Child's age and level of movie violence

[joesteph]

When Transformers 2: The Rise of the Fallen was coming out (age eight; the boys are 8 & 1/2 now), I rented the first Transformers, asked them to watch it to tell me what they thought of it, and they watched it all the way through. There were no human deaths depicted. I then bought a copy, which they kept re-watching. When Transformers 2 was in theaters, I brought them to see it, and they enjoyed it. They didn't get any of the sexual innuendoes, and the violence they saw was, to them, robot v. robot. There were no human deaths shown.

Then Avatar came out. They told me they didn't want to see it, that they liked the cartoon they watched at their mother's house, and I just went along with their feelings. This weekend, I rented Avatar to see it again, but since the boys were with me, I kept the last section, the ongoing action sequence, available for them. They said they'd watch it and let me know if it were okay with them. They were excited by the sci-fi warfare, and displayed no reaction when the "bad men" were hit with arrows. It was bloodless violence, much like I used to watch when I was a kid, but it was still violence. I'm not buying the DVD; we watched that one segment together and that's it.

I'm not sure if the "bad men" who were killed by arrows actually registered with the boys that these men were dead. Perhaps the "cosmetic violence" (as I call what was the way violence was bloodlessly portrayed in the movies and on TV when I was a kid) cushioned the blow.

At what age do you think the average child can watch a movie that has not actually gory, but not cosmetic either, violence in it? If you're a parent, do you have any experiences you can share?

[Lupin1]

As a teacher, I have to say that any question like this has the same answer-- it depends on the child. I'm sure the parents on here (which I'm not) will chime in with their idea of when the majority of children or when their children, at least, were able, but really these sort of things vary based on the maturity/sensitivity/ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality develop within each child.

[joesteph]

Thanks, Lupin, but I'm think it's a "given" that it depends on the child; I'm looking for a rule of thumb. Even if the child understands that what is viewed is fantasy, it's the very viewing itself that I'm thinking of.

When Patrick and David were six, the first Transformers movie came out. I didn't take them to see it, but I did rent the DVD and another movie, one I was sure they'd like. I asked them to watch Transformers and tell me if it were okay. Within the first five minutes, they objected to it, even though it was on the "small screen" of TV. I thanked them and immediately changed the DVD from Transformers to the other movie.

When Transformers 2: The Rise of the Fallen came out, that's in the OP, when they were eight.

[sensei8]

As a parent, I'm not concerned with any average and/or any "rule of thumb"! My wife and I are raising them! That being said, what my children watch or what they don't watch will be determined by my wife and I...only!

[Lupin1]

I don't know if there can be a "rule of thumb". I know six year olds who would be able to watch something and just watch it and not be affected by it in anyway and then those same kids when they reach 15 will want to go out and try to recreate it with their friends. You have to know your kids-- are they going to cry? Are they going to try to recreate what they see? Are they going to think it's ok to hit someone when they have a fight just because they saw it in the movie? Personally, we show my cousin's four year old violent movies all the time (we watched Spiderman yesterday) and it hasn't seemed to affect him negatively at all.

[Jeffrey]

Not to date myself but I can remember when we were told that Bugs Bunny cartoons were to violent for us. I let my 5 year old watch transformers 1 and he loved it. I didn't let him watch the 2nd one after I pre-screened it. My 8 year old has no interest in war movies and would rather watch her barbie and fairy movies.

I don't worry so much about the movies as I do the video games. Star Wars lego is good where WWE wrestling is bad. Movies I can pre-screen but sometimes the boy plays at a friends house and comes home with a super charged aggression from something he played on Xbox or PS3. Even Wii I have to buy carefully.

My wife and I make the rules and try to explain things that maybe they don't grasp or understand how bad it is.

[joesteph]

Not to date myself but I can remember when we were told that Bugs Bunny cartoons were to violent for us.

At some point in the 1970's, there were complaints that TV shows were becoming too violent. One of the highest-rated shows, "Starsky and Hutch," also had the most shooting incidents. It was complained about, even though it was a police show, because people compared it with police shows on TV in the past.

I let my 5 year old watch transformers 1 and he loved it. I didn't let him watch the 2nd one after I pre-screened it.

This is what I'm asking about, Jeffrey, something as a specific example. I don't know if you'd seen the first Transformers in the theater and then let him watch it at home, or if you just rented it yourself and monitored him watching it with you. As for pre-screening, I watched Percy Jackson and decided against it for my sons. My main concern was Uma Thurman's Medusa role. You pre-screened Transformers 2 and decided against it for him. I'm assuming your son was age five for both Transformer movies? For my boys, I think age eight was just right for them for both.

The last segment in Avatar that I described in the OP is of special interest to me, since it didn't register a fearful reaction, but I don't know that it actually "registered" with them due to bloodless portrayal; i.e., it didn't look terribly real. If there were blood, however, and therefore more realistic is what I was thinking of in my OP, when I asked about watching a movie that wasn't gory, but wasn't cosmetic, either. I'm not thinking of the child re-creating the scenes as much as being shocked by them due to age.

Edited May 31, 2010 by joesteph

[Jeffrey]

Normally we rent our movies or buy them. This way we can pre-screen anything that might not be suitable. The concern with son is not that something may be fearful but that he will begin to act out in a violent way. He is fearless to all sorts of graphic violence but tend to act them out. A behavior example is smacking mom in the head with a toy light saber and telling her he just cut off her head. These are the things we are trying to avoid. Of course we are guilty for purchasing him the toy to begin with. What we were thinking who knows. I think most boys love the action stuff and thinking back he just would have found a stick and used his imagination. Better to be hit with plastic than a stick.

Weather there is blood or not kids view things differently. To them it is still a game. They don’t gasp the real life part. Just watching the news some nights I can tell they don’t quite get it yet. My oldest being 8 has a good understanding of things. She is very mature for her age. She understands things in the way a adult would regarding violent movies. She chooses not to watch as they are not really her thing. She does like Jackie Chan movies though and these are good fun to watch with the kids.

I think we plan on going to the new Karate Kid movie together as a family.

[joesteph]

My boys really want to see The Karate Kid as well. Going as a family is really nice, especially if you feel the children will be comfortable. Sure, there'll be fighting, but I feel it'll also include a lesson on dealing with life.

BTW, I understand how you feel about video games. It's true that you can control what's shown/played in your own home, but what happens when your child is over a friend's house? But I don't buy video games for the boys, at least not now.

[Jeffrey]

In our house they get one hour of screen time a day. This can be used for computer, games, or watching TV. They can save up an hour to watch a 2 hour movie if they like. Works well. They normally have a choice durning the week. Screen time or park? Thank goodness they choose park.

My oldest still likes to practice her karate kata for a bit every other day. Big relief there.

With other peoples houses I'm not affraid to let them know that this show or that game is not for our kids. I make it a point of saying just E rated games.