As we sat with the adults watching a movie, I wondered what this was all about.  I did not understand what the movie was all about nor did my friend. We sat silently, glued to the scenes parading in front of us on our black and white TV trying our best not to disturb anyone. The scene was interesting in a very strange way. It was also scary.

The following day, my 5-year-old friend came to me with a blunt knife asking me to replay the scene we both saw on TV. I did not know where she got the knife from, but, excitedly I collected the knife off her. I was about the age of six.

We had the mental image of the main character with a knife in his hand, running around chasing his victims. In our heads, we could only remember a scene. A gruesome scene.

Taking the knife from my friend, I childishly placed the knife on her neck. With flashes of images in my head, I tried desperately, moving the knife around my friend’s neck, but, nothing happened. It was a play as far as we knew.  We were roleplaying. It was pure honest play. Nothing sinister.

We managed to replay a scene from the movie, but,  we could not just achieve what we saw. As dangerous and scary as it sounds, the knife left no mark on my friend. We were both standing, facing each other. I had a grip on the handle of the knife. No adult in sight. We chatted. My friend was talking me through what else to do.

Unfortunately for me, an adult walked in on us suddenly and the whole story changed. With the knife still in my little hand, I was not given the chance to explain what was going on. My friend became the victim and I was labeled an evil child.

The whole neighbourhood heard of how I was about to murder my friend before the adult came to her rescue. I became “The Little Witch” and I received the beating of my life that very day.

My mother was furious and disappointment in me. Everyone around felt I did it on purpose. My friend’s mother was angry at me. The whole community watched as I got beaten. I was banned from playing with the children around. I lost the relationship I had with my friend. My friend’s parents banned me from playing with her.

In midst of all these, I asked myself what I did wrong. I did not understand what was going on. I did not understand all the harsh words, corporal punishments and beatings. No one told me what I did wrong. I was playing with my friend and to me, it was just a play.

Looking back, I still cannot understand what I did wrong. I was allowed to watch a movie that was not censored. Secondly, my friend gave me the knife and asked if we could play and NO ONE explained what I did wrong nor was I asked what actually happened.

I got the blame for the exposure I had no control over. The adults who allowed me to see such gruesome movie were not blamed. No one asked what was going on in my head. I wore the cloth of shame for something I did not do.

As parents, you are accountable for what your children are exposed to. Children have no mental capacity to differentiate between the real and imaginary world. They play along and tag along. This is all part of growing.

Children explore their environments.  Everything sometimes becomes an object of exploration. Roleplaying is a way of learning and replaying what they see help with the understanding of this complex world.

Understanding children take a lot of effort. You sometimes have to think like a child to understand a child. Take note of what your child sees on TV, online and real world and your child cares for his world.