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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to think that stephen kings It isn't suitable for a 12 year old?

141 replies

chubbylover78 · 30/12/2019 10:43

My dh spoke to his son yesterday to ask what he had for christmas,(sent son a text christmas day as that's what son asked), loads of gifts as usual but mentioned he'd gotten It and Dr sleep in book form. I know he's seen It part 1 which is rated as a 15 but the book is considerably more graphic and contains in depth violence and sex as well as usual bad language(I've read it so I do know). Aibu to think that a 12 year old shouldn't be reading it unless a parent has read it first, films are easier as they could be watched and the parent then decide. The film is only based on the book and doesn't contain half of whats in it.
Yes- I am being unreasonable and a 12 year old should read it and make up their own mind.
No- I'm not being unreasonable and a parent should do more research first before letting a child read such books.

OP posts:
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 30/12/2019 10:44

I was reading SK at that age. I would have problems with 12 year olds watching the film's but reading them especially if they are 12 nearly 13.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 30/12/2019 10:45

**random apostrophe

AllergicToAMop · 30/12/2019 10:46

I assume his mum made the decision? So YABU

Timmythatyou · 30/12/2019 10:47

I think it’s a bit young for iT plus it has that skeevy underage orgy scene in the book that thankfully didn’t make it into the movie. But there’s no age limit on books so...

Timmythatyou · 30/12/2019 10:48

I would prefer a 13 year old read the book over watching the movie...

FairytaleofButlins · 30/12/2019 10:48

I don't think they are suitable at all, but I probably wasn't much older when I started reading SK.

No way can parents have time to read books before giving them to their kids to be fair.

Some parents are not bothered about age rating, others are, you are not going to change that. Each side believes it's the other ones who are wrong.

Ellathechristmasfairy · 30/12/2019 10:48

I was reading Stephen King books at the age of 12 as was my daughter, I would not have any issues with this. YABU.

ISaySteadyOn · 30/12/2019 10:48

I don't know. I reread It recently after seeing the films and I think the films are fine for a 12 yo but the book is a bit much. It's the sex scene that bothers me. That said, if you can discuss the weirdness of that, maybe?

Gabrielknight · 30/12/2019 10:50

I was reading Stephen king at that age. No problem with it. At least he's reading!

nextdecade · 30/12/2019 10:54

We all read sk from year 7, and James Herbert and Richard Laymon(!) it’s fine imo.

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 10:54

Depends on the child I guess.

I wasbt far off reading stuff like that at 12. I was done with kids books by then had to raid the school library.

Honestly I think I'd let my kids watch some "horrors" over some of the other movies rated 12. Far less sex, drinking, innuendos etc

Rosebel · 30/12/2019 10:58

I am sure my eldest read SK at school and she wasn't bothered by it. I don't think it was IT though. I suppose if your stepson wants to read it and his mum doesn't mind there's not a lot you can do.

nowayhose · 30/12/2019 10:59

I don't know if I can explain what I mean properly, but here goes.

When you read a book you only have YOUR imagination to 'picture' what you've read, therefore you can only imagine what you can actually understand and cope with mentally.

When you watch a movie, you're exposed to someone else's images and imagination ( not to mention the deliberately scary music !), which can be way beyond what your imagination could come up with, and therefore be potentially harmful to you.

So, to me, I think that watching a movie can be way more damaging to someone than reading the book. I have read hundreds of horror books ( big fan), but I cannot cope with watching scary movies at all.
I can cope fine with what I read, but not with seeing someone else's 'image' of what I've read.

I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but I do know quite a few people who feel the same.

HulksPurplePanties · 30/12/2019 11:03

I was 11 when I first read the Stand (I actually recommended it to my father after I finished). It didn't bother me. Written sex is different somehow.

Yarboosucks · 30/12/2019 11:03

Reading SK is a rite of passage for most 12 year olds. I am sure we were all there once! The gym scene in The Fog was required reading at my terribly proper girls school!

easyandy101 · 30/12/2019 11:05

Better off reading them at that age before you're old enough to realise how crap most of them are

PristineCondition · 30/12/2019 11:05

I read pet cemetery my first year of secondary so 10/11 and loved it. Im an Avid reader still.
My parents never banned books and i haven for my own (17)

HulksPurplePanties · 30/12/2019 11:05

I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but I do know quite a few people who feel the same.

Makes perfect sense. Written sex is less exploitive, and less real. A 12 year old will image the scene as a 12 year old will imagine sex. Which (should be) less graphically than a grown man directing a movie would.

I mean...I would probably protest if he was giving him Gerald's Game.

Emmelina · 30/12/2019 11:07

My 12 year old reads Stephen King. I wouldn’t let her watch IT, though.

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 11:08

No that kinda makes sense no

I'm kinda the opposite though. I've always been able to watch a horror movie and know that the blood is just corn syrup it's not a real knife and they got up and had dinner after.

Unlike other types of movies where the messages are more damaging. The way they talk.about eachother or treat eachother. The whole thing being about getting noticed or getting together with a bloke. How incompetence is cute and endearing and romantic.

Sounds ridiculous that I'dconsider letting my 13 year old watch something like aliens over some of the other movies out there.. but as a genre they are often more suitable in that sense I think

Hobbesmanc · 30/12/2019 11:08

I vividly remember being terrified by James Herberts "The Rats" when is was still in Junior 3 at primary. I loved King and he's a good gateway writer for boys.

echt · 30/12/2019 11:08

Er...all the kids in the book are 12.

The sex scene is baffling, doesn't fit in with any aspect of the novel, but an orgy??? No.

The language is fine, entirely suitable for its period.

YABVVU.

HulksPurplePanties · 30/12/2019 11:10

The sex scene is baffling, doesn't fit in with any aspect of the novel, but an orgy??? No.

I believe he's admitted that he was drunk as a skunk and high on coke when he wrote that scene....

AnIdiotNeedsHelp · 30/12/2019 11:10

I think SK is fine for a 12 Yr old, I was reading them at about 10ish along with all sorts of other books
BUT
Having said that........someone gave me James Herbert's The Fog at aged 11 and I had a v v good imagination and some of the scenes in that have stayed with me to this day.....still scarred by that!

So while I think most of that genre is fine, I would exercise caution with some of them!

evilharpyinapeartree · 30/12/2019 11:14

HulksPurplePanties I did read Gerald's Game at about 12 or 13! I remember borrowing it from the library shortly after it came out which was in 1992, I was a very advanced reader but most of it was way over my head. Surprised the very proper librarian even issued it to me but I was well past the young adult stuff by then. I remember also reading James Herbert around the same time and Jean Auel's The Valley of Horses did the rounds of my convent girls' school because we were all fascinated by the rude bits.

I don't think I'd have a problem with it. There's not much I'd want to stop my child from reading when she reaches that age. Films and TV would be a different story.