic.com/confirmbias.html

http://skepdic.com/subjectivevalidation.html

http://skepdic.com/lawofnumbers.html
 
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