If psychic abilities do exist, is it possible that they are more inherent in children than in adults?
“Perhaps children are more open minded. They do not perceive the impossible things that are considered to be such in our society, they are not skeptical,”- wrote child psychologist, Dr. Atena A. Drews and Dr. Sally Feather in an article for the Rhine Research Center.
The research center was founded by JB Ryne, who was engaged in the study of the paranormal in the 30s of the XX century. Dr. Louise Ryne received 216 letters from school-aged children reporting experiences with psychic experiences. Drews analyzed these letters.
Below are her findings and some other evidence of extrasensory perception in children.
Childhood predictions
Dr. Drews found that, as with similar studies with adults, the personality of children matters. Extroverted children are more likely to have psychic abilities, as do children who believe in the existence of such abilities.
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In 216 experiments, 157 spontaneous cases of paranormal events were described. Of these, 77% were prophetic dreams or premonitions of the future that came true. In 10% it was about telepathy, 14% - about clairvoyance. A similar ratio is observed in adults with extrasensory abilities.
Among the respondents, there were more girls than boys. More than half of the predicted events were minor from an adult perspective: clothing related incidents, school grades, and, interestingly, a large number of different pet incidents.
In turn, adults usually foresee more serious events: natural disasters, catastrophes, etc.
"Research has shown a clear telepathic connection between mothers and their babies," says Dr. Drews. She also noted cases of clairvoyance and telepathy between teachers and students, but concluded that "age and developmental level in general does not increase or decrease the capacity for extrasensory perception."
Features of childhood affect the development of paranormal abilities
Dr. Shari A. Cohn-Simmen interviewed 208 families in the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles, where supernatural powers are most prevalent. She found that 10% of people with this ability were twins, although twins make up only 3% of the population.
She also studied the history of these families and found that many of them had clairvoyants in their lineage. From her point of view, this can be explained by genetic predisposition and upbringing, notes Sylvia Hart Wright in the talk "Childhood Features that Enhance Psychic Abilities," which was published in the Journal of Research on Spirituality and the Paranormal.
Although genetics plays a part in part, she writes: “Negative attitudes towards the paranormal, which are often caused by conservative materialistic views, lead children to intuitively suppress such abilities. But if people around say that it is normal to receive information with the help of supernatural abilities, children begin to develop them."
Sylvia Hart Wright cites examples from the sociologist Charles Emmory. For example, a third-generation medium said that when she told her mother that there was a man in the corner, she calmly asked: "What is his name?"
Wright continues: “Another psychic says that my grandmother played games with her to develop psychics. For example, she hid the key and said: "Become the key and tell me where you are."
A child's brain development involves strengthening some nerve pathways and weakening others. A child's brain is open to greater possibilities and the development of potential abilities, Wright says.
Wright's research suggests that children who have experienced trauma are more likely to exhibit psychic abilities. Usually, when they grow up, they become "level-headed extroverts with at least an average level of intelligence."
Some believe that the relationship between trauma and supernatural ability may be due to a child's desire to escape into a fantasy world. However, British psychologist Tony Lawrence has shown that the link between trauma and perceived psychic abilities is stronger than between trauma and excessive fantasy.
Wright cites Kenneth Ring, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, who wrote that the traumatized child “will seek to isolate himself from the traumatic aspects of the physical and social world. This may lead him to tune in to other realities."
The bond between mother and child
Biochemist Rupert Shcheldrake investigated the psychic connection between young children and their mothers. In a DailyMail article, he says hundreds of mothers, even miles away, felt when their children needed them.
These mothers reported that they started milk production the moment the baby felt uncomfortable.
“With the help of midwives, I studied 9 breastfeeding mothers in North London for two months and found that milk production when they were separated from their babies often happened at exactly the same time when the babies were suffering from stress,” he writes. "The chances are that such special cases are just coincidence, equal to a billion to one."