Tiktoker Riss White, who goes by the username @memengwaakwe responded to a challenge by @wellnessbossbabe to share their experience with children talking about past life stories. White opened up about the time her then 4-year-old daughter pointed to the North Tower of the Twin Towers photo her mom was looking at on September 11, 2018. The 4-year-old claimed she worked there "before."
The little girl went on to tell her mom that one day, the floor got so hot she had to stand on her desk. She and her friends tried to get out through the door but could not, so she opened the window and flew like a bird.
@memengwaakwe #stitch with @fredericaseverinsen creepy past life story. #pastlife #creepy ♬ original sound - Riss White
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Parents Share Experiences of Children Recalling Past Lives
The TikToker said her child never knew anything about 9/11. The video received over a million likes and was shared more than 22,000 times. Some parents responded to the viral video noting their own experiences. One such mom said her 4-year-old daughter also recounted a story where she sank to the bottom of the ocean, fell asleep, and was now here. Another mom-of-three said she was shocked when her daughter said out of the blue, "Mommy, remember when I was an old lady, got hit by a car, and died?"
There are several reported cases of American children who claim to recall past lives. In such cases, the memories may be derived from fantasies. Also, a notable number of such cases occur in families who already believe in reincarnation, NCBI revealed.
The occurrence mostly happens with very young children between ages 2 and 5, Med Virginia revealed. The memories also trigger unexplained phobias in the children. The child may make accurate statements as to the life and death of a deceased person.
They may even have birth defects and birthmarks that coincide with the deceased person. Curious parents of such children may even discover postmortem reports that confirm the child's statements. However, the memories are not retained and fade around age 7.
Children's Susceptibility to False Memories
According to Lumen Learning, children may be more likely to have memory distortions due to memory conformity-or the act of conforming memories to others because of uncertainty about their own memories. Further, a belief of having a previous life may be due to source-monitoring error, that is an error in judgment or misremembering the original source of the memory, Scientific American revealed. Psychologists believe source-monitoring error leads to false memories.
As a parent of a child who recalls a past life, it is important not to pump the child for more information but also not to prevent the child from telling you about such things. Parents should remain respectful when hearing the child's stories. It is fine to empathize with the child, but refrain from asking pointed questions that can then make it hard for the child to separate real memories from fantasy.
