Screaming

[WittyAspie]

Does anyone else enjoy screaming for fun? I really like to just let loose and yell at the top of my lungs. It is both exciting and helps me exert excess energy.

However, I was told recently by someone who cares about me that screaming for fun is unacceptable and I should definitely not be doing it around my kids. Has anyone else been told a harmless activity they do is wrong? What is so bad about yelling in my own home? I’m not angry or directing it at anyone. I’m just letting out some noise.

 

[Judge]

Nope. I can't even handle my own scream, let alone that of others. Especially toddlers in Walmart.

Though between you and me I used to do a pretty fair impression of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan yell.

Way better than anything Carol Burnett could muster.

 

[tree]

Do I enjoy screaming?
No.
I don't enjoy hearing other people scream.
I don't enjoy doing it myself.

Screaming and yelling are not identical.
I don't care to yell, either, but I will do it when it's
necessary to be heard at a distance.

 

[Mia]

No I don't scream, likely because it makes people around me anxious. Although instead of that, I play loud music, and sometimes sing really loud, my husband plays really loud guitar with the big amplifier when I'm not around at times. Always know when he does, because the cats seem traumatized when I return home. As if to say; 'Glad you're back, get him to stop.'

Maybe if you went into a room, or a place away from people, you could scream to your heart's content, and affect no one. The problem for me with screaming, is that it sets up an immediate reaction to act, and an adrenaline flood, because my mind and body tells me it's an emergency and that I should help in some way. That reaction has never left me.

 

[rainfall]

Does anyone else enjoy screaming for fun?

Yes, I do, though it would be more yelling than screaming I'd say. I don't see why you shouldn't do it around your kids. I yell all the time with my son as he generally enjoys being loud. It's not something we do outside the house unless it's an appropriate activity or something of the like. Like you, I think it helps exert excess energy and is fun. Even though he has difficulty with certain concepts he knows that he can't just start screaming/yelling anywhere.

Has anyone else been told a harmless activity they do is wrong?

Yep. Maybe asking why they believe certain things are unacceptable might help understand why they feel that way. Personally, it has usually boiled down to "not age appropriate" or "weird".

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

When I was a kid.

 

[Beguiling Orbit]

I never really screamed for fun. When I was a teenager, I used to go into my bedroom closet, put my face into a pillow and scream to vent my frustrations. Doing it that way would muffle the sound enough so that other family members wouldn't hear it and think I was in trouble (or had lost my mind).

I wonder what the decibel level of your screaming is. Anything above 85-90 is getting into the danger zone for hearing loss, especially if it's prolonged. And I've read that the loudest human screams can be measured at 110-120 decibels, which can cause immediate damage to your (and your kids') hearing. Of course, a good pair of earplugs would help solve that problem.

 

[Myway]

I used to like screaming, but now it just irritates me to listen to.

 

[WittyAspie]

Yes, I do, though it would be more yelling than screaming I'd say. I don't see why you shouldn't do it around your kids. I yell all the time with my son as he generally enjoys being loud. It's not something we do outside the house unless it's an appropriate activity or something of the like. Like you, I think it helps exert excess energy and is fun. Even though he has difficulty with certain concepts he knows that he can't just start screaming/yelling anywhere.

Yep. Maybe asking why they believe certain things are unacceptable might help understand why they feel that way. Personally, it has usually boiled down to "not age appropriate" or "weird".

Exactly, I scream with my kids. And we don't do it in public, only at home. It's just a way we have fun. I have also been known to shriek at the top of my lungs driving down the road with the music blaring, but once again I'm not affecting anyone else.

I asked why it's a bad thing and apparently my kids can get in trouble at school. That still doesn't explain to me why doing it at home is wrong, especially if everyone is enjoying it. Part of growing up is learning that different situations have different rules. There are times when laughing is inappropriate, but no one is suggesting that kids should never laugh. And I have heard children get REALLY loud when laughing and playing. That behavior is encouraged in the right setting, but screaming for fun is not. I just can't see the difference.

 

[OlLiE]

the best place to do it is in a pool while underwater
used to race and after every push off i'd scream my lungs out

 

[Gritches]

When I was a kid we would have screaming contests. There was only one girl who could scream louder than me. Such adeptness at screaming didn't exactly win me the popular vote as a boy.

These days, I just play loud music in the car and scream to that, assuming I'm alone. I like not being able to hear my yelling over the music, but still be yelling. It does feel good to do. People would probably call the cops if I started yelling and there were people around to be scared by it.

 

[onlything]

It's socially inappropriate.

Anyway, I learnt to hate loud noises. Any, made by me or others. I feel it could be nice, to just let all these emotions go, but, what, am I scared to hear it? Possibly. Or maybe because it's just something that is not done, especially by good little girls[sarcasm].

 

[onlything]

Exactly, I scream with my kids. And we don't do it in public, only at home. It's just a way we have fun. I have also been known to shriek at the top of my lungs driving down the road with the music blaring, but once again I'm not affecting anyone else.

I asked why it's a bad thing and apparently my kids can get in trouble at school. That still doesn't explain to me why doing it at home is wrong, especially if everyone is enjoying it. Part of growing up is learning that different situations have different rules. There are times when laughing is inappropriate, but no one is suggesting that kids should never laugh. And I have heard children get REALLY loud when laughing and playing. That behavior is encouraged in the right setting, but screaming for fun is not. I just can't see the difference.

That's absurd. If you enjoy it, do it, at least as long as you do not affect other people. In car, at home(though it may be a nuisance if you have a flat and neighbours), under water. Just tell your kids not to do it, maybe make it your special shared activity or something and... don't do it near that person even if they care about you

And... problems at school by the way? Like, what problems? Kids always scream at school, just not during the classes. Has this person ever been in a school building during the break? Like - really.

 

[clg114]

I am a very quiet person and very rarely ever yell or even raise my voice. I have five adult kids, three boys and two girls. When they were children they were noisy, like all kids. With the boys it was a lot of crashing, banging and a explosion every now and then. Just regular boy stuff. With the girls, they would scream the loudest, shrillest scream I ever heard and this was just in regular play. It always (and still does) startled me a lot. My first thought was that someone was hurt badly. It still startles when the grand daughters do it. But at least I do not come rushing out looking for bodies anymore.

 

[Gracey]

You mean like a high pitched, terror induced scream?

I'm not sure I can remember the last time I did that, if I even have ?

I grumble or rumble like thunder rather than scream.

There is a therapy called 'scream therapy'
Letting loose at the top of your lungs in an organised set up with others.

That way, nobody else is alarmed, or calling the police or social services.

 

[rainfall]

There are times when laughing is inappropriate, but no one is suggesting that kids should never laugh. And I have heard children get REALLY loud when laughing and playing. That behavior is encouraged in the right setting, but screaming for fun is not. I just can't see the difference.

The difference to most people is that laughing is a more generally accepted behavior than yelling or screaming. Especially if you're an adult and you should "act like one".

I agree with you that, in the right setting, it's totally fine. Just like everything else they must learn, there is a right time and place for it. There are a lot of parents that listen to their music so loud all the time it damages their kids ears but they don't even think twice about it. A little fun yelling here and there with their dad doesn't seem bad at all to me.

If it's not to the point where it is loud enough to damage their ears, they are doing it right along with you and everyone is having fun, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason why it's being considered unacceptable.

 

[megacomic]

nope I hate screaming in all forms. I dont even scream myself. I always speak at an soft even tone and I wish everyone else did too.

 

[Tcx]

I'm used to screaming or shouting or singing really loudly while riding bike or driving or mountain climbing.
Just come home, when I drive by those residences I get cursed by them
Hence most people won't enjoy others' scream.

 

[Flinty]

Screaming for fun is usually a bad idea. See Wolf, The Boy Who Cried. Screaming is for when it's necessary.

 

[the_tortoise]

Does anyone else enjoy screaming for fun? I really like to just let loose and yell at the top of my lungs. It is both exciting and helps me exert excess energy.

Yes -- I like the feeling in my lungs and throat, the energy of it and the energy released by it.

There are limits for me, though, because of my sound sensitivity....

I remember my friends and I (all boys) getting into trouble for seeing how shrilly and loudly we could scream in the playground after school (people couldn't tell if we were in trouble of not). It was fascinating and enjoyable in that lungs and throat feeling -- different frequency of vibration. Sadly, afterwards I had the same sensation as when your ears are ringing after a blast of really loud noise, except without the ringing noise, and I was extremely grumpy/agitated and dazed (although I didn't recognize the reason for the grumpiness/agitation at the time, I was just aware of suddenly being in a very bad mood and a peculiar frame of mind).

I haven't screamed/yelled for fun since I was a child. (Well, not on purpose....if I get really excited/joyous about something my voice can easily go to yelling volume without my intending it.) I wouldn't even consider doing it on purpose now because I live in an apartment where you can hear people talking at normal volume on the other side of the wall. If I lived in a house, I still might not -- it would depend on whether or not it upset my cat.