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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

So do you let your children watch any age inappropriate films??

51 replies

Lowfat · 07/09/2008 13:25

DD(5) saw Jaws 3 on the telly recently and has bbeen nagging us ever since to let her watch it again.

She has been drawing sharks and we've got books fom the library both sotry and factual, but she really wants to see the fil again

It's not a jumpy film (compared with 1 & 2 which we will not let her watch) and she knows that the DVD's we have are all people pretending, so we are considering it.

On the flip side my friend let her DS(7) see Ironman with a friends and his parents. When my friend and I saw it afterwards she was horrified to see it was very violent and in places including a scene where a father is pulled away from his family and ordered to stand against a wall to be shot. And his parents thought the film was fine for the boys even though it was rated a 12 and they were only 7 - and I do disagree with it.

Do you think if a parent has seen a film and is confident in a childs ability to interpret it without becoming scared or upset etc then it should be up to the parent to make a judgement??

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BlueBumedFly · 07/09/2008 15:05

Have you see it all the way through and made sure there are no really imappropriate bits apart from the shooting?

I think that as a parent you need to make the call. Films that are sexually exlicit or use gratuitis (sp) use of bad language are out in our house but both the older DDs watched the whole extended box set (yawn) of Lord of the Rings with DH and he made sure they were cool about the fighting etc They watched the 'making of' so they could see that it is all make believe. I am not sure about a 5 yo watching Jaws but it is not my 5 yo. I am still scared of Jaws but I am a mamby pamby chick flick girl. The shooting bit sounds a bit much. Anyway, your litle girl so your call.

NoblesseOblige · 07/09/2008 15:11

ds has seen both spiderman films (12s) and he is 9. he saw them when they came out on dvd and so was a lot younger than he is now.

tbh i didn't approve in principle and still don't really, but dr who is a lot scarier IMHO and he watches that...

twinsetandpearls · 07/09/2008 15:13

Sometimes but only if I think it is suitable if that makes sense. So we let her watch king kong last night and she has seen spiderman but would not let her see the new batman.

mustrunmore · 07/09/2008 15:15

ds1 watched Pirates of the Caribbean with me (he's 4.5) but he loved it and said he didnt mind the scary skeletons cos he knew it was only a film.

But he was terrified of Charlie and hte Chocolate Factory.

twinsetandpearls · 07/09/2008 15:16

yes dd has seen P of the C.

twoluvlykids · 07/09/2008 15:19

slightly different, but me & dd are watching "Sarah Jane adventure" atm & it's a bit scary for me!!! I have to hide behind the laptop

NoblesseOblige · 07/09/2008 15:23

oops he has seen P of the C too...

no morals here then

no, i do have morals, i also do vet things before i would let him watch them.

Anna8888 · 07/09/2008 15:30

I use my own judgement, not that of any censorship board. I don't find my own tastes and judgement of what is suitable for my children coincide greatly with the censorship boards.

My DD (3) has seen Ironman and absolutely adored it.

tortoiseshell · 07/09/2008 15:32

All my 3 who are 7,5 and 2 have seen POTC 1.

debzmb62 · 07/09/2008 16:47

i think most parent know !! my ds 8 likes to watch power rangers spiderman etc but the latest batman scared him a bit ! he,s watched the others with no problems !! but i tend to get the making of these films to show him they are not real he,s very interested in how the make them special affects and all that once he seen the making of batman he was fine but there are something i won,t let him watch i think parent judgement is needed !

Gemtubbs · 07/09/2008 21:52

I think parents should watch the film first and then decide for themselves if their children can watch. I know a lot of little kids who love the Spiderman films, and they even make Spiderman merchandise marketed towards children.

Gemtubbs · 07/09/2008 21:54

p.s. I used to watch my parents Jaws video over and over when I was 4 years old. I had older brothers so I often saw things which were not appropriate for my age. I loved it, and I also loved My Little Pony and Care Bears, I don't think it does any harm. I wouldn't let children watch horror films though.

cat64 · 07/09/2008 22:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

muggglewump · 07/09/2008 22:14

DD has just turned 7 and in the last year she's seen all of the Jaws and Indiana Jones films. She loves them, in fact anything scary like Dr Who, particularly Davros.
I'll let her watch POTC when it's next on and I thought maybe Gremlins.
She loves being "fun" scared.

seeker · 07/09/2008 22:20

But why? If they are watching all these films designed for older children when they are very little, what are they going to watch when they are 12? Why not wait? They are only little for a very short time - don't rush ahead!

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 07/09/2008 22:25

my dd (5) loves the jaws films. she asked just after watching it of she could go on a boat to see the sharks

a general rule of thumb i use is that she can watch all pg and u films. 12's and 12a's are viewed by me first to check content and if there isnt too much bad language or sex and she will understand it she can watch it.

there are very few films above a 12 that i would let her watch.

WideWebWitch · 07/09/2008 22:28

Yes, I do think it's up to the parent as:

depends on the child

depends on the film

depends on what you're worried about/not worried about

For eg, ds is 10 and has seen Iron Man but dh said no way to Dark Knight for him as it's v graphic.

I say ok to Jurrassic PArk for dd, who is 4, and Star Wars but no to King Kong.

muggglewump · 07/09/2008 22:34

But Seeker DD enjoys them now. I can't see the point of waiting and waiting for what exactly?
There's always more films being made so plenty to watch, it's not like scary films will run out if she sees them all now!
She may be ready to watch some 15's when she's 12 but if not she'll just carry on watching the younger certifcated ones until she is.
It's not like I'll be getting her the Saw films for her 8th birthday!

Grumpalina · 07/09/2008 22:35

I think it is down to parental judgement and knowledge of your own child. Ironman was not a 12 per se it was a 12A ie a warning to the parents that a child under 12 should be supervised. My 4 and 8 year old enjoyed it and reaslise it is fantasy. Ditto with The Mummy which 4 yr old described as really funny (he saw it with DP. I was a bit concerned at first as I thought it was a horror film but have been told and now had it confirmed that it is v light hearted). What 4 yr old finds scary can be quite surprising. He has no problems with daleks (which scare me) but won't look at the pictures in the Gruffalo's Child because he is scared of the picture of two disembodied eyes in a tree which turn out to be an owl!!!

seeker · 07/09/2008 22:44

Oh god, I'm going to sound so pompous that I'll have to leave the thread before I disappear up my own a*, but my children enjoy lots of things that I don't think are appropriate and don't let them do. If you let your 7 year olds watch 12 films, by the time they are 12 they will be saying that they are boring and wanting to move onto the next level. And it will be very hard to say no because "You let me watch 12s when I was 7"

slapheadsrock · 07/09/2008 23:13

Have to agree with seeker. We are currently arguing with mum of ds's friend, as she lets him play 12 video games and he is 10. It is easier all round to just say no, the age is there for a reason, else it is really tricky ground if it ok for some things and not for others. I even have banned some age appropriate stuff as behaviour deteriorated after watching it.
But each to their own. I would be really mad if I discovered he had been at friends house and watched something that he shouldn't. And I'd call her in the middle of the night when he woke with nightmares too!!

Martha200 · 07/09/2008 23:14

I didn't think about this issue until ds (5) did superheroes as a theme at school. It meant some of his peers knew who some characters were and he didn't have a clue!

So, we let him watch the original superman films (not the most recent with the other actor) and then we watched spiderman, 1,2 first and then let him, but after us watching the 3rd, no way!

Batman, for example we find a lot darker so have not let him watch this. I generally stick with the censorship guidelines though.
He has a very active imagination as it is!

frankbestfriend · 07/09/2008 23:20

I do object to
Sex
Swearing
Realistic violence

But I don't mind a bit of

Fantasy violence
Suspence
Spooky/scary bits

As a parent I think you know what is not OK for your child, better than any censorship panel.

DD 7yo watches Grease quite a bit, and I just try and distract her a bit when Rizzo and Kenickie are trying to have a shag in the back of a car

ghosty · 07/09/2008 23:26

This is one of the few subject I get 'soap boxy' about.
I totally disagree with the 'it depends on the child' argument. I think it is wrong to expose children to violent images no matter how much you believe they know it is 'only pretending'.
My DS is 8 and a half and he knows that films are 'acting' and 'pretending' ... but that still doesn't make me want him to see fathers being shot against a wall or Green goblins being garrotted or whatever.
If I let him watch '12' or above films now, what is he going to watch when he is 12? Porn? But it's only acting ....

seeker · 07/09/2008 23:27

What Ghosty said. I agree completely.

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