Madeleine McCann info shown before Shrek, anyone else cross about this?

[WideWebWitch]

I was. I have chosen NOT to tell my nearly 4yo about this. I haven't discussed it in detail with 9yo ds either I CHOOSE not to put the news on in our house. I really resent this being shoved at my children before a U cert movie. Completely inappropriate imo.

[MarshaBrady]

I agree totally inappropriate for children to be confronted by this. Especially in a cinema, images on the big screen become larger (and louder) than life anyway. So unprepared children learn about the poor girl at maximum impact, not good.

[Enid]

Ok so I glean from this that mrruffalo has had an unhappy childhood

maybe you resent others having one? because believe me there is nothing wrong or unsympathetic about parents not telling their young children about Madeleine McCann. I really thikn you have a twisted view on it.

[edam]

If whoever made the ad wants to raise awareness, they should work with people who know how to do this without terrifying small children. Can be done - a Christmas concert for families I went to showed a film about the charity that was benefiting, for AIDS orphans in Uganda. Made me cry quietly but as far as ds (then 3) was concerned, these were just pictures of happy children. The words were too complicated for him to follow and very carefully chosen.

[MrRuffalo]

my four year old would not comprehend it - maybe he is dim -would be far more interested in movie to notice

my child would think they are safe

i would never hide any news from them

by the time they understand - they should understand

[SoupDragon]

I've emailed Vue to ask if they're doing this.

There is no benefit to showing this in UK cinemas.

[UnConfident]

You would never hide any news from them?

Does that include people being blown apart by bombs in Iraq?

[Skribble]

PS my kids are 7 and 10 and I discourage watching the news, yes know they see it sometimes and overhear stuff, I put off telly at MIL's so I didn't have DD worrying about exploding cars at airports as her Daddy is flying home in a couple of days.

[donnie]

totally agree with your OP www.

[edam]

Or reporting of court cases where people have been convicted of terrible crimes?

[Tamum]

I think in all honesty if any of us thought for a moment it would actually help, and we knew in advance so we could choose whether our children could handle it or not, we probably go along with it. As it is, it is a completely futile gesture that is also scaring loads of small children. What on earth is the point of that?

[Greensleeves]

I think it's bloody cruel to let young children know about things like this. They can't do anything about it, they can't understand it properly because their understanding of the wider world is - quite rightly - immature and undeveloped. So really all you are giving them is a real, terrifying hook to hang all their little fears and insecurities on. If you want little children having nightmares and being frightened of their own shadows, this is a great way to achieve it, but quite what else is to be achieved by failing to protect them from this kind of "news" is beyond me.

[MrRuffalo]

glean what Enid - no

childrens childhoods are very happy in my house
but they know about life
thats all

my child would watch that but be secure enough to be fine with it
i think its fine
whatever they feel can help them
poor poor people
i WILL NOT sit in judgement

[lulumama]

at 4, they might think they understand, but a 4 year old mind works very differently to an adul mind, and extrapolates information differently....you have a duty of care to your children, to protect them from hearing and seeing terrible things

you wouldn;t show them a horror film , would you? the news can be just as terrifying for a small child without the same intellectual skills as an adult

[donnie]

so, you've explained the intricacies of nail bombs then I hope, Mr Ruffalo? after all it's big news at the moment. I hope you have also explored the rape camps of Darfur and female genital mutilation in Egypt ( as detailed in yesterday's Guardian). After all, it's real life isn't it?

[foxinsocks]

MrR you said 'by the time they understand - they should understand'

but that's the problem - they don't understand. Small children personalise things - they get anxious because they think it will happen to them. They aren't OLD enough to understand the context of most news items.

[FluffyMummy123]

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[FluffyMummy123]

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[MrRuffalo]

i have a 4.5 year old who would barely pay attention to that
news reel

by 7-9 they would

[bakedpotato]

Should this sort of trailer be in the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority?
Ofcom doesn't seem to cover cinema ads (can find no mention of them on its website) but maybe I am wrong.
Does anyone know?

[SoupDragon]

MrR, please explain how showing this in UK cinemas will help the search?

[MrRuffalo]

i think my child would have more nightmares over shrek than newsreel
esp with some of the images bandied abou on here over the years