Theria|In extreme cases, the child may become so immersed in the play world that he cannot get out, says a specialist psychologist.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The Therian phenomenon has reached Finnish primary schools. In Therian, children act like animals and dress like them.
Specialist psychologist Nina Pyykkönen sees two sides to the phenomenon.
The phenomenon became a topic of conversation when some schools banned the use of therian costumes during school hours.
Kaisa Önlen, a digital expert at the Mannerheim Children’s Protection Association, says that the phenomenon has become stronger with the digital environment.
Certain ones the signs reveal when a child’s therian play has gone too far, says a specialist psychologist Nina Pyykkönen.
According to Pyykkönen, theria can often even be beneficial for a child’s development, but play is sometimes also associated with concerns.
“If we see that this is now taking up too much space from something else or is preventing the child from growing and developing, then we have to be worried,” says Pyykkönen.
Theria has hit Finnish news headlines in recent weeks. It’s about a phenomenon that has reached elementary schools, where children present animals and at least to some extent feel that they are animals inside.
Children run around during the breaks, waving fake tails and face masks on their faces.
Recently, the therian phenomenon became a topic of conversation, when different schools banned the use of therian costumes during school hours at the start of school. Ilta-Sanomat reports on Tuesdaythat at the school in Oulu, the students were laughing and barking in class. The children also ran outside without shoes, because animals don’t wear them either.
Mannerheim Child Protection Association’s digital youth work expert Kaisa Önlen tells HS that he came across the phenomenon a few years ago on Nuortennet’s peer support forum.
“This is certainly not a new phenomenon. The digital environment has strengthened the phenomenon’s spread and everydayness,” says Önlen.
A washcloth thinks that the therian phenomenon is related to the natural need of children and pre-teens to process their emotions through play.
“Because the child must dare to explore difficult things in his mind, play offers the opportunity to enter a world where anything can happen.”
Although the child probably doesn’t know it, dressing up as an animal figure can be preparation for the challenges of adolescence, Pyykkönen says. Animals are often important to children in elementary school, and they are also used as an aid in therapy work. Identifying with animals is common.
The transition from childhood to adolescence is a shock for many, which is why play can serve as an opportunity to step away from the limitations and challenges of everyday life.
Pyykkönen points out that being a child therian is equivalent to watching a “stupid movie” as an adult. In the same way, an adult immerses himself in a fictional world in a movie theater like a child playing with an animal.
So you shouldn’t suddenly worry about him about the phenomenon.
Specialist psychologist Nina Pyykkönen photographed in 2019.
Become anxious must when the child gets stuck in the play world and can’t leave it.
“For example, if we go to a movie, we sort of put ourselves there so that ‘now I’m alive and experiencing all these emotions.’ But when we leave, we won’t stay in the world of cinema. It would be worrying if different realities cannot be distinguished from each other,” Pyykkönen illustrates.
A child who has experienced trauma has a greater risk of getting caught up in a fictional world. He can find play so attractive that he no longer wants to be his everyday self. Pyykkönen says that sometimes it can also be that the play itself becomes traumatic if you can’t get out of it voluntarily.
According to Pyykkönen, you shouldn’t be worried about the therian phenomenon, but you should be concerned about individual children whose implementation of the phenomenon goes too far. If, for example, the child is unable to speak, but only eats, it is necessary to worry. Similarly, in situations where the child is mischievous, for example, even though he should be doing, for example, housework.
Has been presentedthat children who implement therian would identify as animals, but a specialist psychologist believes that in reality this is not the case.
“People of that age usually don’t use a word like ‘identified’. I think it’s a great word that has been adopted from the elders,” says Pyykkönen.
According to Pyykkönen, parents should let their children try out different roles and identities in the growth phase. The most harmful thing is if the child is given a ready mold to adapt to.
According to a specialist psychologist, you should talk about Therian openly at home.
“It’s good to talk to a child and say that this animal story of yours is incredibly sweet. And that I’m really curious to hear more about this guy.”
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