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AIBU?

Is it wrong to let my kids 7 and 4 watch Harry Potter?

135 replies

Cuppacoffeeinthebigtime · 18/06/2015 23:03

Watched the first film tonight. 7 year old insisted he was fine with it. 4 year old looked a bit horrified at some parts and had to sit on my lap but begged me not to turn it off. They are now asking to watch the other Potter films but I am thinking after the first 3 films, they would be unsuitable no?

I remember watching a superman film as a 7 year old child where I seem to remember people being turned into robots and it absolutely terrified me and played on my mind for years and that was probably much milder than the Harry Potter films.

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JennyOnAPlate · 19/06/2015 06:55

My 5 and 7 year olds watch the first 3 and are fine with them. They won't be watching the rest for a good few years yet though!

MustBeLoopy390 · 19/06/2015 07:15

My 6 and 3 year old love them, although the last two haven't been shown to the 3 year old, 6 year old is very mature for her age. They both enjoy things like the goonies, Jurassic park (all 3 and yes we will be allowing them to watch the new one on DVD) and the marvel movies. We watch everything before they do and discuss wether we think it's right for them before they watch it.

Noggie · 19/06/2015 07:25

I think Harry potter is fab but think kids should read or have the books read to them first so that parents can gauge how they are. My dds are 9&6 and only now are we reading the first hp to the eldest- what's the rush other than adults reminiscing and maybe a bit of peer pressure? They will enjoy it so much more once they are a bit older! I know this probably makes me sound a bit prudish, all kids are different etc but children's brains do not need to be exposed to scary stuff for the sake of it and no matter what anyone says I do not think it would be a positive experienced for my dds. Age certifications are there for a reason, in my opinion.

RoganJosh · 19/06/2015 07:28

BertrandRussell Jurassic park and the first three Harry Potter films are a PG rating. There's no ignoring ratings going on.

hels71 · 19/06/2015 07:36

DD is almost 8. After much pleading she has watched the first 3 and read the first 2. She decided not to read 3 yet because it was a more scary film than 1 or 2. We told her the plot of each before she watched them. She will not be watching or reading the others for a while.... interestingly she regularly asks to re watch the first two but never the third.

MrsKCastle · 19/06/2015 07:41

I think you have to use your knowledge of the children to make your own judgement. My DDs are (almost) 7 and 4 and would be traumatized by it, but they are both quite sensitive. In fact I'd say the 4 year old would cope better than my older DD.

At the moment, my two have not even watched Beauty and the Beast (got as far as the beast's first appearance and they refused to continue) or The Lion King (not a chance!). But obviously many of their friends are watching much more scary films.

ShadowsInTheDarkness · 19/06/2015 07:44

I'm not sure about the 7yo not having come into contact with many kids that age but my 4yo wouldn't cope with HP. I've thought about it a few times because the magical bits would leave her all awestruck and "wooooooooow" but no, the scary bits are too scary.

I don't understand some people ignoring film ratings though. Went to see Avengers the other week and there were two kids on the front row. One was big enough that he clearly was ok, didn't get scared etc all good, obviously a good call to let him see it. The other one was small. At a really generous guess he might have been 5 but I'm pretty sure he was closer to 4. He was absolutely petrified the entire way through, his dad had to keep picking him up and talking him through it "that's the bad guy but look they're going to kill him, yayyyy the bad guys dead" WTAF? And on the front row? Let kids be kids I say, there is no need to rush. I really don't understand why some parents can't wait a few years.

FirstOfficerDouglasRichardson · 19/06/2015 07:47

Why on earth do people ignore film classifications?

I didn't Bertrand. It's a PG and was on television on a Sunday in the afternoon. I used my judgement as a parent. He loves dinosaurs, he knows that many were ruthless hunters and he knows that people weren't on the planet when dinosaurs were.

I did warn him about the scarier bits "DS that man in the toilet is about to get eaten by a t-Rex" and so on.

TeenAndTween · 19/06/2015 07:51

I think it's a shame to watch films like HP so young.
a) There is no way they are going to 'get' all the subtlety
b) They don't get the joy of putting their own pictures to the book
c) There are so many age appropriate films around, why the rush
d) When they are old enough, they won't have the joy of seeing it for the first time and properly understanding it

Personally I think letting a 4 year old watch HP is lazy parenting. Everyone else wants to watch it, so yes, lets inflict it on a 4 year old who 'looked a bit horrified at some parts'.

JimmyCorkhill · 19/06/2015 08:04

My 5 year old is enthralled by Harry Potter. I had to describe it to her as I had used it in conversation to DH and she said "who's that?" The more I described, the more she wanted to know. We watched the first film together, explaining that some bits were scary, we could switch it off at any time etc. We told her from the start that it all ends well. She loved it. She has watched the first 3 (always with one of us) and is reading the first book with DH at bedtime. She is so incredibly fascinated with it. It has sparked her imagination. I don't agree it is lazy parenting for us. It was a considered choice to let DD watch it. She knows that she can't watch the 4th film onwards as she isn't old enough but can watch the first 3 as they are PG (so no film ratings have been ignored). We are a very rule abiding family

Hazchem · 19/06/2015 08:06

Watching it now with my 4 year old. He has got a little scared but Shaun the sheep and peter rabbit also see him scrambling for a cuddle.

emilyharrymum · 19/06/2015 08:09

My older children loved them at that age we took them to the cinema to see one of the films aged nearly 8 and 6. They all had Harry potter wands etc. The film's are after all based on children's books.( the first few at least). Current 4 year old has seen bits but wouldn't have the patience yet to sit through the whole film.

Hazchem · 19/06/2015 08:11

And he has just requested we turn it off and watch doc mcstuffins. The library was too much

BsshBosh · 19/06/2015 08:16

My DD wasn't ready to watch them until she turned 7. We read the first two books first then I read on alone and realised we'd stick to the first two books only as they get darker. Then we watched the first two movies and no more until she's older as she agreed the second was getting scarier for her...

Artandco · 19/06/2015 08:47

Mine would be terrified. I let ds1 age 5 watch the first toy story around easter, he was scared at various points and we turned it off half way.

I do love Harry Potter but think we will start with the books first around 10, and work into the films. They are based on minimal age to watch being the age in books which is around 10-12 for the first book, getting older for each

meglet · 19/06/2015 08:54

goblet of fire is on this Saturday at 7pm ( not a family afternoon HP) so that's my heads up that it will have to wait until 8yo ds is older. it's going to take us months to read the book anyway. I think GoF film will be ok when he's 10. I'll decide once we've read the book.

BertrandRussell · 19/06/2015 09:02

It baffles me why people let their tiny children watch films intended for much older kids. They won't understand them (they won't, you know-however "mature" they are), they might well be much more scared than they'll tell you, it'll spoil it for when they are older, and there are many fantastic qge appropriate films for them to watch. If you want your children to watch a film together, choose one pitched for the younger one. The older one might whinge a bit at first, but once they start watching they'll enjoy it too. Then arrange a time when the younger one is in bed to watch a more "grown up" film with the older one.

Bramshott · 19/06/2015 09:10

I think the first three are fine, certainly for a 7 yr old.

For the others, our rule has been that you have to read the book before you're allowed to watch the film. Unfortunately DD2 (8) has turned into a bit of a bookworm and has just powered her way through the Deathly Hallows so she is now agitating to watch it in the summer holidays... I'm sure DD1 was older (9 or 10) when she watched the final ones.

momb · 19/06/2015 09:14

My 10YO liked the first two but we didn't let her watch the later ones until very recently....and she found the later ones too complicated anyway....this is in spite of reading and understanding all the books except deathly hallows.

LashesandLipstick · 19/06/2015 09:55

I'd say it's fine, I read the books at 6 up till book 4 (the others weren't out) and wasn't scared but it depends on the child

TwinkieTwinkle · 19/06/2015 10:12

8yo DS has had the box set since he was 5 and loves them! He doesn't get scared easily though, he loved the books which can be pretty dark.

ShelaghTurner · 19/06/2015 10:26

My super sensitive worrier 7yo dd1 watches the first 2 and they don't bother her in the slightest which I am amazed about! Won't let her watch PoA onwards though. She has enough worries in her head without asking for more.

3yo DD2 cries if we put any of them on.

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FishCanFly · 19/06/2015 10:28

Not for 4yo, but a 7yo is old enoug not to get disturbed by rubber dragons.

TorrAlexandra · 19/06/2015 10:29

It's a judgment call really, some kids scare more easily than others. The Neverending Story is U rated but it terrified me out of my wits as a child.

Wafflenose · 19/06/2015 10:34

I tend to watch first, and feel that classifications are there for a reason. I wouldn't let a 4 year old watch any of them, and from no.4 onwards I think they are rated 12.

My 9 year old has read all of the HP books, and is mature for her age. I let her watch the first three films a year or two ago, after reading. She was fine with those. Recently she has been nagging about the others, so I watched no.4 again to check, and deemed it unsuitable. We will revisit this when she is 10.

The 7 year old is now on the 4th book, was fine with the first 3 films and knows she can't have the others until she's much older.

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