<p>Respectfully…is the OP sure of the ages of the kids and relationship between the kids and parents?</p>
<p>I rarely let my offspring go to R movies. Something like Ted would have been off-limits.</p>
<p>However, when my D was about 12 or 13, I sometimes took her and a few friends to a movie. Her best friend looked about 3 years younger than she did–and the real difference was 7 months. The boys varied even more in terms of how old they looked. Puberty starts at different ages and kids the same age can differ a lot in terms of how old they look.</p>
<p>I did not sit with the girls. They didn’t want me to hear their conversation–before the movie. They also thought sitting with mom was babyish. I always sat about 5-6 rows behind them, so I could see they were behaving themselves and also make sure that no perverts approached them.</p>
<p>So, again, while I don’t approve of young kids seeing R rated movies , I don’t see anything wrong with letting the kids sit by themselves–maybe it’s a New York thing, but almost every parent I know did that.</p>