My wife was telling me today that when she was young and a classmate came to school with a cast on an arm or a leg, she had an overwhelming desire to have a cast. I was surprised because I was exactly the same way. I figured I was some kind of a machocast or something, so just let it go, but now I recall other kids telling me the same thing.
Google-fu failed no matter how I phrased the question.
Is there any known psychological rationale for this desire with kids? Or were we just weird? How common is it?
It’s cool and noteworthy, and the owner of the cast doesn’t look any the worse for the wear. Kids don’t realize how much a broken bone hurts, so think it’s an easy way to gain attention, which most kids crave.
I hate to bump this, as it appears there has never been a study on that, or a factual answer.
I am sure, at least in my case, that was not true. I was pretty much of a loner and never did care what other kids thought, nor craved attention. At home, I often made faux casts out of paper and cardboard and wore them around. Before my mother returned home from work, I always removed them. For some weird reason, I just thought they were cool. Weird, I guess.
I think in your case, it was similar to something I had.
When I was in grade school, I wanted glasses. I thought they were really cool. Despite Jan Brady’s declaration “Glasses will make me look positively goofy,” I wanted some.
In fact I would’ve looked goofy. I was always asking other kids if I could try on their glasses. I would wear my fathers and my sister’s glasses.
I didn’t want attention, and as I said, I looked stupid in glasses. But I just wanted to wear glasses.
I would think in a lot of cases it IS in fact, kids wanting attention. But maybe in your case it’s a just a case of wanting something, be it a cast, glasses or a stuffed animal, just for the sake of having it.
I remember this too. But even then I knew it was just about attention. I recall Michael Jackson went through a stage where he wore a wrist support as part of his “get up”.
When my sister was a kid, she begged my parents for a set of crutches, which appeared under the Christmas tree, and which she “hobbled” around on for a while. She eventually (as fate would have it…) did break her ankle, necessitating the actual use.
I think you guys are underestimating how the subconscious can work. If you see everyone with a cast getting attention, you can jump straight to “I want a cast” without having to ever consciously think “I want attention, therefore, I want a cast.” All you’re aware of is the positive association, not necessarily any reasons for that association.
In addition to attention, kids with casts often get “special” treatment, as far as kids can see it. It’s really just accommodating the injury; someone carries the kids’ books between classes, or the kid gets to skip gym, and despite the root cause, those “pluses” can be very attractive to kids. “If I had a broken arm, I wouldn’t have to play stupid kickball either.”
It is a Ballardian yearning for psychosexual intimacy with the remnants of bodily trauma. Assembly-kit tests showed that exposure to limbs in casts produced a marked erotic effect in an audience of spastic children. Subjects in one study uniformly expressed desires to touch and rub the cast, with some patients even attempting to lick at the dirt and decayed skin cells which accumulated under the surface of the cast, while masturbating.
Another possible factor – in addition to observing classmates with casts, I seem to remember there being an incredible number of kids in movies and TV who would get casts and have famous people sign them, etc. It was really portrayed as a great thing.
I used to hope to get hurt enough to get a Band-aid, and my mom would hurt herself on purpose. Even now I’m dealing with a co-worker’s euphoria over the attention an upcoming surgery is getting her. :rolleyes: