12A what does this mean exactly? I've read the whole bbfc site

[ipanemagirl]

and am none the wiser!

My six year old son is nagging me nearly to death to be taken to see this film. The toys are all aimed squarely at him and he loves them enormously.

Most of his friends are being taken by their parents who don't bat an eyelid at a 12 A rating.

So what do the bbfc mean by 'Young'? And how can I as a parent take responsibility for taking my quite 'young' son to see a film that I have, obviously, NOT had the chance to preview to see its suitability? I want them to do that for me and send me a signal!

Has anyone else taken a 6 year old boy and found it fine?

it means that an under 12 cannot go unless accompanied by an adult

I took my 6yo to a 12A recently and there were many there his age and younger.

Sorry I dont know which film you are going to I assume its transformers, Yes?

I took DS who is only just 7 and he was fine. I take it we are talking about transformers?
There was nothing in transformers that DS doesnt see in power rangers or spiderman.

12A is basically a way to say children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult therefore if a child gets upset the cinema cannot be blamed if child gets upset!

iirc, the 12A thing means that children under 12 have to be accompanied by their parent/responsible adult.

My sister took her 3 year old to see the latest Harry Potter

not saying I agree with her on that one but he was allowed in with no problem
(she did tell him to say he was 4 if anyone asked - not saying I agree with that either but this isn't the thread )

I think it means there might be a few scary bits or loud noises and there must be an adult tthere to take them out to the lobby if they get scared

the last two harry potters were 12a for eg

Sorry, Yes, Transformers! He constantly begs to go it's driving me mad!
So it's pretty mild then the violence, not too brutal or gratuitous?!

very mild. Nothing out of the ordinary compared to power rangers etc. Really good film!

according to the website I just looked at its a 12A because "Contains moderate action violence"
AS long as he is with an Adult they wont bat an eyelid. It is entirely up to you if you want to take him. (or more to the point if you can face sitting through it )

I took my 6yo to see Harry Potter and he loved it.

Thanks very much.
I just wish they could say 12A (and accompanied children over 7) for example. It just doesn't give any precise guidance to parents - they are supposed to watch it for us aren't they?!

That is the approach I would like to take Speccy and I admire you for being firm. But it is so hard when his closest friends' parents totally ignore the certificates. One is a single mum with a nine year old daughter so I see why her 6 year old son is often taken to see films for older children. However, I agree with you - if they say 12 - then that must mean something, that must be based on some framework of judgments.
My immediate problem is that it looks like a close friend of ds is going to have a cinema trip to see Transformers instead of a birthday party. So I get to be cruel to my son and appear sanctimonious to some of my friends! I know I shouldn't mind but I do a bit. I can't imagine the martyrdom and the rolling around on the floor I'll get from ds if I veto the plan.
The birthday boy's parents seem to have the idea about these certificates that they're a kind of government intrusion and that of course - They Know Best - they're the parents. I just don't see how a parent can prejudge a film when accompanying a young child. So if they think -"OO this bit is inappropriate!" - do they then stand up and remove young child saying"I'm sorry but as your parent I now discover the bbfc to have been correct in their assessment of this film as being, ideally for children around the age of 12! Come on Darling you don't mind leaving half way through do you!?"
I wish this friend wouldn't put me in this position with this party but she tends to see her ds (7) as a proto adult who is allowed to make all sorts of 'choices' because he's so terribly clever !

Also, if the content of this film is so mild why isn't it a U or a PG?
I'm baffled.