Yes, hi first. I just wanted to say that for a time when I was 7 and 8 years old, I was a bit of a serial killer, for example 50 Jack the Ripper could list suspects, all the names of the victims of the Zodiac Killer, and all the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Andrew Cunanan, Ed Kemper,
Peter Kürten and co. Knew.
At the age of 10 the chapter was finished, until I'm fully into the subject again, because of a Netflix documentary about Bundy.
Do you find it strange to be interested in something like this as a 10-year-old or do you think that such interests have a negative influence on our development?
Your question can't be answered - it depends on what the interest is based, what is seen as the interesting thing about this person. And as long as the child does not choose these acts and people as role models, nothing negative should happen.
It's bizarre when you had such interests as a little boy. I wonder, above all, how you came to such information at that age. But nowadays access to such information is much easier than in my time…
The question is, what are you doing with this info? Is it pure interest? Is it the curiosity about the sick behavior of these people? Do you have similar inclinations? Do you understand the extent of the serial killer's deeds? Are you interested in the background of why these people committed their actions?
The Stern magazine 'Crime' is well-researched journalistically, although I can only ever tell a story of it at certain intervals. It hits me too much on the stomach.
Whether that negatively affects your own development is up to you. It will always play a big role how empathetic you are and perhaps you can also imagine what such acts do to families and friends. Then there may also be an initial fascination for the subject and give way to a growing loathing of violence.
At age 7-8, such an interest is unusual, but not harmful, I think - as long as you have no admiration for a serial killer or for his actions.
I found an interesting (English) article about the fascination with serial killers: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201710/our-curious-fascination-serial-killers
