Some movies feature child characters put in violent situations. This can range from crude language to extreme horror (e.g. torture, gore, etc.). As an example, Child's Play and its sequel has plenty of those scenes. It looks like a paradox that children can be actors in movies that are definitely not for children.
Do the directors usually try and avoid exposing the very young actors to the violence of such scenes, e.g. by clever dubbing and editing? Are there laws that require them to do so, just like there are ratings that prevent children from seeing some movies?
Answer
I have worked with children on horror films/thrillers and, having found no official guidelines from SAG other than payment policies such as Coogan's Law, I have usually employed a number of tactics.
Firstly, I'll go over the scene and storyboard very carefully with the child's parents/guardians (although this isn't always constructive as many parents will let their child do anything to get them on screen ;)).
The simplest way I have found is to show the child the effects in play; we look at the props, the make-up, we play with the other actors, and I always use a sweet, edible blood and call it 'juice'.
Sometimes our shooting ratio doubles as we end up having to cut more often when the kids or other actors start giggling during a particularly gruesome effect.
The previous answers, regarding angles, solo shots and clever editing are spot on.
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