Kids and rated R movies

[ebtbmom]

What age did you, or do you plan on, letting your kids watch rated R movies? Does it depend on the movie and why it's rated R or do you plan on going with the recommended age? My DS really wants to see 30 seconds or less when it comes out and I think it looks really funny and would probably be OK. DH feels that once you let him watch a rated R movies that all H will break loose and everything goes. For me, if it's rated R for language or rude jokes, it's not as bad as graphic sexual content or extreme violence.
For the record, he has seen the Breakfast Club, but that's the only one.

 

[dandave]

It depends on the kid and the movie. Mine watched Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship with us in the theatre at 5 and 7. It's PG-13. They are very mature, and we openly discuss everything. They're both great kids. Apparently I haven't warped them, yet.
Oh! And at 14 and 16, they watch what they want.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It depends on the movie. I'd let my 14 & 11 year old see The King's Speech, for example, which is only R due to language.

But mostly, they will have to be 17.

 

[disneyfanforever]

My son is 14, and he now gets to watch all PG13 movies and some R depending on why its R. We have let him watch some R movies that have violence and language, but graphic sexual content is a no. My son who is 10 has not seen any R movies.

 

[JessicaR]

I was stricter with my first who is now 18. My youngest is 14 and watches pretty much whatever he wants. He doesn't go to R at the theatre though because he cant get in! My parents allowed my sisters and I to watch and read whatever we liked also.

 

[Cinderella94]

I'm 17 and I've watched whatever I wanted for a few years now. My brother is 13 and we're all sitting here watching The Shining right now .

He saw Speed for the first time at age 4-ish too. But all he knew was that buses were cool and so was Keanu Reeves .

My parents have never been restrictive with movies...genie's out of the bottle at this point. None of us seem to be scarred from it.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I told my 12.5 year old he could watch King's Speech with me. I've seen it, and it is only R because of the language. He loves history so I know he would like it.

Until they are 15 ish, I think I would have to watch it first. We're pretty conservative with movies though. I just started letting my 9 year old watch select PG 13 movies.

 

[princessmom29]

It definitely depends on the kid and the movie. My DD7 saw POTC4, Thor, HP7, and Captian America this summer, all rated PG-13. They were all rated that way for "intense action scenes. She doesn't scare easily, najd ther was no "adult" content in these movies. As for R rated, Shindler's List would definitely be allowed before something like Saw or The Hangover. The reason for the rating does matter IMO, and there is no better judge of what is suitable for your child than watching it yourself first. I always watch something first if there is any doubt at all.

 

[bellebud]

my kids are 10 and 11.

my big thing w/ the R ratings is nudity/sexual content (same goes for pg-13 sometimes).

The language doesn't bother me, nor the violence (but I wouldn't let my kids watch a horror/violent movie, because they'd have nightmares).

 

[SmallWorld71]

It depends on the movie. I'd let my 14 & 11 year old see The King's Speech, for example, which is only R due to language.

But mostly, they will have to be 17.

Ironically, The Green Hornet was out around the same time and rated PG-13. Took DS12 and some of his friends for his birthday. There was, IMO, considerably more inappropriate content in The Green Hornet. Tons of violence and bad language and some mild sexual content as well. Ratings are certainly a good guide, but not necessarily indicative of what is and isn't appropriate for a particular child.

 

[JessicaR]

Not judging at all but I am curious. Why do some feel violence is OK but nudity is not? I feel the opposite. Maybe I'm odd.

 

[ebtbmom]

I meant 30 minutes or less, not seconds!

I'm not a fan of nudity, I need to find out what's in it first I think. I think he's really interested because it looks funny and we both are fans of Aziz Ansari from Parks & Rec.

 

[princessmom29]

Not judging at all but I am curious. Why do some feel violence is OK but nudity is not? I feel the opposite. Maybe I'm odd.

Nudity in and of itself doesn't bother me, it is the sexual situations that go along with it that I don't think my DD is ready for. As for violence, it depends on the ocntext. Violence for the sake of violence I don't like, but vilence as in fighting the bad guys doesn't bother me.

 

[bellebud]

Not judging at all but I am curious. Why do some feel violence is OK but nudity is not? I feel the opposite. Maybe I'm odd.

like someone else said, it's what usually goes along w/ the nudity that my kids aren't ready for. I don't want them to see people being intimate, even under the covers (so I answered nudity, but I guess I should have really said sexual content).

the violence doesn't bother me if it's fighting, guns, good guys/bad guys, explosions, etc... to me that's sort of "kid violence"... but I wouldn't let my kids see anything horrific (like Silence of the Lambs, or Nightmare on Elm Street).

 

[lovesmurfs]

DS turned 17 in January and I'm just now realizing he's able to watch R movies. We've basically kept to the ratings. DD just turned 12 and really hasn't seen many PG13 movies.

We don't have cable, and the kids really only watch DVDs from Blockbuster and Netflix -- they've been a bit sheltered in terms of what they've watched.

 

[Tink888]

For us there was no specific age. It depends on the kid and the movie.

 

[momto2inKC]

My son is 14 1/2 and we allow *most rated R movies. It really just depends on the movie and why it has the rating.

 

[cornflake]

Not judging at all but I am curious. Why do some feel violence is OK but nudity is not? I feel the opposite. Maybe I'm odd.

You're not alone. I wouldn't care about nudity certainly nor really sexual content. Violence however...

The MPAA in general is a totally ludicrous organization with less-than-rigorous guidelines and judging.

My parents didn't care at all - I loved horror movies as a kid, we went to whatever we wanted once we were old enough to go to the movies alone, and rented whatever and if I passed by porn on cable it was no deal. Didn't bother me any.

 

[StephMK]

We don't have a set plan, depends on the kid & movie. DH & DS9 just watched Transformers - I think that's PG13. DS will never be allowed to watch a horror movie, don't care what rating. He has an active imagination and gets freaked out waaayyyy too easily.

DD17 saw Hangover at a friend's house a few months ago. I was shocked that she was one of the few of her friends who hadn't already seen it when it originally came out. I really didn't think it was appropriate for her age group at all. Hilarious but inappropriate. I think we fall middle of the road for her friends & what they are allowed to see & do.

 

[HunnyPots]

My kids are both adults now but our rule was this simple: you must be 17 to get in to see an R rated movie, therefore no R rated movies until you are 17. Whether it was for language, violence, or "adult" situations, I didn't care - I knew it wasn't meant for kids under 17.