Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to let nearly 16 y/o DD watch GoT?

115 replies

Funkyslippers · 10/06/2019 08:51

I just watched 1st episode alone, it was as I suspected quite violent & sexual. DD is desperate to watch it. I watched similar things when I was her age but I was a bit more mature.

What's it generally like? I'm assuming an awful lot of sex & violence?

Thanks

OP posts:
bigKiteFlying · 10/06/2019 11:55

There's a girl on girl scene in a brothel which goes on for ages while they have a conversation with the brothel owner. I actually found that uncomfortable and I was watching with my husband!

I did too and some of the Ramsay Bolton scenes - though not his death.

Many of the thing’s pp mention I was fine with.

I think I'd want my children to be at least 16 - I'm not sure about the books as I haven't read them yet but then I also dislike forbidding books.

Fyette · 10/06/2019 12:02

But isn't it incredibly naive to think that at that age you have any control over what kind of media they consume? If she wants to see it, she'll find a way to watch it anyway. I would much rather my DD felt she could come to me if she saw anything that disturbed her.

But perhaps I am jaded. At that age I was already posting my own disturbing alien erotica all over the internet, and I was definitely not the only teen to do so.

Bellatrix14 · 10/06/2019 12:03

Given that she’s almost old enough to legally have sex herself if she wants to then watching the (consensual) sex really shouldn’t be an issue. And she’ll have heard worse language at secondary school!

She’s able to turn it off if the violence or sexual violence upsets or bothers her, and old enough to know that there’s nothing wrong with doing that. My sister watched it at age 14 and survived the experience!

Cloudtree · 10/06/2019 12:06

Yes. There is graphic sex, rape, torture and constant very explicit violence. Its an 18 for a reason.

TheSerenDipitY · 10/06/2019 12:06

look you know your child, we dont, watch a few episodes or an entire season and then decide if she is mature enough to handle what she is seeing, and keep watching the series and stay a few episodes ahead of her so you know if there are some that you really dont want her to see at all... we cant really say without knowing the child
my 10 year old has grown up watching most things and often tells me its ok mum i know its not real and its all made up, or tells me as he puts his hands over his face ohhhh thats not appropriate for me ( normally any kissing stuff) and him and his father will often watch things that i might think are a bit old for him, but they talk about it as they watch and often discuss the mechanics of how it was filmed and how the make up was done, awesome latex work, bet that took ages to get on, cant even see where they glued it on his face etc etc... only you know if your child can watch it

LizzieSiddal · 10/06/2019 12:11

It makes me Hmm when posters say it’s not up to you because she’ll do it anyway.
You do realise that as a parent of a teenager, it’s best to have a chat with them about it but then give your advice, say something like “I don’t think it’s suitable for you yet, so I don’t want you to watch it”. Of course the child can go off and do what they like, but as a parent it’s your job to advice and guide them.

Imo guidance about TV/video games is just as important as drugs/sex/alcohol etc

CassianAndor · 10/06/2019 12:11

it is extremely violent and rapey. Yes, we can say it's not real etc but I do have concerns that a generation of kids are growing up thinking this kind of thing is normal.

livin · 10/06/2019 12:15

I was watching stuff like that at 14/15. If she's sensitive, no. If she's mature enough to know that the violence is fictional and not representative of normal life, go ahead. It's bloody good.

BertrandRussell · 10/06/2019 12:17

“it is extremely violent and rapey. Yes, we can say it's not real etc but I do have concerns that a generation of kids are growing up thinking this kind of thing is normal.“

Yep. That’s why it wasn’t watched in this house.

FishCanFly · 10/06/2019 12:32

let her watch it if she's interested

HolesinTheSoles · 10/06/2019 12:35

@LizzieSiddal

I think you're misreading those comments. No one is saying you can't advise and guide your teenager, they're pointing out that that's a different thing from "not letting" her watch something. The latter implies that you think you have authority to decide what she does or doesn't watch the former acknowledges that you probably don't have the final say but opens lines of communication which is probably the better option.

StreetwiseHercules · 10/06/2019 12:38

I would say from about 14 I would stop telling kids what they can and can’t watch. Certainly if they are approaching 16.

That part of parenting is over by that point, and it’s wrong to patronise them.

StreetwiseHercules · 10/06/2019 12:39

““it is extremely violent and rapey. Yes, we can say it's not real etc but I do have concerns that a generation of kids are growing up thinking this kind of thing is normal.“”

Aye, because kids in the 70s believed Deliverance was a guide to good living.

StreetwiseHercules · 10/06/2019 12:43

“Yes. There is graphic sex, rape, torture and constant very explicit violence. Its an 18 for a reason.”

Graphic sex? No there isn’t. Soft core at worst.
Rape? Is there? I don’t think we are Sansa’s rape do we? And Jamie Cersei was one scene among 60 hours.
Torture
Yes, but not much of the 60 hours has this. It’s not a lot of torture.
Constant very explicit violence? No, there isn’t.

MaidenMotherCrone · 10/06/2019 12:47

I'd say more damage will be done to her developing brain by a controlling parent than GOT. She's almost 16 for goodness sake.

Thegoodthere · 10/06/2019 12:53

No, too many gratuitous rapes, too much violence.

Fyette · 10/06/2019 12:53

What @HolesinTheSoles says. I would absolutely talk to my DD about stories or images I find problematic and why, but I have no illusion I can forbid her to watch / read anything she wants to at that age.

Thegoodthere · 10/06/2019 12:55

StreetwiseHercules, since you're a bit of a strange bloke, maybe you've been watching so much porn you're desensitised to sexual scenes, but there is a LOT of sex and more rapes than Sansa's. Why do you only appear on threads about sex and women's issues?

CassianAndor · 10/06/2019 12:56

Streetwise there is a lot of graphic sex. Ridiculous to say otherwise, and a good demonstration of how normalised it's become, given that you can't see it.

DrinkSangriaInThePark · 10/06/2019 13:16

It makes me hmm when posters say it’s not up to you because she’ll do it anyway.
You do realise that as a parent of a teenager, it’s best to have a chat with them about it but then give your advice, say something like “I don’t think it’s suitable for you yet, so I don’t want you to watch it

This.

Just because they might go and do it anyway, doesn't take away from your responsibility as a parent to advise them not to, or even try to prevent them from doing something.
Would you let your children do drugs just because there's a chance they night so them anyway?

Cloudtree · 10/06/2019 13:20

streetwise there is something wrong with you if you genuinely believe what you are typing. However I suspect you don't really.

Fyette · 10/06/2019 13:55

Would you let your children do drugs just because there's a chance they night so them anyway?

You know that comparison isn't sound.

Gth1234 · 10/06/2019 13:55

Stick to Twilight.

Try Series 1 of the Tudors, although that may not be appropriate either. It's better than GoT anyway, especially because it's our history.

DrinkSangriaInThePark · 10/06/2019 14:00

Fyette I think it is, albeit a much more extreme one. I can't stand when parents take the stance that they might as well let their children do something (that there not happy with) because they'll probably end up doing it behind their backs anyway.

I've seen this attitude towards alcohol, sex and now inappropriate tv. Where do you draw the line?

DrinkSangriaInThePark · 10/06/2019 14:00

*they're, not there