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

[Cuppacoffeeinthebigtime]

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.

[LashesandLipstick]

Sunny the cat isn't dead, honestly.

You're honestly upset about THAT part of it? The blood? I thought you were going to say the themes in it about good and evil, or the way it explores depression or something...I mean while I don't agree those are bad things I can understand why some people wouldn't want to read it. But the blood? That's...such an underwhelming thing to be upset by

[SunnyBaudelaire]

themes? I never read anything so baggy and plotless and lacking in coherent theme in my life!
My children begged me to stop reading it to them btw. At the age of six...
Me jealous of JK's riches, no never!

[nailsathome]

My 3yr old loves them all and we have watched them each about 10 billion times

[fattymcfatfat]

the cat really isn't dead! it's basically just magically stunned Dumbledore on the other hand...

[LashesandLipstick]

Sunny that's your opinion on it, obviously plenty of people disagree. You're entitled not to like them but I don't understand why you're so angry that some people do.

And I must say if the blood offended you you're very lucky. By the age of 6, I'd seen far more blood and gore in real life (I was a sick child in and out of hospital, several nasty things done) than a 10 second shot on a kids film. Didn't really have the chance to be horrified by a childrens film

[CrapBag]

DS is 7 and has seen the first 5 HP films. I let him watch the first and he was hooked. I was going to stop at 3 because they then go to 12s but I didn't think they are that bad tbh. I did explain about the worse bits beforehand and exactly what would happen and told him I'd turn it off if he didn'the like it. He just went "oh is that it" so not a particularly sensitive child and I feel he can handle it.

DD is 4 and has seen the beginnings but has then gone to bed so she hasn't seen them all and I wouldn't let her. POA was on Saturday afternoon and we did have it on for DS, DD was around but wasn't watching the whole thing. She gets bored.

I think some things are more a judgement call. I know someone who let's her DS' s watch Drop Dead Fred and I thought brilliant I can introduce DS to one of my favourite films but then I remembered a lot of it and think is really inappropriate for a child (despite me watching it at a young age).

[wallaby73]

I found my then 8 yr old DS SOBBING in the bathroom when dumbledore copped it, inconsolable. Then i remembered when I watched it in the cinema as a grown woman the place was in bits. Christ I'm filling up now......felt really bad for forgetting how emotional that bit is.....when magonagal raises her wand....then they all do....sniff!!

[SunnyBaudelaire]

no need to get so defensive lashes, I did spend quite a few years studying literature so I feel able to stand by my opinion.
BTW none of my friends' children like it either, but then they are reasonably intelligent.

[CandOdad]

Seven year old watched them all except the last two, she was allowed but walked away from it saying it was too scary and not as fun as the others.

[LashesandLipstick]

Sunny the only one being defensive is you, you're being increasingly rude and aggressive towards those who disagree with you.

Oh wow you studied literature, congratulations. That doesn't mean your opinion on the matter is the factual standard for everyone to go by.

If that's a sneaky shot at me, I was on the gifted and talented list as a child, so no worries about intelligence here. For someone as intelligent as you clearly are, I'm confused as to how a little bit of blood on the TV can get you so upset

[SunnyBaudelaire]

oh fgs 'aggressive' yes OK then.

[LashesandLipstick]

You're being very aggressive, both to me and to the other poster who disagreed with you. You've even taken it onto another thread! Grow up. If your kids take after you I can see why you think they're too immature for it

[fattymcfatfat]

crapbag DDF is a brilliant film, and is inappropriate at times, but my DS has seen that too, the worst things go over his head and he just looked at me in shock at "cobwebs" telling me that man's naughty. it is about knowing your child and what they can handle etc with any film. even "children's" films can be inappropriate, shrek for example has lots of adult content that children don't pick up on.

[SunnyBaudelaire]

oh dear lashes you really are grasping at straws now aren't you?
What a disappointment to go from being 'gifted and talented' to someone who stalks others on an internet forum and whines about them being 'aggressive' when they state a different opinion to yourself. Dear dear.

[LashesandLipstick]

Sunny I don't "stalk" you, I posted on the other thread before you did, went to have a look at some other responses and saw you'd started there too.

I don't think you're aggressive for stating a different opinion - I think you're aggressive for your tone and snide remarks. I accept you don't like it, I accept you don't want your kids to watch it. That is fine. What's not okay is to repeatedly have a go at people who think it's okay for theirs

[meglet]

if possible can we have no HP spoilers! Some of us haven't read all of them yet!

[ChwatFeechers]

BTW none of my friends' children like it either, but then they are reasonably intelligent.

Only War & Peace for those little blighters, eh?

[EvilTendency1]

When the HP films were on TV earlier this year, we flicked through and found one on, I let mine watch it as I think it was the first one (I'm not a HP fan nor have I read the stories) and they were fine.

Following week I was a bit at one scene and thought I'll switch if off it gets scary for them, it was ok and they enjoyed it but I went to look at next one and thought 'No not for my dc' as they might be scared by it. The youngest is 5.11, I don't think I would let any younger than that watch it.

[JohnCusacksWife]

BTW none of my friends' children like it either, but then they are reasonably intelligent.

Miaow! We get it. You don't like HP. Many, many, many other people do. You seem offended by that fact!

[Cuppacoffeeinthebigtime]

Well this thread got nasty fast. I think it's a tad harsh to label me letting them watch a PG film with me sitting with them lazy parenting or irresponsible. I told them to tell me if they were too scared and we would turn it off at any time. 4 year old wanted me to search for Harry Potter toys afterwards.

Having said that, although they did enjoy watching it, I think I will wait a while to let them watch any more. The thing that got the 4 year old the most was not Voldemort or the Quibble scene but that Harry's parents had been killed and asked a lot of questions about it. And I think other posters are right in thinking they are too young to fully understand everything going on and thus missing the magic of it all.

[OwlsEscapade]

I think they will enjoy them more if they watch them when they are older. So I would wait.

My DCs grew up with the HP books and films AND the lotr films.

Dd2 was just under 6 when she watched the first Lord of the rings film and that was at the cinema. She loved it but I put my hands over her eyes a couples of times. Her three elder siblings were going and I think that she would have been very sad to miss out. She wasn't scared about the film but could be scared by seeing other things. It depends on the kid and the context.

[hels71]

Different children find different things scary. My DD (and this will out me to anyone on here who knows me in rl) thinks Harry potter is not scary because it is made up....not real mummy. The secret seven on the other hand has her in bits because they are real children apparently in real houses.....

[TwinkieTwinkle]

no need to get so defensive lashes, I did spend quite a few years studying literature so I feel able to stand by my opinion.
BTW none of my friends' children like it either, but then they are reasonably intelligent.

Biggest load of pretentious bollocks I've seen in a while. Unnecessarily insulting to boot!

When DS was three/four I let him watch Jurassic Park. Is that also terrible?

[lilivonshtupp]

OP = I'd say as long as you aren't showing your DCs 'The Human Caterpillar' until they are at least 8, you should be fine.

(Note: Not to be confused with The Very Hungry Caterpillar.)

Seriously, though, you know your children best and although mine freak out at things like that, I don't think it's terrible for you to show HP to them if they seemed to like the first one. Just re-watch it first to make sure.

[LoveTheLifeYouLive]

SunnyBaudelaire It is quite clear how little you read as you would have realised that Mrs Norris is not dead but actually Petrified (alive, she just can't move!). At the end of the book she's perfectly fine.