CLOWN CARE.

If you're reading this site in order of the tabs laid out to you, then I'm very pleased to tell you that there is absolutely more to clowns' presences in children's entertainment than you may have initially assumed. Though clowns are, as we've established, quite ridiculous, they've found a really crucial place in a much more serious environment.

Care clowning, which was first established in the 1970s, has grown into a very large subsection of clowning. It is a form of clowning where the performers travel to or work directly within a children's hospital or similar medical institution in order to help alleviate their stress and anxiety. It definitely seems a bit bizarre for many, at first. I was initially really surprised when I heard it was even a thing. However, it's not as it seems.

If you're picturing the stereotypical clowns with excessively flashy outfits, disfiguring makeup, and indecipherable facial features, same as what we may have seen in the past, then you're thinking incorrectly. As seen across several different professional organisations, care clowns have opted for a much more subtle and friendly appearance. Their makeup is less pronounced and their appearances are more focused on smaller highlights, such as accessories or props. These deliberate choices help clowns come across as less foreboding and frightening to children who are already going through a tough time.

And, surprisingly, this is a pretty wide-spread phenomenon. Over the past several decades, clown care has expanded into a very large form of entertainment for sick children, similar to storybook reading and fictional character appearances. For some sectors of caring clowns, established codes of ethics have been drafted and sustained in order to ensure that those who take up this profession actually take it seriously. Working with young, fragile children is a really sensitive job, and individuals who are in charge of these programs take it extremely seriously.

Returning to the previously-linked medical journal, I'd like to quickly detail that the effort of care clowns has shown genuine improvement for those who have had access to it. These performers go beyond just jokes and instead employ things such as cognitive coping and guided imagery in order to help children process what they are going through. And there are plenty of other resources that have shown kids really have been benefiting from these efforts. Psycho-emotional states, ability to communicate, physical healing, and coping with anxiety have all shown to greatly improve after exposure to this type of care.

Do I think clowns are just some sort of magic solution to every issue? Not necessarily. I think there are definitely situations where the presence of clowns, even the more watered-down ones, can be inappropriate or ineffective. I do, however, believe two things: First, clowning is not at all inherently frightening or unsettling. Second, clown care is a really great example of how clowning has remained versatile and how the psychological and emotional welfare of children has continued to grow more important over time.