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Original poster

Kids emulating Squid Game

94 replies

ChuckGarabedian · 13/10/2021 22:37

For background, I saw this article earlier, and a few posts from other news outlets and local primary schools on my Facebook feed which were of a similar vein: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/schools-issue-warning-over-children-21826216

The bit about kids beating up eliminated players during playground games - has anyone actually heard of this happening in their local schools? It just seems a bit unbelievable that a significant enough number of young kids are being allowed to watch the show, so as to try and emulate the premise and trigger a national warning?!

For the record I’ve just finished watching the whole series of SG on Netflix and think it’s a brilliant show, but too violent for primary schoolers IMO.

  • [Message from MNHQ: there may be spoilers on this thread]
OP posts:
Teflondreams · 13/10/2021 22:39

It is spreading like wildfire. Many have seen on TikTok / roblox/ copying others rather than the show but I know primary school children who have see it Sad.

Original poster
ChuckGarabedian · 13/10/2021 22:41

Indeed, I’m sure there are some who have, just wonder how many of them are knocking the crap out of eachother during break the following day!

OP posts:
TurnUpTurnip · 13/10/2021 22:41

Yes we had an email about it from my kids primary school

EsmesRedPetticoat · 13/10/2021 22:47

Yep. We had an email from school too. Also confirmed by my 10 year old that some kids in her class have been watching it (year 5).

Original poster
ChuckGarabedian · 13/10/2021 22:56

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I’ve no doubt there are young kids watching it, it’s just the bit about them copying it by beating up other kids after playground games - wondering is that actually happening on any kind of scale.

Hadn’t thought about TikTok and the like and kids copying what they see on there too, good point @Teflondreams

OP posts:
TurnUpTurnip · 13/10/2021 22:59

Yes it is the email specifically mentions fighting.

Lesina · 13/10/2021 23:02

Got an email from the school about it yesterday. They have said it is a safeguarding issue and will be speaking to the children. It’s crazy that parents let their kids watch this stuff.

Guavaf1sh · 13/10/2021 23:04

I hope this doesn’t cause some sort of pointless moral panic

BigcatLittlecat · 13/10/2021 23:07

I was on duty today in KS2 and can confirm they were playing the Green go, Red stop game, it had become quite violent very quickly! We actually said it was one of the worst playtimes we had ever had!

NoWordForFluffy · 13/10/2021 23:08

@TurnUpTurnip

Yes we had an email about it from my kids primary school
Us too. The headteacher is furious!
gardeninggirl68 · 13/10/2021 23:08

the games weren't really based on 'beating each other up'

there was more to it than that....it was mainly games!

WhiskyXray · 13/10/2021 23:16

@Guavaf1sh, in what way is moral panic ever pointless?!?!!1!1

Remember the 70s when we would watch Captain Pugwash and turn into throat-cutting bullion-stealing pirates, and Life of Brian made us all into blaspheming Satanists overnight? Or the 90s when we'd watch Heavenly Creatures on VHS and turn lesbian and kill our mothers?

kittenkipping · 13/10/2021 23:37

My 10 year old was playing postman's knock today. Which is now red light green light. Because of the social contagion that is squid games. That's what kids call it because they've seen it? Watched YouTube etc? Still the same game. She and her friends were reprimanded and told that the game was banned "because it's off that awful show". Surely it'd be better to ignore the new name?! I played that game as a kid?

That said- no violence was involved and I haven't seen the show. Dd was incensed that she'd been reprimanded for playing a game she's always played though.

Watchingyou2sleezes · 13/10/2021 23:37
  • [Message from MNHQ: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Unfortunately squid game was all over Tik Tok before it even made its way to Netflix, the predominantly young audience on Tik Tok made it a peer pressure must watch for the youngsters before most adults here had heard of it.
I 'caught' my 12 year old watching it the first day it was on Netflix in the UK and she knew what all the games would be and that the old man was in on it. I watched a few and thought it was utter shite and was very uncomfortable with her watching it (but thought back to some of the stuff I watched even younger than her).
A couple of days later she was talking about her friend's 8 year old brother having watched it.

It's a funny old world

gardeninggirl68 · 13/10/2021 23:40

Yet plenty of parents sending their kids out dressed as zombies/Dracula/random killers over Halloween this month.... are schools emailing about that as well?

Dontknowwhatsnext · 13/10/2021 23:48

I remember the same being said about fornite. We even got a message from school about fortniye causing violence and that primary school shouldn't play on.

When questioned further it turned out that the message was sent because some mums were concerned about it after reading other people on social media saying they knew of incidences of violence due to fornite.

But it appeared no one could actually verify any of these incidences.

I am sure some kids have watched it. Ds (11) asked to watch it. I said no, I don't even think he would get through the slow bits to even get to the first game. Entirely pointless.

But I don't think playground violence is wide spread due to it.

HenriettaVioletta · 13/10/2021 23:54

Are schools really creating policies in response to Facebook chain letters? Oh my 🤣

FedUpMiss · 13/10/2021 23:56

Secondary teacher here, we've taken the hard line on this that no recreations of SG are allowed at break and have upped our duty staff to patrol the playground.

Also no communications from my DC's school but apparently kids are watching it in DD's Y5 class Hmm

HenriettaVioletta · 14/10/2021 00:02

LOL

Original poster
ChuckGarabedian · 14/10/2021 00:16

@Dontknowwhatsnext

I remember the same being said about fornite. We even got a message from school about fortniye causing violence and that primary school shouldn't play on.

When questioned further it turned out that the message was sent because some mums were concerned about it after reading other people on social media saying they knew of incidences of violence due to fornite.

But it appeared no one could actually verify any of these incidences.

I am sure some kids have watched it. Ds (11) asked to watch it. I said no, I don't even think he would get through the slow bits to even get to the first game. Entirely pointless.

But I don't think playground violence is wide spread due to it.

Thanks, this is precisely what I was wondering - is it translating to playground violence on a large scale.

@kittenkipping ridiculous that your child was banned from playing a normal playground game because of this 😬

OP posts:
Soupseason · 14/10/2021 00:34

Remember when it was 'you've been tango'd ?
It will soon be out of fashion & something else will come along to replace it.

SleepyMathematician · 14/10/2021 06:38

One of my young pupils I tutor (age 9, Year 5) came to the lesson in tears straight from school yesterday. She said she’d joined in with a game she thought was grandmothers footsteps as loads of people were playing and it looked like fun. She said they were saying red light green light but then they started pretending to shoot and and actually fighting the people who lost. She said she got scared.

The headteacher called everyone who was playing into the hall and told them all off, said they were not to play it or talk about it, and said the parents would be spoken to. I felt so sorry for her because she said she got into trouble and because she didn’t know until she started playing that it was a horrible game and it upset her. She said a lot of other children were crying too.

This child said there’s a programme about the game some of them have watched but she doesn’t know what it is. She was SO upset, poor thing, she spent half the lesson sobbing and talking it through with me.

This is most definitely happening in primary schools and is a real issue.

rrhuth · 14/10/2021 06:46

As with everything, you only need 10% or 20% shit parents letting their primary kids watch this kind of thing for it affect the whole school for a short period.

I agree there have always been moral panics and many are silly. But that doesn't mean this series is at all sensible watching for young children.

I think teachers are despairing over parenting at times, but of course can't say that!

ViceLikeBlip · 14/10/2021 06:50

In my experience (parent and teacher) kids tend to be either violent, or not. Kids who have never before hurt someone in the playground are not going to be transformed overnight from seeing some snipits of a TV show. Kids who will use a TV show as an excuse to start a violent game almost certainly were playing different variations of that violent "game" before.

I guess the problem would come if an unsuspecting child got roped into "playing squid game", not realising what it was? But they'll cotton on to that pretty quick! And yes, kids often take things too far, but again that's not specific to this situation.

Dillyjones72 · 14/10/2021 06:51

I’m not convinced that all these kids are beating each other up because they’ve been watching Squid Game - seems like schools are having another panic like they did over the whole Momo thing.
I’m sure some kids are watching it but I find it hard to believe enough kids of that age are being allowed to watch such a brutally violent tv show.
It should be 18, not 15, even if much of the violence is ‘cartoony’ at times. I’m not sure what more it would have to show to get a 18 cert - swearing??? It’s so violent.