Young Children at [R]-Rated Movies: Advice for Parents and Guardians

Increasingly, I have noticed an increase in the number of young children at [R]-Rated films, and I'm not talking about the ones that 'sneak' in even. I'm talking about ones that appear to be in the company of other people. While I haven't conducted surveys or exit interview, yet, it was apparent to me, for example, at last night's screening of Halloween, there were a bunch of young children in the age range of 4-9 scattered just rows from me. They were constantly bobbing up and down and needing go to the bathroom--which was annoying to the rest of the adult audience. Worse, however, is that these children were seeing such a violent and bloody film.

Parents and guardians of young children, beware. My contentions were that many of these young children were there in the presence of either baby sitters or older siblings. What a great idea! Huh? Instead of staying home to babysit, take the kid to a movie with some of your friends. Hopefully, the parents or guardians will never find out. Or maybe the sitter even mentioned taking them to the movies, just not which movie. In any case, while film ratings are by no means perfect, clearly an [R]-rated slasher movie is not place for a little kid. Halloween (2007) is the kind of movie that could traumatize a youngster for years to come. Many kids have long-lasting nightmares from animated villains in [G]-rated films, it's hard to imagine what kinds of dreams kids who see Halloween (2007) might have especially with all of the little kids in the film talking about the Boogey Man and then him actually showing up on their doorstep.

I implore parents and guardians to pay attention to the films your children are watching either on television or at the movies. Set your V-chip in your television to block matured content. As for the movies in theaters, don't take them to see [R]-rated films. Don't allow people in charge of them to do so either. Ask you child about the movies they saw and make sure they weren't taken to a different movie than you approved. Ask the sitter for the time of the film, and confirm there was a showing of the film you approved at the time stated with theatre. Ask for ticket stubs from the films (one for each person--the child and the sitter). Be wary of this method, though because ticket stubs can be picked up anywhere, and clever sitters or even older siblings can switch theaters. Ask your sitter to sign a pledge stating that he or she won't override your regulations on movie viewing. If all else fails, make sure you are the one taking your child to the movies.

It seems like a lot of parents and guardians, especially younger ones, seem to think it's ok to take a young kid to an [R]-rated film as long as they are accompanying the minors. After all, it sort of makes sense because the rating says, "No children under 17 will be admitted without parent or guardian". However, when you read what gets an [R]-rating you can see that most children under 17 would not benefit from seeing a film of this rating. For example, here is what the Motion Picture Association of America stated when giving Halloween (2007) an [R]-rating--"Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity and language." Having seen the film, I would challenge the notion that the film probably should have gotten an [NC-17] rating which excludes admittance by anyone under the age of 17. Unfortunately, the MPAA has had a hard time with this rating category because studios claim it is a kiss of death and that it kills box office results as many theaters won't show [NC-17] rated films--they don't want to have to go to all the trouble to enforce it. Lately, the MPAA has been loathe to use the [NC-17] rating unless there is strong sexual content in the film. Many film historians would agree they've always been more lenient on violent films than highly sexual films. It is any wonder then that the percentage of violent crimes in our nation's youth is so high?

The MPAA states the following in their rules as updated in April of 2007 which is of note: (from page 8 of the their Ratings Rules)

"Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated motion pictures." The same section also states, "An R-rated motion picture may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements...."

The raters, according to the same guide, in rating films, are supposed to have the average mindset of American parents in determining if a film would or would not be approved by most parents.

Access the official ratings and reasons for the ratings for any approved film released in the United States along with the download of their ratings rules guide at www.filmratings.com

Finally, movie theatres always claim there's no really effective way they can ensure that kids don't slip into the wrong theaters. Actually there is. They could simply wait outside when the film is over, and ask for stubs from all kids who look like they are underage. Kids that have the wrong stubs or no stubs at all could then be banned from the theater and have their parents called. We worry a lot in our nation about underage drinking, but we don't worry that much about underage exposure to violent films. Then we turn around and ask why so many young people join gangs and become violent. Hmm. The film industry still claims there is no evidence that watching violent films leads to violent behavior, and they may be right, but why take the chance when it seems like a pretty logical correlation? They go to all the trouble to rate the films, why not just adhere to them?