Parents' Guide to

DISconnected

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Intense movie about online dangers is OK for sturdy teens.

TV MTV Drama 2011
DISconnected Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Intensely provocative and unsparingly honest, DISconnected encourages viewers to think long and hard about the downside of mixing technological dependence with interpersonal relationships by presenting scenarios that aren't much of a stretch to envision in the real world. Cyberbullying, sexting, and Internet predators are familiar terms in this day and age, and this movie illustrates plausible situations in which these dangers might arise. It's a bold attempt to remind teens that what they think is safe behavior online just might land them in a similar predicament. Intense though it is, this story probably isn't enough to scare your teens off social networking entirely, since it's so ingrained in their life, but its messages might just stick with them and influence the decisions they make regarding their online activities. Although the movie centers on a fictitious website, it's reminiscent of plenty of real ones your teens probably know about, like Facebook and Twitter.

Even if your teens or tweens aren't quite ready for the movie's edgy content -- which includes a suicide that's fueled by uncensored responses to a video post -- it's well worth your time to watch DISconnected yourself, especially if you're less tech-savvy than your kids. True, it's guilty of being a little one-sided, but it's an eye-opening glimpse at the dark side of one of our kids' "super-peers," and it will give you a good idea of the kinds of issues you should discuss with teens about their own online habits and relationships.

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate