Help! My G-Rated Kids Want to See PG-13 Transformers
This is the kind of situation that really puts parents in a bind. Young kids love playing with Transformers toys, but the movie wasn't made for young kids. It's a real PG-13, full of violence and more. Take a look at our suggestions about what to say to your kids.
It doesn't help that all of the merchandising is aimed at young kids, too. Movie-related toys and deals with Burger King kids' meals and M&Ms are all part of the marketing campaign, so it's no wonder your younger kids are clamoring to see it.
So what do you do when there's age-inappropriate marketing surrounding something that's not for kids?
Remember the old saw: "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?" The fact is that rules are different for every family. A movie like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is full of violence, and the more violence young kids see, the more desensitized they become. Younger kids aren't developmentally mature enough to handle it -- even if they think they are.
Talk to your kids about the concept of age-inappropriate marketing. Ask them why they think that the movie received a PG-13 rating and yet the toys, food, and other ads are clearly directed at younger kids. Do your kids think this is fair? Raising media-savvy kids gives them the advantage of viewing marketing efforts skeptically. And while it may not make them happy about your decision, some kids really resent being manipulated by advertising.
You also have to be practical. If you don't go to see the movie on Friday night, you'll have a few hours to kill, so you might as well make the best of it. Here are some of our most successful tips for avoiding age-inappropriate movies:
Family movie night. Have your kids choose an age-appropriate flick, get into your pajamas, pop popcorn, and snuggle.
Mini-golf, anyone? Do something your kids are always bugging you to do but you never get around to.
Host a game night! Invite friends over and play all the old favorites: Apples to Apples, Monopoly, and Scrabble are all fun family faves.
Plan a fun distraction. Cook something, plant something, manipulate photos with photo-editing software, or visit freerice.com and compete with your kids for correct answers to the site's quizzes.
In short, make a concerted effort to do something else with your kids. And, remember -- the reason you limit what they see, play, and do is because you love them. They'll thank you later.
If its violence you're worried about, don't be. The Transformers franchise greatly sanitizes the violence to the point where essentially no blood is shown. Even if it wasn't sanitized, most of the violence is robot-on-robot or human-on-robot. There is some robot-on-human and really no human-on-human. The sexual content and language is really the only thing to watch out for. You can hear worse language at school from the time you're in sixth or seventh grade, that's not really much to worry about. The sexual content, however, is another story. Being a practicing Christian, this offends me slightly more than it would most parents, but there are some needlessly provocative scenes, sex jokes that aren't even very well thought out, and one scene of Megan Fox running in slow-motion in a low cut shirt which I found to be in bad taste. I am actually ashamed to be in the demographic that this movie was aimed at, teenage boys. It was hoping to appeal to the horny crowd, which it did a pretty good job of, as my friends were very impressed with it. It's really not that good a film, anyway, so if you're kids miss it, they're not missing much.
I think it depends on the ages of the kids. If they are four, then the answer should be a big fat no. If they are more like 10, you can rent the movie so you can turn it off if it gets too innapropriate.
yea mikayla same here but my parents also monitrd those movies too
youre making a smart choice not letting yr kids see transformers 2.the fiorst transformers was more appropriate with less violence less
I was allowed to watch the first Transformers which was not terrible but the second one I have found innapropite but i would love to see it though.a good idea is to tell your kids to wait till it comes out on DVD and then rent it and then review it and see the parts where you might need to cover their ears or eyes.
and do you get to decide when your kids are emotionally ready? Sex is not at all inapropriate. Why is it so taboo amongst us? . What is not beautiful about that? Why are you restricting your kids to content that you feel is innapropriate? It's really up to them. If you keep on doing this, your kids will cry to you running when they are 20, and ask, "mommy, what's a vagina?" mimi, I am not going to tell you how to raise your kids, but you might really want to reconsider how you respect their privacy. And as for the 15 year old that was happy about how their parents control their lives with the rating, is that really something to be happy about? It's true people, that they are your spawn, but now they are in this world, as people, and you should treat them like people, instead of treating them like property.
I agree totally with the ratings, but I think that it is unfair to restrict a kid (teen) 13 or older to see Transformers. Parents, like it or not, kids hear everything in that movie and more in half a day of school
I'm sorry, but in my opinion I think some of you are being too lets say "over the top". Not letting your 13 year olds and 14 year olds see PG-13? In my OPINION that is craziness, they are at the age where they are mature enough to handle the movies.
I was allowed to watch PG movies, even higher ratings, since I can remember. My parents rule was "You're allowed to watch anything except pornography, as long as you NEVER repeat what you've heard until you're 18." and I quote.
I do the same thing for my 11 year old child, and she obeys that rule, very well. Her and her friends (except one,) go by the exact same rule, and it goes very well.
If you're child is not mature enough for a certain movie, or this movie contains nudity etc, then that is a good point not to allow them to see the movie. But for TRANSFORMERS, it's a very safe movie that my husband took my daughter to when it first came out in theaters, the first one and the second one.
If you're religious, then there are certainly different rules, and no disrespect. Some religions allow and don't allow certain things, which is very understandable. In our case we are in no way religious, and watch almost anything.
My family sticks to the ratings, both movie AND game. :)
I feel there are too many inappropriate things being thrown at our kids at such a young age. The bottom line is - it depends on your child. I do not let my 13 and 14 year olds watch something PG-13 that I feel is inappropriate. I don't care if their friends are allowed to watch it, I feel we could make better use of our time as a family than watch something that puts fear, ideas or whatever in their heads before they are emotionally ready. They get enough exposure to inappropriate things at school, on TV, why have them spend their 'fun' time further exposing them to inappropriate sex content, violence or bad messages.
Let them see it. It's a good movie. And it doesn't matter what age your kids are. I've been watching rated R movies since I was 6. Probably because I was already on porn site when I got my first computer at 5. But if your kids want to see it then let them see it. And if it makes you feel more comfortable then ask some of your kids' friends if their parents will let them see it with you guys.
When I was a kid my parents let me watch any PG-13 movie i wanted at the age of 5 and 7 some R rated stuff if i was in to like toys and books and they came out with a movie bout it i could seen it if. ok if there is like Sexuality and nudity i can see saying no..... but if its for violamce and bad words its fine just tell ur kids "ots ok to here the words but not good ta say em" thats what my parents do!
Same here. They just knew I could handle it.
It's not about what you CAN do, but about what your family values are. Our actions speak louder than words. My kids may moan, groan, and throw a tantrum, but I, as the parent am responsible not to my children, but to God for their upbringing. If we value the name of God, don't want our kids desensitized to senseless violence or sensuality then we have a responsibility to guide our children's values and discuss why we put such importance on what goes into our minds each day.
oh my god! if the kid thinks their ready to see a movie that's a little violent or mature, let them. honestly, who gives a damn?
i watched a r movie when i was 7 take that golden_nation
I could watch PG-13 movies when I was really young. My parents never really cared. I was mature enough to handle it, though, and some kids are not.
Wow, I was at this movie yesterday with my same age friends and we were the older kids there. The only ones really older than us were either parents or grad school age people. Did I mention this was at like 6:30 at night? Everyone there was fairly young. It was appropriate if you tell your kids not to repeat things.
The heck with this, I was allowed to watch pg-13 movies when I was 7! I, know, some pg-13 movies can contain some pretty mature stuff, but movies like transformors are more appropriot for younger kids! If I was five and I was patient my parents would defenetly let me go see it!!
These tips are great advice as alternatives to watching violent movies - and also good advice in general. Kudos to Common Sense Media for promoting alternatives to screen entertainment! CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) just sent a letter to the FTC urging them to stop the marketing of PG-13 movies to young children. http://www.commercialexploitation.org/pressreleases/pg1309.html
Another good idea...go outside and experience nature
http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2009/06/connecting-with-nature-connecting...