Why is killing kids a cinema taboo?

I have nothing to say about this movie because my mother always told me "if you have nothing nice to say. . ." But among its juvenile shock tactics it manages to bump off a kid.

That got me thinking. Any time you see a cute dog or cat or other animal in a movie, you can almost be certain that they're going to get horribly slaughtered before the movie is over. Yet it's a taboo to kill a kid. Now obviously no one is really being killed in any movie (although people in the past have filmed real animal slaughter), but if I have to watch animals being "killed" regularly in movies , why don't parents have to watch little kids being "killed". Kids aren't much smarter than animals, they're much more loud and annoying, and worst of all they grow up to PEOPLE. I think cinematic child "murder" would be cathartic, even for some parents.

Of course, no one wants to imagine their own young kid murdered in real life, but what if you're the parent of a teenager or young adult? They get routinely killed in horror movies. And, as I said, pet owners cringe at all the feline, canine, and rabbit murder that goes on in movies. Just be consistent that's all.