Kids Say the Darndest Things

  Something that comes to my mind the more we talk about the role of children in the Salem witch trials is how much kids today say they see or hear things while they are playing, or maybe things that scare them at night. The mind and imagination of a child can often be an adventurous representation of the way the child is adapting to or learning about the world around them. 

    Many times the scary creaks of the house or the shadows on the wall manifest themselves in a child's mind that makes them think of ghosts or monsters are just a normal part of growth for a child. I'll be honest in saying that I still never look behind me after turning all the lights off in my house or apartment. People see things in the dark that can have detrimental effects on their psyche. It is common for kids to have 'imaginary friends' that they talk to to provide them with comfort. If parents try to say that their friend isn't real, the child often erupts into a strong defense of their imaginary friend, claiming that they are indeed real and that its crazy to think that they are not. As Dr. Williams has said many times, something could just be real if people believe strongly enough that it is. 

    It is when children have hallucinations that have some connection to reality when this becomes creepy. Sometimes children say they see a woman in their room at night, and it just so happens that they're living in a home where a woman died. There have also been stories connected to deceased relatives where children will say that they have conversations with someone who bears the same name as someone in the family who has passed. These stories, real or fake, are the kinds of things that can send adults into hysterics and make them quiver. 

    I don't think that children in Salem would behave so differently. I think that kids have always said creepy things and sometimes it can be hard as adults, even today, to dismiss them as part of being a kid. If you mix this behavior with the fact that adults in Salem really did believe in witches and evil supernatural beings, then all of a sudden, things children say can become the foundation for an entire witch hunt. Seeing and hearing things for children is a mostly normal occurrence, but sometimes these hallucinations can be the result of severe emotional stress, physical or psychotic illnesses, reactions to food or medication, or some other factors.

    The fact that kids say things that can scare the hell out of adults today only makes me think that children imagining things played a significant role in Salem as well. Maybe spirits and demons target children because adults can easily dismiss what they say as a product of an active imagination. Or maybe adults get scared of children's words because they make them question what they know to be true. 

Here is a list from Buzzfeed about 19 Creepy Things Children Have Said That Will Freak You the Heck Out!:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/19-creepy-unsettling-and-scary-things-kids-have-actually.

Also here is a source from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that explains child hallucinations:

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Hearing-Voices-and-Seeing-Things-102.aspx