While clowns have been a long-time staple of hospital children's wards, a recent UK study suggests that the children might actually find the clowns to be scarier than the hospital. A University of Sheffield study spoke with 250 children and found that even some of the oldest children found the clowns to be scary.
While it may be easy for many of us to understand their terror, it's a little strange to think that children's opinions on clowns have changed so significantly over the last few decades. 50 years ago, children loved clowns. Today, they represent something unfamiliar to most kids. In fact, many children are more likely to have seen a clown in a horror film than at an actual circus.
All the same, clowns from around the world are turning up their big red noses at the study. New York's Clown Care program has made over 2 million bedside visits over the last couple of decades and they say that the results are overwhelmingly positive. They note that there are definitely some kids who are scared of the clowns, but that there are also kids who are scared of dogs and anything else that might be brought in to comfort the kids.
What do you think? Are clowns scary menaces, or angels in disguise? If you're undecided on the clown issue, I challenge you to read these stories and think that hospital clowns are anything but extraordinary.
Clowns? Scary? Clowns are interesting, you're never quite sure what's going on behind the wigs and makeup...
Clowns are the scariest thing out there. Though I must admit, my fear spontaneously arrived after watching Steven King's "It". I'm sure anyone else who has seen the movie will agree. To this day I refuse to walk near a storm drain on the edge of the road...