Is it okay for parents to blatantly disregard ratings?

[Eri]

That news article on The Kings Speech got me thinking.

Whenever I go to a movie that's rated R (17+) inevitably some mom is there with her kids. Usually a 5 year old and and 11 year old. While it might be a parents choice, is it really alright? The same can be said of games. Inevitably some mom or dad will buy their 10 year old Call of Duty. This isn't a case of "oh he's almost of age so it doesn't matter".

Is it really okay for kids to be subjected to adult material based on the uncaring or uninformed whim of the parent?

 

[GundamSentinel]

Nope, it isn't. Those ratings are for the protection of children. But hey, what can you do about it.

Personally, I'm still an advocate of people having to earn the right to be a parent.

 

[Grospoliner]

It depends on the kid.

 

[Daemascus]

Only if they lose the right to complain about kids playing/watching said items.

 

[Ghengis John]

It's up to the parent's judgment. So long as they don't complain about it afterwards. My parents used to let me watch horror and action movies with them as a little kid, and sometimes I'd hide behind my dad's chair when things got tense but I turned out all right.

 

[A Raging Emo]

No, they shouldn't "blatantly disregard" them. I'm not saying that they should be enforced to the letter, not allowing anyone under the age requirements to use the media product isn't the way to go about it.

In the end, though, it's down to the parent.

 

[DefunctTheory]

A difference of 2-4 years? Probably not.

In excess of 6? Yes, we have a problem. Especially when those children begin to cry, but the parent will be damned if they leave the theater to take care of them.

 

[C95J]

Depends on the maturity of the kid in question. But seriously, in some cases (like The Kings Speech) almost everybody of a certain age knows right from wrong, and can handle mature games.

So why not? What's wrong with a 15 year old (or younger) playing Call of Duty, or enjoying games like Adults do?

 

[Eri]

Depends on the maturity of the kid in question. But seriously, in some cases (like The Kings Speech) almost everybody of a certain age knows right from wrong, and can handle mature games.

So why not? What's wrong with a 15 year old (or younger) playing Call of Duty, or enjoying games like Adults do?

Because they're not an adult? Which was kind of my point. 15 can be iffy but I'm just saying.

 

[RatRace123]

Depends more on the kid then the parent. Some kids can handle adult subject matter and understand it in its intent.
And then there are some adults who can't even do that, so it's more a matter of maturity than age.
Though if parents do allow their kids to play/watch mature rated media, they lose the right to complain or blame said media if it turns out that their "special little piece of perfection" can't handle it. They should, anyway, that's not how it works in practice, but I wish it was.

 

[Shade184]

True, it's the parent's right.

But any parent who actually allows that is either an idiot or they don't care. It doesn't matter how "mature" they think their children are, there's a reason that such movies are restricted - by law - so that kids don't watch 'em.

Plus, I'm sure most of you remember that one kid at school who was all like "My parents let me watch R-rated movies! I'm so much better than you!" And I'm sure you'll remember just how arrogant they were. These are the kind of kids we're talking about here.

 

[Dr_Horrible]

It all depends on the kid and the subject material. For example, I saw my first R-rated movie when I was 9 years old. It was a fairly good film (can't remember what it was), and I was absolutely fine. Then again, I was a pretty mature child.

also, it was not a particularly heavy film, very little violence, don't think there was any blood, some language... minor stuff

 

[KiKiweaky]

Depends on the subject matter IMO.

I remember way back in like 1994 or whatever when they shows Schindlers List on NBC in primtime at like 8pm

That movie was brutal and adult yet it was allowed on network TV and I watched it as a 5th grader with my family. My parents even encouraged it at the time.

Good film, horrific but a good film none the less. What age would you have been? 11 or 10 bit young for that kind of film imo.

My Uncle showed his daughter the boy in the striped pyjamas.... She had a few nightmares/sleepness nights but she got over it eventually. Dont think I'd have shown her it in a million years though.

 

[C95J]

Depends on the maturity of the kid in question. But seriously, in some cases (like The Kings Speech) almost everybody of a certain age knows right from wrong, and can handle mature games.

So why not? What's wrong with a 15 year old (or younger) playing Call of Duty, or enjoying games like Adults do?

Because they're not an adult? Which was kind of my point. 15 can be iffy but I'm just saying.

But age doesn't matter if the person is mature enough to handle the game/film. If you have the right mindset and know right from wrong, then you should be able to fully enjoy the same games that older people do. After all, there can also be mentally unstable adults, who are more dangerous than under 18's but are still fully aloud to buy the game.

But this is of course, fully in the hands of the parents as well, and sometimes people can be really bad parents, and that's when it goes wrong...

 

[D Moness]

When i was younger my parents most of the time did it like this.
First they would have seen the movie themselves to see if we could see it (when the movie was much higher rating then we were).

Didn't take away the nightmares The poltergheist gave me though >.<

 

[Blue_vision]

Parents should just be intelligent about it. If they see a movie that looks good but is rated highly, then they can just research the movie a bit beforehand and see what's in it. If they think it'd be good for their child, then by all means.

Also, there are some instances where movies are rated too high because of prissy people with sticks up their asses. In that case, as long as the parent knows what kind of content they're getting themselves into, I see no problem with blatantly disregarding those ratings.

 

[.No.]

I saw Jurassic Park when I was a kid. I did start playing CoD when I was twelve or thirteen, but was mature enough to handle it. And I had a Wii, so no chat. Actually, if it did have negative effects, my friends would be way worse off. They started playing Halo when they were around seven or six. Although I do know a kid who also did that, if not earlier. He's just incredibly annoying. Oh, and age raings depend on the parents, and the kid. So, it depends wheather age ratings can be ignored or not.