Mom2mom poll: Should younger kids watch R-rated movies?

[kckady]

Is it OK for younger kids to see movies that are rated above their age? "The Hunger Games" is one that comes to mind. Lots of kids younger than 13 are seeing the PG-13 movie. And a new movie coming here soon, "Bully," is rated R for foul language, though many people think all kids should see the powerful documentary. What do you think?

Share your thoughts, read The Star's FYI section on Tuesday, April 3, and check back often on mom2momkc.com to see how our mom2mom panel answered.
The question: Should kids be allowed to watch R-rated movies before they are 17?
A. Never
B. Depends on the kid
C. Depends on the movie

[mrsbluebear]

Okay, the comment section is different than the question. DH & I don't even watch R rated movies, (it's been years...and it'd have to be historic or be based on a topic we loved to even consider it, and even then, probably not.)

But watching movies "above age".

Depends on the kid and the movie. Generally I use commonsensemedia.org for age guidelines, not the movie makers. I like it's range of "colors", and 90%+ of the time agree with their opinions.

[valeho]

Never, ever. It is devastating enough for me to find out things he is picking up in the public school system at 9 years old. And I have no control over it except to let him know what is and isn't acceptable to say or is or isn't acceptable behavior.

[micheleomalley]

We are just on the threshold of "should the kids watch that" decisions. With two toddlers, we are generally G-rated at home. As the kids age, I will probably let them watch R-rated movies before they are 17. It depends on the nature of the movie. Is it R-rated due to language? Okay, let's have a discussion about how, why, and when people us so called "bad language". Violence is another issue. Bambi, The Lion King and Cars 2 have a certain level of violence. I plan to talk about the context of the violence -- is it historical or gratuitous? Not that one is necessarily better than the other, but life is violent. There I no sense in pretending violence doesn’t exist in this world. And, last but not least, sex. The mother of all R-rated causes. I will have the most difficult time explaining that sex is not always as romantic, perfect or spontaneous as depicted on the big screen!

[ithaca2kc]

Combination of 'depends on the kid' and 'depends on the movie.'

"The King's Speech," anyone? No sex, no violence - fine historical film. There's one scene where the coach helps the king get over his stuttering by having him curse. A lot. That was the sole source of the R rating.

And "younger kids" is pretty vague. Did I take my 9 year old to "The King's Speech" last year? Yes. Would I let him see almost any other R rated movie? No.

My 16.999 year old high school student? Yes, he sees R rated movies. Frequently I'm the one sharing them with him - classics from my youth.

It's always a balancing act. Start watching the teen classics from the 80's: In "16 Candles," Jake Ryan, supposedly the epitome of what every girl wants, passes his drunk girlfriend off to "the Geek" to get raped. In "The Breakfast Club" the crew smokes pot in the school library, before Claire loses her virginity to a guy she met 6 hours earlier.

You can use the movies as opportunities for discussion. Or you can stick your head in the sand and pretend no one in high school curses, has sex or smokes pot.

[Mara Rose Williams]

Never ever? REALLY? Sure there are some movies that are just fine for children under 17 to watch but are rated R. Language gets an R rating but is not always all that bad. You should sit at a middle school cafeteria lunch table and listen to the way kids talk sometime. Yeah I know, not our kids, right. But even if they don't say it they hear it all the time.
But mostly I would say parents should watch the movie with their child so they can discusss it with them afterwards. That makes for great bonding time too.

[hotmomma]

We don't allow our kids to watch even PG-13 movies. As for foul language, they may hear it in the school cafeteria, but I refuse to intentionally expose it to them myself.

[momonnet]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[JoLynne]

This has not yet been an issue in our family. My daughter, at the age of 12, has never asked to see a movie I thought was too adult. As a matter of fact, she is so sensitive to movie violence that she doesn't want to see it. And sex ... well, that's just silly, right?

[mygr8crew]

I wish there had been a choice "Depends on the kid AND depends on the movie". I think I put depends on the kid (but that was yesterday, and my days are fuzzy sometimes).

In a perfect world, one where my kids never heard me swear or say something inappropriate, then I probably would have said never. But, Ha! they have pretty much heard it all. And, sometimes, regardless of the rating, there is a message to be learned from the movie. So we watch, discuss and learn. The movie coming out, "Bully" will be one they will watch, in spite of the R rating.

The beauty of our world is that I can raise my family one way, you can raise yours another, and it is okay.