My Daughter Is Afraid To Be In Her Bedroom
- Chuck Snyder Author, husband, father, and relationship expert
- Published May 09, 2001
Dear Chuck:
My 10-year daughter has been having some frightening and hard-to-explain happenings in her life that are leaving her very frightened. I'm not sure how to deal with it anymore. Recently, she was playing behind our house in a wooded area and she felt as if she were being lifted off the ground. Of course, she was very frightened and ran in the house and went to her room. She did not tell me about this incident because she did not think anyone would believe her. She started complaining to me that things were "moving" around her room. Things were not where she had put them. She never saw anything move, but things were out of place. Next, she was playing Barbies in her room one afternoon with a friend, and came downstairs screaming that a man was on the roof and was looking in her window. She insisted that I go outside and look because someone was on the roof. I did not see anything. Her friend did not see anyone but did hear a clicking noise and saw a flash of light. They came to the conclusion that someone was taking a picture of them. After that, she was afraid to play Barbies because they were moving around; they were not how she had left them. Their heads were on different bodies, etc. I didn't want to minimize her fears, but neither did I want her imagination to take over. She also has two brothers who like to play pranks. They both insisted that they had nothing to do with it. So I lined up the Barbies on her bed, told her to leave them alone and we would check on them later. I really thought they were scaring each other and that nothing would happen. Keep in mind, also, at this point, I was not aware of the occurrence in the woods. I was the last one to leave the room, close the door, and the first one back in her room, to make sure her brothers had no part in this. Chuck, when we went back in her room, the Barbies had been pushed back on her bed as if someone had been making room to sit there.
I was very afraid at this point. I was not trying to test or tempt anything evil. I thought the boys were teasing her. Anyway, my experiment just made things worse. My daughter will not go in her room alone and refuses to sleep in there anymore. She has been sleeping downstairs or in her brother's room. I have prayed with her and told her that God will protect her. We have prayed in her room and our home and asked God to remove all evil. She is a Christian, but she is also very young and afraid. She is constantly looking over her shoulder and very jumpy. I have put posters in her room with Bible verses and Bible reminders. She has framed scripture in her room. We play WOW CDs on her CD player a lot. Nothing has happened in a couple of months, but she still is afraid.
What should I do? I can't force her to sleep in there, knowing that she is afraid. No one wants that room. We have a large family of seven. So I hate to just give up much needed space. She believes that whatever lifted her in the woods followed her to her room and has been doing all these things. Please give me advice. I want to handle this properly. Thank you.
Chuck's Response:
Thanks for the note about all the scary things that have been happening to your daughter. This is way out of my league, so I suggest you get some professional counseling from Christians versed in the occult and demons. For sure, protect her from having to go into her room. Make it into a sewing room or something and see if anything happens. You as an adult could probably handle it because you have Jesus Christ as your protection. Satan is the second most powerful being in the universe, but he can only do what God allows him to do. I would make sure that you have clearly eliminated the "prank" possibility. Maybe her brothers told the "truth" about not doing something to scare her, but they knew of a friend somewhere in the neighborhood who is doing it. There also might be a predator, so I would ask the local police to quietly stake out your house if anything should happen again. If the activity stops, it probably was a prank. If it continues, and you have eliminated any possibility of family or neighborhood involvement, then you need professional help. Ten years old is also a ripe age for special "friends" and imagination. I think it is more than this, but everything might play a part. These are my thoughts. Let me know if you want to talk further.
With God's Love,
Chuck Snyder
To submit a question to Chuck Snyder, email him at Chuck@CrosswalkMail.com and please include the topic of your question in the subject line of your email. Your submission will be considered for publication. If selected, we will remove your name to ensure confidentiality.
Opinions and advice written by Crosswalk Experts do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, Crosswalk.com, Inc., or its management. We provide you with resources for personal advice in order to help you apply Biblical truths to your life situations. As is the case throughout Crosswalk.com, our desire is to highlight issues and perspectives that are relevant to the broad community of Christians and which do not necessarily gain exposure in other media outlets.
My 10-year daughter has been having some frightening and hard-to-explain happenings in her life that are leaving her very frightened. I'm not sure how to deal with it anymore. Recently, she was playing behind our house in a wooded area and she felt as if she were being lifted off the ground. Of course, she was very frightened and ran in the house and went to her room. She did not tell me about this incident because she did not think anyone would believe her. She started complaining to me that things were "moving" around her room. Things were not where she had put them. She never saw anything move, but things were out of place. Next, she was playing Barbies in her room one afternoon with a friend, and came downstairs screaming that a man was on the roof and was looking in her window. She insisted that I go outside and look because someone was on the roof. I did not see anything. Her friend did not see anyone but did hear a clicking noise and saw a flash of light. They came to the conclusion that someone was taking a picture of them. After that, she was afraid to play Barbies because they were moving around; they were not how she had left them. Their heads were on different bodies, etc. I didn't want to minimize her fears, but neither did I want her imagination to take over. She also has two brothers who like to play pranks. They both insisted that they had nothing to do with it. So I lined up the Barbies on her bed, told her to leave them alone and we would check on them later. I really thought they were scaring each other and that nothing would happen. Keep in mind, also, at this point, I was not aware of the occurrence in the woods. I was the last one to leave the room, close the door, and the first one back in her room, to make sure her brothers had no part in this. Chuck, when we went back in her room, the Barbies had been pushed back on her bed as if someone had been making room to sit there.
I was very afraid at this point. I was not trying to test or tempt anything evil. I thought the boys were teasing her. Anyway, my experiment just made things worse. My daughter will not go in her room alone and refuses to sleep in there anymore. She has been sleeping downstairs or in her brother's room. I have prayed with her and told her that God will protect her. We have prayed in her room and our home and asked God to remove all evil. She is a Christian, but she is also very young and afraid. She is constantly looking over her shoulder and very jumpy. I have put posters in her room with Bible verses and Bible reminders. She has framed scripture in her room. We play WOW CDs on her CD player a lot. Nothing has happened in a couple of months, but she still is afraid.
What should I do? I can't force her to sleep in there, knowing that she is afraid. No one wants that room. We have a large family of seven. So I hate to just give up much needed space. She believes that whatever lifted her in the woods followed her to her room and has been doing all these things. Please give me advice. I want to handle this properly. Thank you.
Chuck's Response:
Thanks for the note about all the scary things that have been happening to your daughter. This is way out of my league, so I suggest you get some professional counseling from Christians versed in the occult and demons. For sure, protect her from having to go into her room. Make it into a sewing room or something and see if anything happens. You as an adult could probably handle it because you have Jesus Christ as your protection. Satan is the second most powerful being in the universe, but he can only do what God allows him to do. I would make sure that you have clearly eliminated the "prank" possibility. Maybe her brothers told the "truth" about not doing something to scare her, but they knew of a friend somewhere in the neighborhood who is doing it. There also might be a predator, so I would ask the local police to quietly stake out your house if anything should happen again. If the activity stops, it probably was a prank. If it continues, and you have eliminated any possibility of family or neighborhood involvement, then you need professional help. Ten years old is also a ripe age for special "friends" and imagination. I think it is more than this, but everything might play a part. These are my thoughts. Let me know if you want to talk further.
With God's Love,
Chuck Snyder
To submit a question to Chuck Snyder, email him at Chuck@CrosswalkMail.com and please include the topic of your question in the subject line of your email. Your submission will be considered for publication. If selected, we will remove your name to ensure confidentiality.
Opinions and advice written by Crosswalk Experts do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, Crosswalk.com, Inc., or its management. We provide you with resources for personal advice in order to help you apply Biblical truths to your life situations. As is the case throughout Crosswalk.com, our desire is to highlight issues and perspectives that are relevant to the broad community of Christians and which do not necessarily gain exposure in other media outlets.
