How old do you think your child should be before they can watch movies like:
Teenage mutant ninja turtles?
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Star Wars (I II and III)
The narnia movies?
Tron Legacy?
The hobbit/LoTR?
The matrix?
AVatar?
How do you decide?
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How old do you think your child should be before they can watch movies like:
Teenage mutant ninja turtles?
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Star Wars (I II and III)
The narnia movies?
Tron Legacy?
The hobbit/LoTR?
The matrix?
AVatar?
How do you decide?
Depends on the kids really. We watch all sorts of movies with the kids. We watched Jack the Giant Slayer last weekend with all the kids (2 to 10 yr olds). Ours have watched the Hobbit & LOTR. Not matrix or Star wars etc. Matrix is probably pushing into 14 yrs & above for me.
My 6 yo has seen none of those listed. I go by what a movie is rated. So if any of them are PG, he prob could watch it. He hasn't asked to see any of the ones you have on your list.
It is quite the talk at school though. They all talk about who has seen a M rated film.
Totally dependant on the child.
For us:
Keeping in mind DS doesn't replicate violence. DD is only just allowed to watch certain lovey dovey stuff. But generally through her own choice she'll fast forward or change the channel. I actually have more of a problem with 2 tweens/teens expressing love in an adult way than I do with adults being... Well adults. So no twilight etc. DD also loves horror. Whereas DS is prone to nightmares and is a little more sensitive. Even to things that are for kids that DD loved at that age.
Teenage mutant ninja turtles? 6-8
Star Wars (original trilogy) 5-8
Star Wars (I II and III) 5-8
The narnia movies? 5-8
Tron Legacy? 5-8
The hobbit/LoTR? 8-12 (because of the violence)
The matrix? 11 - 13 (because of the violence and sexual references in other movies)
AVatar? 11 - 13 I hate that this is seen as a kid friendly film because its cartoon. BS. It's violent and has sexual content.
Keep in mind this is a guide for my children.
DH let them watch episode iii last weekend while I was at work, I wasn't happy. 3 year old loved Darth Vader getting put together and wasn't phased by the horrific burns and slaughter of children. DS6 understood about more but was OK watching it. They've watched all the other Star Wars movies.
Older DS went to Star Wars b'day party the night before where the b'day boy (7) saw Episode I for the first time - no way DH could have held out that long.
LOTR I might let him watch in a few years, I was horrified my sister let my nephews watch them so young but fmy view has changed, DS is able to make the distinction between movies and reality , when I was a kid I'd get nightmares after watching movies
DD1 is 4 and has watched things like Spiderman, cartoon and real actors. She watches the Simpsons including tree house of horror episodes. She's never been violent, didn't even have a hitting/biting phase as a toddler or had nightmares or trouble settling and is clued in to the fact there is a difference between TV and reality. It has been a good opportunity for discussions about the real life consequences of things that might not be shown or whether it would be okay to act in the way a character has. I wouldn't let her watch things like that alone, I think it is important to be there to answer questions and give further input into the distinction from reality etc.
Of those listed, I'd be comfortable with things like Narnia, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, TMNT. I dont think she would be interested in the Matrix, I think the concept would be a bit beyond her comprehension at this point to be enjoyable or discussion worthy so leaving aside anything else I just would think pointless introducing till older. I haven't seen the others so can't judge, I wouldn't let her watch something I or DP hadn't first seen if it isn't just a g or pg.
Will need to see what DD2 is like before putting an age on it for her, she has as close to 0 screentime as possible. I imagine around 4ish too though I think it does depend on the child and the way they respond to this sort of thing.
We are probably the extreme end of relaxed in regards to this though and I would never show anything to another child, I think it is up to the parents of course. In my mind, I think having an open and honest dialogue is more important than what they do or don't watch.
My kids have seen most of that list. Not LOTR because I didn't enjoy it (managed about 20 minutes before I had to turn it off) so it's not likely to be on in this house. The Matrix is too complicated a plot, they wouldn't get it. Star Wars they have been massive fans of for a few years.
Star Wars - 5. Cos Liebs was.
Avatar - never. Well, not while he lives under my roof. DH feels the same: no bad films.
Narnia bbc series - whenever. Films, see Avatar.
Matrix - 15 cert, so age 15.
Rings etc. After he has read The Hobbit.
Harry Potter is after reading the book too. He knows this and has stopped asking.
My kids have been watching Star Wars since they were 5 or so. I have no problem with them seeing anything on the list at any age really. I don't think they'd understand The Matrix, so it's not something I've thought to show them.
All of my kids have seen all the Star Wars Movies. From a young age too.:
They have also watched Avatar repeatedly.
They've all seen Tron Legacy
Lachlan is currently very interested in Harry Potter and is recording them off the TV when they've been on just lately
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was on last night, but it didn't hold the interest of my younger two. My oldest wasn't home.
They've seen all Star Trek Movies. With my 12 yr old coming with us earlier in the year to see the latest one at the cinema.
My oldest has seen The Matrix, but doesn't hold the interest of the younger two.
They've never seen LOTR/Hobbit. I watched 9 hours of LOTR in one sitting and found it as boring as bat **** LOL.
We don't decide as such. If we're watching it they can join in and sit with us or do their own thing, and most of your list we have on DVD so they can watch them when they want. We don't watch anything based on horror.
My eldest is five and a half, and has just got into ABC3 (none of the movies you've mentioned have cropped up yet, but my gut is that while he'd like the TMNT, the others might be a tad too advanced for him at this stage). Overnight he's gone from thinking Fireman Sam is the bees knees to absolutely loving Iron Man, Wolverine and the Super Hero Squad. It doesn't worry me, but I've found myself giving him reminders now and then that they are only characters on the TV and in stories (ie. they aren't real) ... lest he decides to put on a superhero suit and try to fly out of the tallest tree he can find.
I think it is dependent on the child, but I'd think they'd have to be school age before tackling some of the movies you've suggested, if for no other reason than some of the storylines are a bit convoluted (well, I found the latter Star Wars trilogy totally convoluted).
I guess it depends on your children.
Mine are kind of weird and old fashioned, they watch Loony Tunes and Garfield on TV and I wouldn't put most of the stuff you have listed on for them. DH watched the last 3 Star Wars with them but DS2 came and hung out with me instead of watching when it started to get a bit dark.
LOTR & The Hobbit - not until they have read the books or left home (whichever comes first).
Narnia - See LOTR
Matrix - not until high school.
TMNT - They have seen have a few episodes of the original TV series.
Tron - I think we have it somewhere because MIL bought it but sci fi bores me to tears so we've never watched it.
Avatar - no idea. I don't like sci fi so I've never seen it. Since i wouldn't want them to watch something I hadn't screened first not until they leave home.
Generally I am guided by the ratings - most of the stuff we watch is G. The boys are pretty wary of PG ratings because they don't like scary movies.
I don't see any need to let them watch movies made for older audiences - their childhood is so short and they have their entire adulthood to watch movies .
I think LOTR and The Hobbit movies would be too boring to keep W interested. Not the story and he is free to read it whenever he wants, but the long scenic shots etc make the movie not very action packed in places.
I have never seen Avatar so I have no idea what it is even about. He has watched Avatar - The last airbender both cartoon and movie. My kids scrap over which one of them is the last airbender lol
Narnia, they have watched it but lost interest
Matrix, probably too complex to follow.
Starwars - watched a bit of one, W liked the pod racing but not really the rest of it.
Tron, don't know what it is.
TMNT, they have seen the cartoon and liked it.
I guess you just have to judge if you think it is suitable content and if your child would be interested in it. We mostly stick with the Pixar type movies and they enjoy those.
DH tried Men in Black the other day, but it turns out that has a lot of casual swearing in it so it went off pretty quickly!
DD who is 4 is guided by what we watch and what we think she can handle.
Last night she watched TMNT and has pretended to be a ninja turtle (I even had to make her a costume out of my red scarf and washing basket. :)
She has also seen Harry Potter and loves it!
The other movies you have listed I am not into so she hasn't seen them. I think she would be bored (I would be too as I am really not into those kind of movies LOL)!
My boys are 6 and 4 and haven't watched any of them. Both still refuse to watch Finding Nemo as it is too scary so there is no chance of them watching anything else. I still refuse to let them watch Ben 10 and the likes as they are too violent. Both have also said they are not interested in watching Spiderman, Wolverine etc, even the cartoons. They like the figurines and make their own stories up.
That said, their favourite show is Cops. I have spoken to them about it and in their eyes, the good guys always catch the bad guys and the world is a safer place. I have stressed that the show was filmed before they were born as many episodes are from the nineties and what happens in America when people are arrested is not acceptable in Australia. Thankfully, this has not skewed their trust in the police. This was probably helped by using knowing a police member and having regular visits to daycare from the police.
Mine have seen none of those movies and won't anytime soon. As others have said it really depends on the child. My oldest cried in dumbo and 4 year old refused to be in the same room when it was on! They are both pretty sensitive so I am a bit more careful.
My boys thought Finding Nemo was scary too.
Thanks for your answers, everyone, it has been quite enlightening.
The question came up re DD1 watching The Matrix. DD is 15, and tbh hasn't watched a lot of M-rated movies. My recall of the movie is that there are some extremely violent scenes (eg entry into the building using automatic weapons in the foyer shootout) plus some really quite disturbing themes. DH on the other hand considers that she is now 15 (ie as of a month or so ago) and viewing M-ratings at the cinema (in theory) starts at age 15 so all okey dokey there. Interestingly we had an extended conversation last year over DD watching The Hunger Games. Even though the violence is depicted in sanitised ways (eg, blows being suggested not shown, no blood sprays, etc) the actual reality of it being children who are chopping at each other was in itself quite disturbing.
For us, this is because I've always limited viewing movies which use violence to resolve the plot lines, usually because those movies contain extended depictions of violent action and are more likely to include more graphic or detailed violence. In the case of the Hunger Games, we eventually decided she could see it, but only because she had read the book and could, in discussion, identify the point of the depicted violence in what the author was trying to convey. I think the child needs to have a certain level of maturity before they can make these sorts of context-distinctions, and therefore why we have restricted viewing of these types of films.
I suspect we are well out of line with popular opinion on this one! LOL
Nothing wrong with being out of line with popular opinion. Just because an opinion is popular doesn't mean it's right.
The more people out of line with popular opinion the better, because then I feel more normal lol.
I agree completely with Zazou. I wouldn't worry about going against the grain.
My boys who are 3 and 5 have seen tmnt the original movies, Star Wars most. Oh and narnia. But not the others. They are not frightened as we speak about how movies are pretend etc. we don't like them watching super real violence. But fantasy is ok! I would think we are different to the norm allowing them to watch stuff so young! I think it's a personal decision and shouldn't be taken lightly.:
I think it's fine for you to be very thorough before deciding whether or not a movie is appropriate - I myself love the imdb parents guide :) My kids suffer from anxiety disorders and sleep issues so I'm very aware of everything they watch and read - if I'm not I know it will come back to bite me. Also I feel that you're only young once. When the innocence is gone there's no getting it back. Instead of half understanding and watching something as a younger child I prefer if my boys wait until they can fully appreciate the story and morals when they are a bit older.
I'm interested to know what other people do with regard to other kids who are visiting. Would you just go by age and relevant rating G or PG, etc? Do you ask the visiting child's parent? Just interested as my 7 year old went visiting and watched an M rated movie and I was less than impressed but I have been told I'm very strict with what the boys watch. Im interested to know what do others do?
I'm the first to admit I'm fairly lax with what my kids watch. They love vampires, warewolves, etc. But if other kids are over we either stick to the rating guidelines or I have an agreement from the other parents about the movie. I wouldn't put an M rating on for visiting kids without discussing the movie choice first.
I ask the other parent, or stick to G ratings, or PG for upper primary/Tweens. Our school always sent home a note asking parent permission to show PG films (primary). Now same goes @ high school, they advise parents if any content from m-rated films will be shown (and usually just excerpts from the tamer parts since its a catholic school LOL).
My girls wouldn't be able to watch any of them. They are scared by kids movies. Not even just because of 'baddies' but even if there is too much suspense, LOL. So I'm not sure if my view is shaped by how they are or if I already felt this way, but I don't see me letting them watch anything like that for a long time yet. I just don't feel any real need too though. We don't watch a lot of movies anyway and I figure we have plenty of time for all that. I would prefer them to be as carefree as they can and not have to worry about the 'baddies' in the world for a while yet. I don't see any need for them to be seeing violence when they're so young. But then again, that's just who they are. If they see something they worry about if the baddies can get to our house, and what if they can, and what will happen to us, lol, whereas other kids wouldn't even think about it.
Our school did the same this year Mary Dean. They all brought home notes asking if they were allowed to watch PG movies. I'm not phased on my kids watching movies at other peoples houses, but what does bother me is when they go to someone else's house and have played video games above their age levels. Video games bother me more because of the higher interaction.
I hear you in the video games. We have a similar policy here. And we have to sign forms too for movies at school.
I would never show an M rated movie while caring for someone else's child. My kids haven't seen M, so it's not really an issue. They have plenty of years yet to be exposed to adult content....
Good point about the video games.
Here's another question then: what about novels? For those with older children, do you of would you restrict them from reading certain texts at any given age?
I'm guilty of telling DD she couldn't read the twilight books until she was a bit older. There's a bit of a rule of thumb in teenage Y/A fiction that the age of the protagonist is around the story's target age, plus I had read all of them & knew where the story was going. I just didn't think an 11 year old needed that in her head just because the movie had come out & "everyone" was reading it.
I used to hold if you can read the book, you can read the book. That's what I did and I was reading adult novels in my tweens. Didn't hurt me any (or did it?).
Now? Liebling can read anything while he lives with me on the provision that we discuss the book afterwards. We recently had a discussion about a boy "rescuing" a group of girls who blatantly could rescue themselves from the picture - they weren't even asking for help at the time, they were just getting on with it and rescuing themselves. WRT Twilight, I was discussing this with a group of 12yo children recently. I maintained werewolves were cooler than vampires, and another adult asked if that is the case when I consider Twilight. The 12yos soon went off Edward when I did the voice and said "Your blood makes me so hungry and I'll creep in your room while you sleep and stare at you" with my best freaky-eye face.
Yeah I dunno about that I'm sure my DD could read Fifty Shades of Grey but doesn't mean she should.
I think discussions are good though. Be it about any novel or movie or show.
I think books in some cases can be a lot more full on than movies. Especially those that invoke certain emotions. Especially about emotions that are way above a child's capacity to understand. Especially adult emotions.
But that's just me. And apparently I'm a little weird. Just look at how I think ;)
Oh, Rouge, like I'd have that tat in the house. Many 14-15yos are reading it, though, and not discussing it with people. I teach sex ed and happily branch off to healthy relationships when girls ask about things in small groups. Cos no-one else is: they don't tell parents they read it and few other adults would not freak out about it.
That's not surprising. And I know. I was being cute :P
I had so many friends that read V. Andrews as a kid. We even had it in the school library. That stuff was messed up.
And on the other hand girls were reading sweet valley high and god are you there it's me Margaret.
I never did read V Andrews back when everyone else was, but I recently googled the plot lines and my reaction was.... WTF??! Lol. Which kind of proves the value of waiting until your critical faculties have kicked in before consuming this stuff.
Exactly.
With regards to Twilight I read the books then previewed the movies before letting my DD watch them and I will not let her read the books yet as I feel they are a lot more in depth & explicit than the movies.
Her & I often have movie nights & I'm comfortable letting her watch M movies as long as she's with me, she's not to watch them alone as I will turn the movie off if it's to explicit. Any thing a bit adult in the movie is discussed either at the time or used as an opener for a conversation down the track. M15 movies are a no no as there's more drug use, foul language & overly sexual themes. But a lot of old M15 movies would now come under the current M banner so I'm happy for her to watch those ones.
If she has friends staying over I always check with the other parent as to what they feel is appropriate to watch as everyone is different.