<p>If you were in charge of creating a rating system for movies, what would it be like? Base the rating on what you think is appropriate for the general public.</p>
<p>Yup. We let both our kids watch just about anything we watched. We were very inappropriate in the view of many of our kids’ friends’ parents. Our kids don’t seem to be social deviants.</p>
<p>“how do you guys feel about violent video games”</p>
<p>I’m a fan of Grand Theft Auto. But I wouldn’t let a kid play it unless he was at least a junior in high school – maybe college. Indulging in fantasies of deliberate first-person violence against innocent bystanders is the ultimate example of adult material in my view. I would MUCH rather my ten-year-old was viewing X-rated vanilla porn than playing GTA (not that I would approve of either one).</p>
<p>mammall: “We let both our kids watch just about anything we watched. We were very inappropriate in the view of many of our kids’ friends’ parents. Our kids don’t seem to be social deviants.”</p>
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<p>And we were quite particular about the tv and movies our kids watched. We were “strict” in the view of many of our kids’ friends’ parents. Our kids didn’t go wild when entering college. Of course, I still have one at home yet … :).</p>
<p>Really though, about the “college kids gone wild” - particularly in regard to the kids with stricter parents: maybe an anomaly, but it just didn’t happen with the kids I know that are the same age as mine - and I thought through a whole plethora of kids trying to come up with that specific kid who went wild because of parental restrictions in hs and couldn’t come up with any. The kids who left for college and ran amuck were the ones that were doing the same in high school - to a lesser extent.</p>
<p>Ignatius - so maybe the concern over monitoring what our kid watch is a bit inflated? I confess, we were just sort of lazy and felt deep down it didn’t hurt our kids to watch fairly mature movies along with us. That said, we did limit how MUCH TV or DVDs they watched. We generally watched together on weekend nights. Our kids grew up understanding that they had to ask permission before turning on the TV. </p>
<p>I would question a parent’s judgement if they simply turned the TV over to the child and let them watch whatever they wanted on their own.</p>
<p>Some “mature” movies that my kids watched at an early age were, I really think, kind of educational and enriching for them. I guess we’re just not big on censoring but we do try to make sure that escapist electronic entertainment does not take over their lives.</p>
<p>I think the issue for some of us “strict” parents is the unknown impact of exposing children to sometimes shocking adult sex, violence and profanity at a young age.</p>
<p>Most kids who were given free-reign and their parents assert that they turned out “just fine,” and that may in fact be the case. But I am not as confident in my assessment of my childrens’ sensitivities (how can I possibly know in advance how my 14-year-old might react to watching heads chopped off or adults having serial sex?), so I tend to be more cautious. This does not mean my kids are sheltered and will “go wild” at the first opportunity. I would rather not take the chance that I might be contributing to some anxiety disorder or unhealthy view of sexual relationships. I don’t really care if other parents are permissive with their kids, at least until and unless there are any long term studies showing negative impacts to society from it. My only issue is with other parents who do not respect my feelings about it for my own child.</p>
<p>mammall, I agree (post 125). Talked to older d (21) and asked what she thought about the movie restriction issue. Her comment: No big deal. All her friends had restrictions - the restrictions were just different in different families. Perhaps the restrictions pertained to movie ratings or perhaps the amount of time spent watching tv/dvds or even perhaps the amount of time spent on video games or the type of video games. </p>
<p>Any parent here claim to have absolutely no restrictions whatsoever: age, content, amount of time? </p>
<p>I’m with Bay - I’m raising my child - let me do it the way I feel comfortable. And yeah - I’ll admit I’m particular about movies, but man am I relaxed with some other stuff … umm, don’t need to hijack the thread with that “other stuff” though.</p>
<p>Hmmm, my own ratings system?</p>
<p>Much as I don’t agree with how the MPAA rates everything, it generally works as a guideline. I might add that no children under, say, 11 are admitted to R rated movies at all. I might also toughen up the guidelines for violence so that extremely violent R films would be tagged as NC-17, just like extremely sexually explicit films are tagged as NC-17. </p>
<p>My own ratings for my kids are highly idiosyncratic. Grease for under, say, 15: No, don’t like the message of the film on impressionable young minds. Schindler’s List: Devastating, I want this to be for older teen years, though the book is fine in younger teen years. Fame for under 14 or 15: Watch it with an adult, there’s a difficult scene where Irene Cara’s character is taken advantage of by a scummy photographer. Most PG films for under 7 or 8 year old kids: have the parent see it first to see if it’ll be an issue (e.g. Star Wars 1). The Sea Within: OK to see in a theater as a family, even with a 10 year old. Hamlet 2: probably OK for the 15 year old in theater, but she has to watch either the Branagh or the Olivier Hamlet first. </p>
<p>But this is me making judgements for my own kids.</p>
<p>Bay I agree with you 100%. That is why I am so horrified when I see these parents bring their young children to R rated movies.</p>
<p>Parents brought there really young children into Wanted. There is no good values in that movie and it is extremely violent.</p>
<p>“Tell me this is a joke. Being responsible is making decisons on your own. Like I said, you’re not making sense.”</p>
<p>I said whatever decisions ones pleases. Please don’t strawman me, you’re not doing it correctly. Responsibility means making “grown-up” decisions. Is someone who gets to decide whether he or she wants to drink, do drugs, watch porn in the living room on the TV, etc., responsible? I don’t think so. Responsibility, according to my parents, would be a child who makes decisions regarding personal finances (budgeting expenses), helping around the house, showing autonomy in more mundane things, using his car wisely, etc. This child would be responsible, and then would have the right to make more decisions.</p>
<p>Again, I’m not making any sense because you’re misunderstanding my posts. I already cleared one of the instances up, which was my fault. The rest is yours.</p>
<p>Anyone watched A Clockwork Orange with their children?</p>
<p>I watched that with my dad. Was a bit awkward.</p>
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<p>Who the hell watches movies for good values, man. I watch movies for entertainment. Call me crazy. You think I’m stupid enough to not realize what is right vs. wrong? I think I can divide movie content from real life. :)</p>
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<p>How? All I said was that the content in movies is nothing compared to what I’ve seen through other media or what I’ve heard from other teens. If some parent wants to shelter his or her kid, it’s not gonna happen. Unless he or she follows him or her around 24/7.</p>
<p>Jman, I never said that you didn’t know the difference between right and wrong, some people in this forum said that they might let their children watch R rated movies if it had decent values and I was making the point that some parents just don’t consider content or values when letting children watch R rated movies. I just feel that for movies such as Wanted, that are obviously going to be bloody, that parents should make better judgements in what they let their kid watch. I know movies are supposed to be for entertainment and if you think I was trying to insult you somehow, I apologize for making you feel that way.</p>
<p>It depends on the movie. I let my 15 year old see Thirteen and Requiem for a Dream (because they have a much more effective anti-drug message than the “just say no” we grew up with). Also let her see Cold Mountain because the nudity and sex scene were very tastefully done, nothing exploitative. A few comedies like Life of Brian and Little Miss Sunshine, and I rented Black Hawk Down because she’d already seen part of it at a friend’s and wanted to see the whole thing, and let her watch Syriana because it would make her think. But I won’t let her watch 24 (I don’t like the pro-torture message) or let her play violent video games!</p>
<p>Here’s a question:</p>
<p>How much do you think your rules with your kids reflect your own experiences as a kid, either good or bad? That is, if you didn’t have strict rules when you were a kid and you liked it, did you do that with your kids? If you did have strict rules and you liked it, did you do that? Or visa versa—if you were disturbed by seeing something too early, did you have stricter rules for your kids, or if you were annoyed by your parents’ rules, did you have different ones? </p>
<p>And, for those of you who were a little more lenient, did your experiences affect individual movie choices? As I said, my parents were pretty lineate, but my mom wouldn’t let me watch many horror movies because of her own experiences. And while I can’t be sure because having kids is a long way off for me, I imagine I’ll be lenient too, (but mainly only for movies I think are artistically sound), because it worked out for me (though of course I’d have to gauge my individual kids’ maturity levels). BUT, while I understand why someone would allow a 15 year old to watch Requiem for a Dream because of the anti-drug message, I think I’d encourage my own kids to wait a few years for that one, because I myself could barely handle it when I saw it at 18 (and I’m able to handle a lot, most of the time!). </p>
<p>Also, do you think your kids will have similar rules that you had for their kids (assuming they have them?). I’m just curious!</p>
<p>Everyone should rent the documentary " This Film Is not Yet Rated" about how movies are rated in America and how violence and drug use are allowed in PG-13 but sex warrants an R. It also talks about inherent sexism in the ratings as oral sex on a man goes for PG-13 but on a woman it is for NC-17. </p>
<p>I will restrict my children from seeing violence, but not from seeing sex. I believe that gratuitous sex is far less offensive than gratuitous violence in forming personality.</p>
<p>I have never heard that oral sex gets a pg-13 rating. =/</p>
<p>that sounds like nc-17 whether its a male or female</p>
<p>To answer Weskid’s question: I am somewhat more lenient than my parents were. (I can still remember that The Godfather was supposed to be my first R-rated movie, but my dad saw if first and changed his mind.) But I think I am more engaged in actually thinking about the content of what my kids see. So, for example, I might prefer that my kids see “Once” rather than “House Bunny.”</p>