When should a child be subjected to horror or films of an adult nature?

[alan french]

Observing something I have said in anither thread, has made me wonder.

Although parents should have the right to protect their children, they are sometimes confronted by trailers and printed adverts for horror films plus productions of an adult nature.

Children must learn at some stage that there are some things in life outside of Enid Blyton. At what point should we let them know? How far should we also go with adverts, as well?

[Steve Crook]

Observing something I have said in anither thread, has made me wonder.

Although parents should have the right to protect their children, they are sometimes confronted by trailers and printed adverts for horror films plus productions of an adult nature.

Children must learn at some stage that there are some things in life outside of Enid Blyton. At what point should we let them know? How far should we also go with adverts, as well?

Trailers and ads for films aimed at adults are carefully regulated. Have you ever noticed that the trailers say something like "A 'U' trailer for an 'X' certificate film"

Steve

[pelam123]

One of the victims of the Dark Night Rises shooting in Colorado was 6 years old. The film has a 12A rating, so just what was a 6 year old child doing at a past- midnight screening of a film obviously unsuitable for her?

[theuofc]

One of the victims of the Dark Night Rises shooting in Colorado was 6 years old. The film has a 12A rating, so just what was a 6 year old child doing at a past- midnight screening of a film obviously unsuitable for her?

I haven't read the accounts of yet another shooting madness in Colorado but I am wondering if the parents were young and no baby sitter so they brought the child along because they wanted to see the film? Whatever the 'reason,' not good.

Speaking only from my own experience: there are horror scenes I've seen as an adult and wished I HADN'T as I will never get such negative 'crap' out of my brain. I strongly wish I hadn't seen some horror films when I was little, i.e. NIGHTMARE ALLEY which I mentioned on the thread about which films scared us as kids. My parents were ever watchful about the stuff I saw and read as a child even up to 10 or 12, so I suspect I took sneaky looks at films not meant for my 5 or 6 year old viewing or I watched them with a baby sitter. I will tell you I remember those images to this day and vividly on dark streets, etc. Who needs this kind of brain warping.

Long answer, but Yes, I do think that parents have to carefully judge when they think their child can emotionally handle and understand horror scenes. Some parents can't, won't be bothered, but I hope they do. Yes, there are ratings but I ignore the advice of censors.

Barbara

[torinfan]

There has been a lot of criticism of those who brought their very young children to that screening. One theory is that the young parents "thought" their child would enjoy the movie as much as the parents would. Considering the high levels of noise in most of today's Hollywood films, that's sure to have the little ones cry and scream during the movie.

Put another way, if I had little ones there is no way I would ever take them to see a movie like that at midnight.

[theuofc]

...............

Put another way, if I had little ones there is no way I would ever take them to see a movie like that at midnight.

Hear, hear, Torinfan.

[Moor Larkin]

I would say that rather than having to worry about the best time to subject their children to Horror Films, parents should rather worry about protecting them from happening upon them. Having said all of that the daily verbal violence in most domestic soap operas probably would have far moor insidious influence upon a young mind than the bizarre caperings of Batman and suchlike poppycock. I can recall being scared of Lugosi's Dracula, back when I saw those movies on TV, but he was a vampire and lived in Transylvania and there were rules he had to obey, to do with garlic and sunshine. The daily shouting and screaming in Emmerdale, not to mention the partner-swapping and daily infidelity justified on the basis of each character expressing, " 'ow I feel ", would probably not scare me, but might make me assume such behaviour is not only normal but also acceptable.

However nobody still believes TV and movies can *influence* anybody do they?....

[alan french]

Hi,
Just tuned in. Remember, I am not a young person, so I come from a different era of film attitudes.

Apart from horror, I can remember my parents telling me to never accept sweets etc; off strangers. Now at that time I was too young to see films graded 'H' or 'X' . However, there was a film made called NEVER TAKE STREETS OFF A STRANGER. It acquired an 'X' certificate. I have heard it said by some people, that this was a pity. Because the very part of the the community who could have been warned about strangers, were not allowed to see it.

This to me poses an interesting view. We have on one hand, adults giving their offspring talks and warnings. On the other hand, we have the British Board of Film Censors viewing the film as adult material. Possibly as a taboo subject, as it was in those days.

Adverts plastered on the London underground, and printed in newspapers, sometimes did contain images that a young person may have found disturbing. I agree that trailers do have graded classifications. But some may turn up on the internet for all to see.

I was also, as a child confused when a play called DIAL FOR MURDER was put on the BBC. Just before it was broadcast, there was a warning put out saying that it was unsuitable for children. At a later date, A film version was released under the title of DIAL 'M' FOR MURDER. The censors gave it an 'A' certificate. Which meant that although they would have to be accompanied by an adult, children under 16 were never-the-less allowed to see it.

As far as being influenced by TV and films. Three things I would say is this.
Some children, including me, have been influenced by superheroes and flew out windows,
A sequence in one film which featured a well known pop star of the day was cut, as it could influence people to do something. Then at least one newspaper printed a still from the sequence, and a write-up so everyone could see what and know what they were not suppose to.
I am very sorry to say, there have also been some crimes, which have been influenced by certain things in films and television. One recently, in this country, which is not for the squeamish, so I will not detail here.

Thankyou for all those who have contributed so far. The comments have been interesting. Hope some more come in.

Alan French.

[torinfan]

I would say that rather than having to worry about the best time to subject their children to Horror Films, parents should rather worry about protecting them from happening upon them. Having said all of that the daily verbal violence in most domestic soap operas probably would have far moor insidious influence upon a young mind than the bizarre caperings of Batman and suchlike poppycock. I can recall being scared of Lugosi's Dracula, back when I saw those movies on TV, but he was a vampire and lived in Transylvania and there were rules he had to obey, to do with garlic and sunshine. The daily shouting and screaming in Emmerdale, not to mention the partner-swapping and daily infidelity justified on the basis of each character expressing, " 'ow I feel ", would probably not scare me, but might make me assume such behaviour is not only normal but also acceptable.

However nobody still believes TV and movies can *influence* anybody do they?....

A lot of depends upon an individual's background and I do think they are the exception to the rule.

Growing up, I watched all kinds of fantasy, sci-fi, horror movies, and read books of the same. Yet I was raised in a manner so that the stuff I watched and read did not "own" me; I was the one in control, not the movies, tv shows nor books. It's not the same like pretending to play "Gilligan's Island" with friends while growing up; but that sort of thing is temporary, then it is back to reality.

James Holmes seems to have had problems of some kind that we may never find out. Though one report on the Internet stated that his mother knew he was capable of doing something like this (my question is, why didn't she stop him?)

I just his latest mug shot in the courtroom. Very, very scary.

[m35541]

People in America take their young children into far more "adult" films than The Dark Knight which is only a PG-13. When I lived there, i remember watching a zombie-type flick - there was a whole row of young children (5-8 years old approx) sitting in a row near the front accompanied by some adults and chatting most of the time. About 20 mins in, there was the movies' first real explicit gore scene and their chats turned to screams and most of them had to be taken out of the cinema by their parents.

[torinfan]

People in America take their young children into far more "adult" films than The Dark Knight which is only a PG-13. When I lived there, i remember watching a zombie-type flick - there was a whole row of young children (5-8 years old approx) sitting in a row near the front accompanied by some adults and chatting most of the time. About 20 mins in, there was the movies' first real explicit gore scene and their chats turned to screams and most of them had to be taken out of the cinema by their parents.

I believe it, do you recall the name of the movie?

Hey if it gets their kids out of their hair - some mothers will bring them to that sort of movie. Not all mothers - just some mothers.

[Sweeney Todd]

In fact, it seems that nobody can really answer this question. Several things must be considered, and this includes the "maturity" of a child, and the civilization around him. In Europe for instance, the SAME movie can be forbidden under 18 in a country (even after being submitted to some cuts) and only forbidden under 12 in France without any cut. Are our children so different? probably not - but adults are, certainly. Remember all the bla-bla about one of these "Child's Play" movies supposedly seen by two youths who killed another one, in UK, decades ago. First, it was by all evidence a hoax (not the killing itself, alas - I mean that it was later proven that none of the children has seen the mentioned movie). Furthermore, the same movie was shown on French TV without any cut, and nobody killed anyone in the following weeks...
Of course, exceptions are always possible, but a lot of real-life killers never watched a horror movie in their young years. To the contrary, I saw thousands of horror movies since I was 12 and never killed even a fly. Moreover, I even saved a fly from drowning in a glass of water some months ago! so...

[alan french]

Hi,
I agree. I don't think a standard answer can be given. What may be suitable for one person, may not be suitable for another.

But never-the-less, irrespective of film catagory, there have been some posters with horror or adult images which are displayed in public. In these instances, can an adult protect a child from seeing them?

Alan French.

[Amethyst_Isle]

However nobody still believes TV and movies can *influence* anybody do they?....

The *influence*is there as most kids grew up on The Lone Ranger and cowboy films etc etc then came out of the cinema thinking they were John Wayne brandishing a make believe gun (which was actually 2 fingers and a thumb ) and pointing it at the passers by when we came out.

I do remember going to see A Clockwork Orange back in 1972 and The Exorcist in 1973 (both 'X' films then ) I was well under age,so for some it can *influence*them and some not.

[Gaumont]

I think a wise parent should always err on the side of caution. After all, small children scare very easily. I know of two cases where little ones were frightened by family-friendly Ray Harryhausen films (the cyclops in '7th Voyage' and Talos the bronze giant were the the guilty parties).

When I was a kid in the fifties films with any 'monstrous' element - such as 'War of the Worlds' and 'Them!' were barred to under sixteens anyway, so the I never had the chance to watch 'horror' films. But as I said before, children are easily upset, and I recall being very disturbed by the Disney films I was taken to. I might mention the killing of Bambi's mother, and the ill treatment of Dumbo's mother, as examples.

As for insulating children against the dark side of life - if only we could! In the end, it's what they experience outside the cinema that does the damage.

[ShirlGirl]

Thread: When should a child be subjected to horror or films of an adult nature?

Never.

[Amethyst_Isle]

When I was a kid in the fifties films with any 'monstrous' element - such as 'War of the Worlds' and 'Them!' were barred to under sixteens anyway, so the I never had the chance to watch 'horror' films. But as I said before, children are easily upset, and I recall being very disturbed by the Disney films I was taken to. I might mention the killing of Bambi's mother, and the ill treatment of Dumbo's mother, as examples.

As for insulating children against the dark side of life - if only we could! In the end, it's what they experience outside the cinema that does the damage.

When I saw A Clockwork Orange (I was 11 years old ) When I saw The Exorcist (I was 12 years old ) BUT the most frightening film I saw was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the child catcher did scare me more than those 2 other films put together so work that one out.

[Steve Crook]

When I saw A Clockwork Orange (I was 11 years old ) When I saw The Exorcist (I was 12 years old ) BUT the most frightening film I saw was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the child catcher did scare me more than those 2 other films put together so work that one out.

Easy, Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher is often voted the scariest character on film, even by adults. Even by adults who have seen lots of so-called "horror" films

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Parents - don't be like my dad and take your (very) underage child to see Alien and then promptly fall asleep and snore loudly for the next 90 minutes .

[ShirlGirl]

Easy, Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher is often voted the scariest character on film, even by adults. Even by adults who have seen lots of so-called "horror" films

Steve

Robert Helpmann was pretty scary-looking at the best of times!