I wish there was an easy way to rate this but there isnt... I am a twenty one year old college student who began watching this show with my parents from the moment it came on the air. My family unlike many others is brutally honest and open (that is what you get for being half italian half redneck). My father was a fireman and i obviously idolized the man i was named for, so watching this show gave me a way to be closer to him. The language in the show is often crass and rude but is used most often to either deliver the message or to gain a laugh. Despite the shows graphic sex scenes (graphic for standard cable) and violent moment, it offers something most TV shows are too afraid to deliver, REALISM. This show covers everything from discovering sexuality (the probie's homosexual experimentation), respecting sexuality (the captain's son being openly gay), alcoholism (Tommy), adultery (Tommy), loss (every cast member), and so on. This show can be an amazing talking point IF, and I mean IF parents are willing to sit down and talk to their children about the show. The topics are virtually limitless and present the parents an easy opening to possibly difficult conversations to have. My recommendation is that parents take the time to consider this as a show to watch with their children at around age 14+. Especially because this is the age at about when most kids will be personally introduced to most if not all of these topics in the real world, if they havent been already.