What age is Stranger Things suitable for, and what do parents think?

[Suki51]

Im conflicted about the Netflix series Stranger Things….to me its just horror and violence with nothing to recommend it but my son loves it and talks very enthusiastically about the characters and their abilities etc…..I’d love to know what other parents think and at what age they think it’s ok to watch.

DS 10 watches the animated series of this based in 1985. Not sure the exact name but he watches it with DH.

Did is 11 (Y6) we’ve watched them all with her

Nooo that’s not a thing for Harry Potter. The first few films are PG and the idea of not reading the last ones until 6th form is bonkers!

Stranger Things is rated 15. As well as the violence there is also swearing, drugs and some mild sexual stuff. I would say no younger than 11 but beyond that it really depends on the kid. Haven’t watched it but I believe there’s an animated series now that might be more appropriate for younger kids?

Don’t people consider the sex side of things with their tweens? Nancy loses her virginity to
Steve very early on in the series, they’re not in a relationship, I’m just not sure I feel comfortable normalising this to 10-11 yos..? Maybe I’m naive

I think my 14yo still would struggle with season 4
Even I was like Christ this is horrible when I watched it
My niece watched it since she was 11/12 however

No way I would let kids under 14 watch any of it!

I am absolutely absolutely gobsmacked at how young people are allowing their children to watch this. Batshit

DD is 11 (nearly 12) & we watched it about a month ago. She found a few bits gory (mainly in seasons 1 & 2) but really enjoyed it & found the characters & relationships very relatable.

Nancy & Steve are in a relationship when they have sex. Very little is shown of it at all. Mostly them undressing & the curtains being drawn.
Tweens do need to learn about sex. Obviously it’s up to parents how they do this but I’ve had many talks with DD over the past few years so she understands about healthy relationships.
Actually programmes like ST are great for bringing up topics to discuss with DC - like how Lucas treats Elle at the beginning; how Dustin felt after losing Eddie, how Hopper is overly protective of Elle after losing his daughter etc.

My DD is 17 and she said 12-13.

My dd started watching the first series when she was 10/11 ish but found it scary so decided to wait until she was older to watch the rest. She started watching it again at Christmas (aged 12.5) and binged the whole lot over a couple of weeks, loving every second of it. My ds (8yo) watched a few episodes across all seasons and loved it although he hasn’t shown any interest in watching it from start to finish yet. He’s used to watching monster-y type films and loved all the Jurassic Park/World and Ghostbuster films, so Stranger Things is just a step up from that.

It seems to be particularly popular with year 7/8 kids, so 11-13.
However that doesn't necessarily mean that this is actually the 'most appropriate' age to start watching it!

DS (12.5) was fine and binge watched it until series 4/5. Then he had nightmares for a good while.

I only let him watch it because he didn’t seem remotely bothered by previous scary themes in movies or TV.

I’d be cautious with it - it does get more sinister as it goes on. One to watch together perhaps.

McDonald’s had Stranger Things happy meals recently. I did think there couldn't be many happy meal aged kids watching it.

My 4 year old named her freaky plastic monster “krocky” and decided it was the baby of her cuddly crocodile teddy….

I think the horror elements particularly from season 3 are really quite scary. I would not be letting primary age children watch. I think the pp allowing 6 and 8 years olds to watch it is irresponsible. These images can be traumatic if the child’s development can’t process it.

I say that as an absolute fan of the whole series.

I don’t get the rush that people feel to expose their children prematurely to obviously inappropriate violent and horror-themed content. Childhood passes quickly enough as it is. We’ve got a society full of very stressed out young people—how do people imagine this race to introduce more and more fearful, adult-tailored stuff to children’s imaginations is going to be helpful?

15

I think 10 would be fine for Season 1 as it's more supernatural than horror initially.
Agree it probably depends on the child though.