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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:
Iwasneveragoddess · 30/12/2019 12:31

I think I was about 10 when I read Moon by Janes Herbert ...

FairytaleofButlins · 30/12/2019 12:32

I already don't think Harry Potter is as suitable for young children as it's made to be - there's a reason why from movie 3 (I think?), it's a 12.

Notenoughbookshelves · 30/12/2019 12:32

John Green books have rude bits in.

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 12:33

What are suitable books for 12 year olds anyway. Most read Harry Potter etc by the time they were 9/10

When I was a kid everyone was reading sweet valley high or Beverley hills 90210 .

Were they ever really more appropriate than stephen king?

WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles · 30/12/2019 12:40

Oh Sweet Valley High!

Can I up the Potential To Froth here by saying never mind Stephen King...teenagers and Irvine Welsh books? Grin

KatyCarrCan · 30/12/2019 12:42

I think that's the usual age to start reading Stephen King tbh. I know I read his books about age 12. I'm not a big fan of censoring what people read.

DS is a year younger and he was looking at It. I told him I didn't think he'd like it or that it was appropriate. It's my job as parent to say that because I know he's an anxious child who is easily freaked out but it's his job as a child/tween to then decide if he wants to sneakily read it.

gamerchick · 30/12/2019 12:42

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

Perfect way of explaining it I think. Your brain only takes you within its own parameters when reading something. I'd have no problems with SK books at 12.

MadameLeFunky · 30/12/2019 12:44

I bloody loved Stephen King at that age and he acted as a gateway to so many other books, first modern horror but then moving into classics such as Dracula and Frankenstein which led to other (non horror) classics and beyond.

For me no Stephen King would have meant significantly less reading both then and throughout my life, I think.

Iwasneveragoddess · 30/12/2019 12:49

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

This is what I meant but so much better explained.

MerryDeath · 30/12/2019 12:54

my sister was reading him well before, and virginia andrews. she was/is an absolute weirdo though...

FairytaleofButlins · 30/12/2019 12:59

Most read Harry Potter etc by the time they were 9/10

Most kids start in year 2! Kids are 6-7 when they are reading them, and I think that's too young.

And that's part of the problem, you read Harry Potter at 6, the Hunger Games at 8, and SK at 12. It's a bit young.

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 13:00

Does Virginia Andrew's +stephen king = weirdo? BlushGrin

Hobbesmanc · 30/12/2019 13:02

@WhentheRabbitsWentWild

I remember John Saul- there was one where all the children suddenly went mad and killed their parents- I bought it from a shop in Menorca when I was about 8. Scared the pants off me.

My mum let me read any of her books and I never had any problem borrowing adult books from the library van. I loved all those bonk busters - Judith Krantz and Shirley Conrad. The only book my mum ever took off me was Union Street by Pat Barker- which at the time annoyed me as it was set on Teesside where we lived. Reading it a few years on I understood

angieloumc · 30/12/2019 13:09

WhenTheRabbitsWentWild I read a lot of John Saul as a teenager, though his later books weren't as good. Punish the Sinners terrified me!
I can remember reading Salem's Lot and not being frightened and then in the TV movie I was absolutely petrified when the little boy vampire was tapping at the window, I wouldn't even watch it now.

pinkyboots1 · 30/12/2019 13:21

Both my kids read books like this in their early teens and I didn't have a problem with it but I did tell them that they could chat to me about anything in the books that they were unsure of. If he's not interested or finds it 'too much' he can always put it down

ginyogarepeat · 30/12/2019 13:35

I actually think SK is best enjoyed from about 13-18. Re-read as an adult a few books of his I'd enjoyed as a teen and thought they were fairly awful!

You weren't allowed to borrow Judy Blume books from our school library in the 80s until you were 13 GrinGrin

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 13:42

fairy

What you.might find strange though is if you look at common.sense.media for the hunger games book, you will see they rate it for 12 plus. But that it rates highly for.positive messages and role models and representations and gets 3/5 for educational relevance.

The only concern bit is the 3/5 for violence

But

Take something aimed at kids like the witches movie which is only a pg and it has none.of the.positice role model or representation scores and equal rating of violence.

However one many parents would let watch without thinking about it and the other is deemed to young for.kids who can read well enough to read it..

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 13:43

Too old rather

MadameLeFunky · 30/12/2019 13:48

Does Virginia Andrew's +stephen king = weirdo?

If it does then I definately qualify!

I cannot see what's wrong with spending your formative years reading about incest and a clown that eats children Blush

FrivolousPancake · 30/12/2019 13:49

Perfect age to start reading SK.

gamerchick · 30/12/2019 13:51

If it does then I definately qualify!

Heh, me as well Grin

LolaLollypop · 30/12/2019 13:52

YANBU. I was allowed to watch the original IT at a far too young age for my parents and didnt sleep for about 7 years!!
I then tried reading the book as an adult and it just filled me with horror and dread and I had awful nightmares again.
Maybe I'm a big wuss but that is the one film/book that has always scared the shit out of me! I personally think 12 is too young. It's rated 15 for a reason.

SarahTancredi · 30/12/2019 13:53

I think my fave book was about people who were being murdered according to their star sign and horoscope in school newspaper

But then I was obsessed with getting to watch aliens from middle school Grin

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 30/12/2019 13:54

I think watching the film is very different from a book.

FishCanFly · 30/12/2019 13:54

And that's part of the problem, you read Harry Potter at 6, the Hunger Games at 8, and SK at 12. It's a bit young.

No it isn't. Its exactly the themes that are of interest to particular age groups.
its not comparable to films, though i think ratings system is completely bonkers. Have a fight scene with some CGI monsters, and its a "12" because violence. But discuss rape and child abuse in a courtroom drama, that's totally PG.