to be annoyed that the Transformers movie has a 12A certificate, when my 5 year old DS is Transformers mad?

[daisyandbabybootoo]

He really wants to see it at the cinema...how do I tell him that he can't?

He is hardly raised yet though is he, he's 4

Kerry I disagree - 4/5/6 year olds can be highly intellectual with above average intelligence, but still wonder a bit about what's real and what's not - and that's how it should be, or things like father christmas, the tooth fairy, magic would all go out of the window.

HE IS 4

Ah then I apologise.

But, before I leave this thread, I think you should seriously reconsider taking your 4 year old to see this. But, your son, your choice

Ok fair enough but you are taking a 4 year old too yes??

And an 8.5 year old highly intelligent child is not going to be less affected by violence because of intelligence at all! Not saying it breeds violence but why on earth do they need to see such violence at such a young age???

how exactly do you mean they would be affected?

I am not saying they will be but can be. In all sorts of ways, bad dreams, acting out what the have seen (yes I know that not every child will do mut some might). Also in a cinema it's much bigger, louder, darker and generally scarier.

The whole thing pisses me off. It happens over and over again (think, spiderman, pirates of the carribean, the last star wars film etc) - they make a film that they must know is going to be classified as a 12A and then they go all out marketing merchandise to young children. FWIW my 6yo DS has not seen any of the above films but has junk associated with all of them.

Greeny I don't get your combats issue. Aren't combats just trousers with a lot of pockets? Or are you thinking of the military style ones in camouflage material? My personal bugbear is the pink camouflage stuff. It combines the shoving girls into all things pink and fluffy with the military type thing.

I have pale blue combats, is that ok?

Well I think so, but greeny might have other ideas. DD has green, pink and lilac combats - all handmedowns but if someone had given me pink camo ones I would probably have charity shopped them. I don't think DS actually has any trousers atm.

i am quite surprised at the amount of people on here that wouldnt let kids see this film. as i said earlier, i am quite laid back as to what i let my kids watch. my kids seem to take everything in own stride and nothing seems to fuss or bother them. they know the difference between real and made up. obviously there are things which i dont let them see. its up to the parents really and what they know will bother thier child

Ok I know your child = your rules but you will not know if this child will be affected until after they have seen it.....Too late then

but when you know your own child you can tell whats going to upset them or not. i think when you tell them oh you cant watch that, its a scary film you put ideas into thier heads.

Ok so saying 'It's a scary film' will put ideas in their head but watching the scary film won't?

As I said yes we all know our own child but you can not know 100% that they will not find any part of the film scary and be affected by it.

but im saying my kids wont find transformers scary. i know that on the basis of what they have watched in the past. maybe some kids would i dont know. all i am saying is that i am quite relaxed as to what i let them see. i dont get kept up at nights through nightmares they just dont get fazed by things.

Have you watched the film yourself? If not how can you possibly know? If you have then fair enough

i will be watching it today with the kids as i have just downloaded it.

So you will no know the content of the film beforehand? Therefore how on earth can you know if it will be ok for your children??

i dont feel the need to vet things before i let them watch. they have never once hid behind a cushion or anything. ok in some films they might have the odd jump or whatever but this seems to amuse them more than anything

The whole concept of a 12A pisses me off. Why not just stick to 12 and have done with it? It'll be on DVD in a few months anyway- not like the 5 years we had to wait as kids between cinema release and the film on TV.

I went to see HP last night. Not many people in the cinema and quite a few kids. 2 junior- school aged girls at the back talked through the first half of the film. Just as I was debating whether to go and look for a member of staff, someone else at the back said loudly "Oh will you PLEASE be quiet". They got a load of abuse for it but just after, a woman and 2 girls left the cinema. After that no more noise.

I couldn't take the baby with me (and had problems finding a time I could go) because you can only take babies to U and PG films in the morning or afternoon, which is fair enough. The baby isn't going to be affected by the film but may disturb other people. Having left my baby behind I object to having my enjoyment of the film spoiled by other people's children who aren't old enough to be there.

When my other kids were little you were not allowed to take under 5s at all. No exceptions. 12A didn't exist- you had to be the right age for the presentation. My kids survived without seeing films linked to toys they liked.

The film that has most affected my chn was Bridge to Terabithia which was about a child's death - not an action/violent movie at all. They were really upset by it. The rating was U or PG - can't remember. I don't think my ds(9) will be as affected by transformers.

What's wrong with watching the movie by yourself first, just to make sure it is suitable for your young child? Yes the parent themselves is best placed to judge what will upset their child, but you often can't judge just from reading synopsis or someone else's review.

Lots of people seem to be scarred to go and see a film by themselves in case they get labelled as a lonely weirdo??
Grief, sometimes if my DD1 is at school and my DD2 is with grandparents i will go and see a film at 11am by myself.
Done it loads of times and recently went to see HP as my DH does not like HP at all.
Loads of people there with small children under the age of 10.
The new HP is too dark for a young child and the transformers movie will give them nightmares for months!
Good luck with all the sleepness nights.
AB

It's funny really ripeberry because going to watch a film is not really all that social an activity.