How old are your children for them to be able to watch a 12A?

[Soubriquet]

Personally I think it depends on the child.

My two are 5 and 7 and happily watch things like Jurassic park and they even watched the Meg last night.

However, I think something like coraline would scare the crap out of them.

Films like marvel, star wars etc mine all watched at about 8, but eldest ds now 13 still won't watch anything with danny devito in it . No idea what thats all about.

@RedskyAtnight

The 12A rating was brought in because it was recognised that children have different levels of maturity. It was meant to mean that it might be ok for your 10 or 11 year old to watch a 12 rated film at parent's discretion, not that parents could ignore the certificate altogether - otherwise there is no point in having a 12A certificate, and it may as well just be PG.

I suspect those with much younger children saying "they were fine with a 12A film" are missing the point. If your young child is "fine" with a film that is judged not to be suitable for under 12s, it's probably because a lot of it is going over their heads. And why would you want to show a film to a child that goes over their heads? There are so many age appropriate films for children these days, that they can fully appreciate.

I think, again, it depends on the child/film. Both my 8yo and I have watched the same films yet he definitely knows more about Marvel and Star Wars than me. The details certainly don't go over his head. The only thing that would go over his head are innuendos which you get in some PG films anyway.

Think it depends on the type of film and the individual child. My 5 and 8 year olds have seen all of the Harry Potter films. They love them and neither have been scared. I wouldn’t let them watch other 12s though like Mean Girls or Hunger Games.

Depends on the films content and the child’s disposition.
I find checking the parents guide on IMDb quite helpful if it’s a film I’ve not seen, but if it’s something like the marvel films I don’t bother checking.
My youngest was probably around 4 when we took her to the cinema to see a 12a for the first time.

She’s always been very good at sitting and paying attention during movies, but my older child wouldn’t have had the attention span and the ability to sit still.

Mine are 8 and 6. We have only introduced PGs in the last 12 months - Frozen, Brave, etc. My 8 year old has only just started watching CBBC rather than CBeebies!

Wow. That's.....unusually well protected.

My 6 year old loves the witches but is terrified of the 101 dalmations

@jennie0412

Coralline was the only movie that ever scared me.

I watched Saw at about 12 and while I found some of the gore disgusting, I found it interesting and made jokes with my friends about it and didn't have any nightmares or anything.

Coralline, I couldn't sleep on my own for a few nights. Again, no permanent damage done but it truly terrified me. I think I was between 8-10 when I watched it.
I still get the creeps when I watch it now!

I saw coralline for the first time when o was 26, it gave me nightmares!

It completely depends on the film.
The last few Harry Potter films are 12 but ive no idea why, my kids have been watching since being really quite little with no issues.
But I've also found quite a few 12s to have really unsuitable sex references in so I never let them watch something I haven't vetted first.
IMDb had a parental guide section that is very helpful to let you decide if you haven't seen a film yourself.

I too agree with other posters it does all depend on the child in question.For example my dd 9 loves friday night dinners and I know its not a film but the girl cannot get enough of it! She giggles to high heaven at the antics and although the language is fruity to say the least she knows she is not to repeat it anywhere out side of home! We learned that when she went to her Grandmas and dropped her sandwhich and declared shit on it nan!!! So now we have endless Shaloms followed by gales of laughter! I know I am a terrible parent for allowing this but if this is the worst I do I am ok with that!!!!

Depends on the movie - dd (8) is working her way through the Harry Potter movies. Personally I think they're quite scary in parts (Voldemort gives me the heebie jeebies) but she's read the books and isn't remotely scared.

I wouldn't generally suggest 12A movies as a norm though.

I will in future steer clear of wildlife docs though, too many cute animals being eaten, floods of tears.

Sexual content (for dc) is not allowed here, so I wouldn’t put on something like love actually.

And I think animals in nature programs would upset dd, even though she knows it happens, so again I wouldn’t watch this with her either

@GoJoe2020

Mine are 8 and 6. We have only introduced PGs in the last 12 months - Frozen, Brave, etc. My 8 year old has only just started watching CBBC rather than CBeebies!

Wow. That's.....unusually well protected.

Just a tad..... 3 year olds watch frozen

12

My two have great imaginations, which is fantastic for so many things BUT we cannot watch/ read anything without it becoming a problem at night time. My five year old woke up the other night because the wood our dining table is made of is too old and spooky looking and she had dreamt that it had been found in the ocean and brought to shore by a dead mermaid 🤷🏼‍♀️