Children are particularly shocked by the violence of bullfights, impacting their mental health.
- 77% of French people declared themselves in favor of the abolition of this practice in February 2022, according to an Ifop poll devoted to animal welfare.
- In France, the Penal Code punishes acts of cruelty towards an animal, but bullfighting benefits from a legislative exception in the name of “uninterrupted local traditions” in twelve departments.
As MPs have to consider a text for the prohibition of bullfights throughout France on November 24, the question of the impact of this practice on the psyche of children arises.
Children are more disturbed by acts of violence than adults
Indeed, if witnessing an act of cruelty to animals – as during a bullfight – can shock as adults, it is easy to imagine that children are too. And they would be particularly sensitive to it, according to Laurent Bègue-Shankland, professor of social psychology who published an article in The Conversation : “When children witness it, the consequences for them are likely to be more detrimental than for adults.”
Indeed, they feel even more distress and this leads to greater aggressiveness in them, as evidenced by a study on the psychological effects of watching bullfights on children aged 8 to 12.
Bullfighting trivializes violence and increases aggression
This study further revealed that children who had seen bullfighting scenes with festive comments later experienced more anxiety, showed more hostility and were more aggressive. Presenting a bullfight as a party is therefore particularly disturbing for children: “The impact of a violent scene is greater when it is legitimized by those around you”, reminds the specialist.
The sight of blood has been further proven to be particularly difficult for children and that the long-term effects of violence on their psyche and behavior are also more striking.
Protecting children from bullfighting was a request from the United Nations in 2016. Indeed the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had said to himself “concerned about the impact bullfighting could have on those under 18 as spectators at events and as students in bullfighting schools”.