Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Squid games

352 replies

Poppetts1234 · 02/10/2021 17:51

I know a mum that allows her 9 year old to watch this.

I’m really interested to see how many parents are ok with this?

AIBU to be a bit shocked about this?

Yes I should mind my own business but I’d be really interested to hear others opinions

OP posts:
whentheearthchanged · 02/10/2021 23:17

I watch it with my DD8 in the room. I fast forward sex scenes or really brutal violence but she knows it's not real.

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 02/10/2021 23:41

Just a warning, if your kids play roblox there's a few versions of red light ,green light on it already and clips from the series on tiktok.

Passmeamenuatthetottenham · 02/10/2021 23:45

Just how gory is it? I kind of want to watch it but I'm worried it will be too graphic. I don't mind blood in itself, but I hate really horrible violent deaths/graphic scenes.

JesusIsAnyNameFree · 02/10/2021 23:48

@Passmeamenuatthetottenham

Just how gory is it? I kind of want to watch it but I'm worried it will be too graphic. I don't mind blood in itself, but I hate really horrible violent deaths/graphic scenes.
The trailer was enough to put me off. Did you see it?
Stopsnowing · 02/10/2021 23:48

I am being pestered by dd 13 to watch it. I said no. She watched it at my mother’s... I am not impressed.

lawofdistraction · 02/10/2021 23:50

@whentheearthchanged

I watch it with my DD8 in the room. I fast forward sex scenes or really brutal violence but she knows it's not real.
Why can't you wait until she's in bed to watch it? This is such bloody dreadful parenting.
ANameChangeAgain · 03/10/2021 00:02

My 16 yo showed me the red light green light scene. That was bad enough but I hate gore and violence. Apparently though her school friends are all going mad about it.
I don't agree that it desensitises them. My 16yo loves horror, and started with the vampire stuff at 13 / 14. She is different with RL though and gets unsettled if she sees confrontation.

User5490453456 · 03/10/2021 00:07

HUGE SPOILER ALERT, SCROLL PAST IF YOU DON'T WANT PLOT REVEALS

Not sure how many people who commented here have watched all 9 episodes but the sex and violence definitely escalate towards the end. I loved the show and I'm far from prude but it really doesn't seem suitable for a 9 year old.

  • One of the organ harvesting victims came in still alive but dubbed "the zombie" by the guards because they were presumably in very bad shape. The viewer is given the impression the victim was male however under coercion he later confirmed it was female because they all had sex with the (barely alive) corpse before they cut out her eyeballs and they were disappointed there was only one kidney. Try explaining that to a child! This story arc is just dialogue so it's difficult to skip if you don't know it's coming up.
  • Also near the end is a scene with male on male sexual abuse. A predatory VIP attempts to force a waiter into giving him oral sex and the whole story arc is extremely well written and disturbing. The emotions echo that of any type of sexual trafficking, probably directly based on Epstein & co. This one is visual so you could theoretically skip past it if a younger child is viewing.
  • There's a lot of blood and gore in the final episodes which some children might find traumatising. You see one character pull a giant shard of glass out of her flesh, then later bleeding to death. Another one commits suicide by stabbing himself in the neck. In the final fight you see someone bite off a huge chunk flesh from another person's ankle and later a knife stabbed right through the palm of a hand.
  • A final scene which isn't blood or gory but for some reason I found quite disturbing and I think may also upset children. The main character returns after the game to find his mother dead in the kitchen because he wasn't home to notice her diabetic collapse. Children with a fear of something happening to their parents might remember that scene as a constant reminder of something bad happening while they're gone.
HummingBeeBox · 03/10/2021 00:12

I let my 10 year old watch episode 1 (she loves Stranger Things, scary stuff) but I felt it was too much and am now watching them myself and telling her the details. Far too adult for that age, not to mention the sexism, sex scenes, male in female violence and gunshots to the head over and over.

Costumeidea · 03/10/2021 00:21

@YerWanIsGettinNotions

I'm not a horror fan. But have been watching Squid game - it's very well made and while gory, it's thankfully not torture porn.

However DS is just turned 9 and loves horror/gory stuff. (He always has. Our sitting room door faces the stairs and we'd leave it open a crack to hear the kids - when we were watching Stranger Things we kept catching him in the doorway absolutely fascinated.)

I've been out a few nights this week and DH has been doing evenings, and we found out yesterday when I got home that DS has been switching the Netflix settings over to DH's account to watch it with headphones in, so we can't hear him, and has nearly finished the Squid Game series. 😖

I am appalled but he’s seen it now... I feel like we need to not make it a big deal but we can't have any play dates until he’s seen the last one and had time to forget about it, because the last thing I want is him showing his friends.

Which has happened before - DH changed the disney plus settings so he could watch some of the marvel movies (I think, or maybe it was the mandalorian) back in lockdown while we were working and then we found he was watching Family Guy and telling his mates on Fortnite that he was allowed...!

So rather than punish him for the Family Guy stuff, you have let him keep the iPad with unrestricted access to streaming services and….you will let him watch the last episode of it?

Stellar parenting, that.

KissKissButtCheek · 03/10/2021 00:31

My 10 year old wanted to watch it and it was a big hell no from her dad and I!

No way would inlet a 9ye old watch it x

ShowerOfShite · 03/10/2021 01:09

I can't believe people are letting 9 year olds watch it!! That's shockingly bad parenting.
The gore and violence are relentless and the themes are far too adult for kids.
I watched it with DD17, we both enjoyed it but Christ, it's disturbing.

Original poster
Poppetts1234 · 03/10/2021 05:51

I think it’s child neglect- it’s so sad
Anyone that thinks this is ok should be ashamed of themselves
Maybe it’s a class thing?

OP posts:
HungryHippo11 · 03/10/2021 06:04

@whentheearthchanged

I watch it with my DD8 in the room. I fast forward sex scenes or really brutal violence but she knows it's not real.
What's the point of watching it if you fast forward through a lot of it. Doesn't it completely ruin the experience? Can't you just watch it after she goes to bed
HungryHippo11 · 03/10/2021 06:06

I feel like we need to not make it a big deal but we can't have any play dates until he’s seen the last one
Why would you let him watch the rest of it!?

SushiGo · 03/10/2021 06:12

@Coronawireless

DD9 is enjoying squid games. I watch it with her and fast forward bits. That was the deal. I fast forward anything to do with sex and any scene where a man hits a woman. Also most of the organ harvesting scenes. She knows not to mention it at school! Not that proud really. I might have steered her to something else had I watched some of the later episodes but she was hooked by episode 1.
You don't have to finish letting her watch something if you have changed your mind. Parents get to do that!
owlbethere · 03/10/2021 06:21

I haven’t seen it, but my then 8 yo watched Game of thrones with me. She loved it and so far at 14 isn’t a psychotic axe murderer. You have to judge based on your child. My son I wouldn’t let watch it now at almost 17 because he’s not able to cope (ASD) all the stuff that eas ‘too old’ for me I watched as a child the only thing sticks with me as scary is the dump lady from labyrinth, and the nothing from never ending story.

anon12345678901 · 03/10/2021 06:58

@ShowerOfShite

I can't believe people are letting 9 year olds watch it!! That's shockingly bad parenting. The gore and violence are relentless and the themes are far too adult for kids. I watched it with DD17, we both enjoyed it but Christ, it's disturbing.
I agree. I think it's awful to let your young children watch things like this.
Waxonwaxoff0 · 03/10/2021 06:59

@Poppetts1234

I think it’s child neglect- it’s so sad Anyone that thinks this is ok should be ashamed of themselves Maybe it’s a class thing?
What do you mean by a "class thing?" Hmm
Mrgrinch · 03/10/2021 07:40

So the answer to there being multiple games and TV shows that are unsuitable for you child's age, is to not bother actually being a parent and restricting them, just let them play and watch whatever they want?

Silvercatowner · 03/10/2021 07:42

KS2 or younger children watching this and talking about it in school would trigger safeguarding concerns, and rightly so.

Sometimeswinning · 03/10/2021 07:53

Maybe it’s a class thing?

Please @Poppetts1234 explain this. Of all the comments I've read this is my favourite!

Bagelsandbrie · 03/10/2021 07:58

I think it’s particularly awful that parents are letting their kids watch this without even having seen it themselves first! At least make an informed choice about it! How can you possibly know if it’s suitable or not (it’s not) if you haven’t even watched all of it yourself beforehand?!

FrankButchersDickieBow · 03/10/2021 08:02

@Passmeamenuatthetottenham

Just how gory is it? I kind of want to watch it but I'm worried it will be too graphic. I don't mind blood in itself, but I hate really horrible violent deaths/graphic scenes.
I don't think its that bad. There is 1 sex scene in the whole series, which lasts a few seconds.

The gore is people being shot, rather than the stuff you would see in mafia films etc.

There are a couple of scenes of organ removal, but again, last for seconds.

It is a bloody amazing show, as most k dramas are.

They have so many strict rules in Korea regarding what they are allowed to show and funnily enough, there's barely any swearing.

My nearly 13 yo dd is allowed to watch it, but only with me as I have already watched it and am aware of inappropriate scenes that I can fast forward or tell her to look away.

I wouldn't let a 9 yo watch it though

Polkadots2021 · 03/10/2021 08:06

@Poppetts1234

I glad to hear this everyone!

I told the mother I was horrified but she laughed at me and told me all the kids watch it. She told me her boy has watched worse than squid games and finds it funny so it’s ok for him to watch it!

I feel guilty allowing my child to watch the simpsons sometimes which isn’t always suitable but most adult jokes go over her head

Don't compare yourself to a parent like that, sounds very much like the setting I grew up in without boundaries or much care. I was ok but my sibling was not and I get why. It's just not a loving thing to do to either not care, or enthusiastically encourage kids to watch nasty stuff when they're too young.
Swipe left for the next trending thread