With younger kids, who have fearful dreams or think something is under their bed, they never have any contact, so they are very fearful. If you really had contact, even if you got hurt, you''d be less afraid. At about age 8, children become aware of their total environment. If it''s in the South, it might be hurricanes. In the West, it might be earthquakes, and anywhere in the central states, electrical storms.
Hurricanes are a fear all the way up the East Coast.
But news of a recent high-profile kidnapping scared him. After age 7, the fear of unknown things under the bed disappears quickly for boys but lasts longer for girls, Croake said. If they do, they have more. Sometimes she wakes and sees her dolls lined up on her dresser, staring at her. But at his father''s prompting, Justin said he feels fear walking alone on a sidewalk.