to be shocked at how many children appear to have watched squid game?

[PasstheBucket89]

I'm aware it's all over youtube and social media so some may have heard of it that, even roblox have made a game on it 🙄

but I've heard of quite a few kids actually watching it, some parents held there hands at not checking when i was like, erm you may want to stop them its very disturbing

but some are fairly unbothered about it, im mean like 8,9,10 year olds!!!

I've seen it, i really enjoyed it but I'm in my 30s,my kids are absolutely not allowed to see it,
i wonder how many kids in my eldest year have watched it, (Y8)

AIBU to be shocked by this??

Yeah it's appalling. Apparently every one in my son's yr 6 class has watched it. Since the name is innocuous, I put it on for him. We lasted about 15 minutes and I think it was only the shock that let me get that far. It's simply horror. And I don't get how or why parents are letting kids watch it. It genuinely perplexes me.

Even if they haven’t seen it, they know the games. DD Y6 (who’s never seen it) plays GreenLight Red light at school. She said most of the kids in the playground do across all years and all you hear is ‘pew pew pew’ when the losers are being shot.

She said Squid Games is the biggest thing now but neither her or her closest friends have actually watched the programme. The kids with the older siblings tell them all about it.

Have the parents seen it? I just read the Wikipedia entry for the series, having never heard of it before, and it sounds quite pedestrian. I’d probably let a kid watch it on the back of that, if I knew their friends were also watching and wasn’t made aware it was nothing like the Wiki.

It’s brilliant

But it’s not for children ds is 14

Ds watched it I thought it was another manga series (I’m not up on the language is SE Asia)

It’s on you tube apparently they are struggling to keep it off (part of an episode at a time)

I've just watched it and it was ok. Not really my thing

My nearly 15 year old watched it and I didn't have a problem with that. He's sensible. Would I let a child younger than about 14 watch it? No.

in terms of kids loving horror, some kids Do love horror!!!, i loved horror as a child, those kids still need to be parented!!!

growing up in the 90s,my mum had to hide all the horror films as I'd attempted to sneak Stephen King films and she hit the roof when I once tried to sneak Silence of the lambs upstairs about 9/10, the adult video cupboard was padlocked and we got an approved draw full of disney films I did watch the mummy though aged about 9 and loved it but its more adventure,

can you imagine if she'd just turned a blind eye cuz I'd 'love it'

i watched it myself first . it is extreme but its all strawberry jam/corn syrup fake blood. kids know what is what. its a good series for thinking about morals and human character and what money actually means. there is a sex scene in a loo though that i shielded my kid from that was too much for a young age. @Passmeamenuatthetottenham what you said sounded really really mean

Do you make them ask your permission before they watch anything on the web? Are they not allowed their phone in their room? I'm not sure how me checking the phone would help as it would be shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, as I'd only see what he's already watched. Thanks for any tips.

Yeah, mine do have to ask before watching anything online. Even the 14yo. But he wouldn’t watch anything he wasn’t supposed to. Dd (12) would if she thought she could get away with it. But she knows the phone is checked and that the consequence would be no longer having a phone. We followed through with this once and she didn’t have a phone for six months.

They do have phones in their rooms (the 9yo doesn’t have a phone or any device upstairs but the teens do). But they know that if they abuse the privilege they wouldn’t have the phone any more.

I agree it's not for children.

But good grief, some of the responses here from adults who have watched it. It's horror? It's traumatising? Please get a grip. If you're that delicate why watch it in the first place? It's gory, there's a crap ton of fake blood. Calm down, please.

I think it's a great show about morales and what humans will do when pushed to the brink. It's incredibly interesting because it does prove money can't fully buy happiness.

Have to agree with @CalLightman. Some of the responses here and on other threads are quite mental. I wouldn't let a 9 year old watch it, but claiming 14 year olds will have nightmares...

I think with horror / thrillery type things there is that same "uncanny valley" type of curve.

There are the ones that are far too real, either very realistic aesthetically or very realistic situations. Then at the other end there's the not real at all. Both of those can be really scary.

Squid Game was right in that uncanny valley for me where I didn't find it shocking or scary or even that grim. It was too unrealistic of a situation to be truly scary and the gore was too unrealistic to be shocking.

Stuff like Paranormal Activity, Hostel, The Shining, Blair Witch, Texas Chainsaw, AHS (and even Stranger Things to an extent) are all on the same spectrum, and they're all worse imo because they're not in the uncanny valley like Squid Game, The Platform, the later Insidious(?) stuff (the ones where all suspense is gone and there's a big red demon running around).

Regarding ages for kids watching things I don't actually think it's about the violence for me, provided they are old enough to understand it's not real. It's more about the psychological aspects. I still can't watch Hostel alone, not because of the gore but because I can quite imagine a situation where I get kidnapped in Eastern Europe and sold to a sadistic butcher. Same with the jump scare paranormal type ones - there's always that ridiculous part of your brain expecting a demon on the other side of the toilet door. I wouldn't let DD12 watch any of that.

SG wasn't overly anything, but it was quite entertaining and while 9 is too young, I don't regret letting the 12yo watch it. All of her friendship group bar 1 have.

But maybe that's coming from the emotional wound of being the only one in class whose Mum wouldn't let her watch Hocus fucking Pocus on ITV...

Loads of kids in my Y6 class have watched it.
My own DC have restricted Netflix profiles and parental controls on the phone. Absolutely no way are they watching this.
My much younger DB watched a lot of horror and engaged in violent gaming as a young teen, his mum claiming that he wasn't adversely affected by it. I am absolutely certain this contributed to him developing an anxiety disorder and severe depression, both of which have continued to limit his life choices and experiences well into adulthood.
Kids need parenting, part of which is shielding from impressions and experiences that their brains are not yet mature enough developmentally to process, irrespective of what they tell you. I so wish more people had a basic grasp of child development prior to becoming parents.
When I encounter parents who routinely allow their children to watch things which carry a restriction above their child's age, I'm afraid I think a) lazy b) weak and / or c) dangerously ignorant. So shoot me.

So interested to read this thread. My younger 2 DC (10 & 12) came home from school this week saying kids in both their classes had watched it.

I was amazed. I haven't seen it but picked up the gist of it from hearing it discussed on radio etc.

The kids in question are generally quite 'protected' too & wouldn't let their kids do the things I let mine do eg come home from school on their own on the bus.

The adult / kid settings are too distinct - there’s nothing in the middle

That's an excellent point Workwoes

I've the kids' settings set up for my 3. My eldest - 14 - managed to change her setting (she had one for herself) to an adult. I was very annoyed (as she'd gone behind my back, got the p/w etc) but on the wider theme, understood that there were shows she wanted to watch that she couldn't.

I do keep an eye, she's not allowed watch it on her phone or iPad, just TV, so that I can see.

Most of the shows she watches (15s, nothing higher) are fine. But occasionally I see something that I'm not happy she's watching, usually re the portrayal of sex. Also, she will be watching something & my two younger boys will come in & then they are watching something they definitely shouldn't be.

I have shown all 3 a 15s movie on occasion but one that I know is fine, for my purposes, and I can explain the content if needed, as I'll be there.

When they are watching series, without me there, I do have concerns & definitely feel I've had bad parenting moments.

There are quite a few scenes that deal with suicide, which is a massive problem in South Korea as the suicide rate is so high. I really would worry about my kids watching it. In the beginning it's kind of goofy and just blood but I think it gets more psychologically disturbing as it goes on and you learn more about the characters and their lives. Would you kill someone for money? Would you kill yourself over money? Would you kill your friends and family over money? Lie, cheat, steal, do whatever it takes to get money? I don't think these are topics for kids to learn about.

I don't think this is anything new, unfortunately. I remember most of the boys in my old primary school boasting about all the violent youtube videos and family guy episodes they were allowed to watch.

You can see what everyone’s watched on Netflix, you’re not lying. @Shiloh139 @Bagelsandbrie

“How to review and download viewing history” help.netflix.com/en/node/101917

HTTPS:www.netflix.com/viewingactivity

Goodness, I struggled with the trailer let alone watching the whole thing. I'd find that quite concerning tbh.

My 8 year old came home talking about it. All the kids love Roblox so I assume it is due to that? He’s a complete bullshitter so
It wouldn’t surprise me if he had told his mates that he has watched it.

I wouldn't say Squid Games is scary as such but tbh it's not about how scary it is. It's about the fact it's very "adult" in its themes. It's bleak and it's depressing, and it's violent. It's graphic at times and it contains sex. The language used by some of the characters is inappropriate for children. There's a whole load of reasons why Squid Games isn't appropriate for children. I honestly find it crazy that so many people would allow their children to watch it.

I hadn't heard about it until yesterday when some people from my fitness class were talking about it. We don't have Netflix but my son has a subscription so I asked him if he'd watched it (he's 18!) and he said he had and that it was too graphic for me He knows I only watch cuddly stuff or certainly nothing more graphic than Endeavour or similar.

Sounds like an extreme version of The Weakest Link in the first (return) series of Dr Who (the Christopher Eccleston series).

some schools are being quite vigilant about who's talking about it, which I understand,

I hope it's sensibly done though, i. e only children who know specific details not just things they could have seen on social media as its literally all over SM.

It is a program with interesting themes about poverty, desperation, morality, society, entertainment (though actually I didn't like the explanation of why the games are held). If children aren't bothered by the violence I suspect they are not understanding all the nuances or being particularly involved with character plotline (especially in the marble game!). And as a pp said there are "boring" bits. So if children aren't even fully following or understanding the plot then why show them the series??? They gain nothing from it. Watch something else where the themes are more relatable and they might enjoy it...

Or, there are children who understand the dilemmas and adult themes in which case wtf?? They are 8/9/10 years old. How are they supposed to have the life experience and emotional development to process what they are watching?

I still can't watch Hostel alone, not because of the gore but because I can quite imagine a situation where I get kidnapped in Eastern Europe and sold to a sadistic butcher.

Hostel was bad. Although (probably just to make myself feel better) I told myself it was some kind of allegory for sex tourism and the exploitation of vulnerable women. The men at the beginning were excited to visit a certain country because they'd heard they could pay money to do anything they wanted to the women there. I found it quite fitting that they ended up in that vulnerable position (although, what happened to them was obviously horrendous). Perhapu I just try to apply reason where there is none! I couldn't find any such "justification" for the second film.

We do have to be careful what we let our children watch because once it's been watched it's hard to be forgotten, and we don't know what kinds of things may cause mental distress. My DH watched Ghostbusters with our 5 year old and I was so angry when I found out. For weeks our ds wouldn't go anywhere in the house alone and he still gets upset if he hears the song 😔 Yes it's rubbish and jokey to adults but it's scary for a child.

Different kind of unsuitable buy by DD (13) has asked to watch Sex Education and says that all her friends have watched it. I love SE and think it covers some very important topics extremely well, and there are some great female characters. However, it's an 18, and in amongst all the greatness there is a lot of gratuitous sex that I don't think she's old enough to watch. So the answer is no for now, but I'll definitely watch it with her when she's older. Perhaps 16? I don't know. It will depend on many things.