So, my 12 year old son says to me, “Mom, can we watch BAD TEACHER? All my friends have seen it and they said it’s sooooo funny!”
Hmm..OK. I figured that if his friends have seen it then it must be fine. I could use a good laugh and can always depend on Cameron Diaz for that. We order it through our provider, pop the popcorn, and start watching together.
But then….OMG!!!!!! NOT APPROPRIATE!!!
I had NO IDEA and the veil of feeling like a “BAD MOM” came over me like a dark cloud. Even my kid felt uncomfortable. So we shut it down…and fast!
According to new research from Netflix, 61% of parents would like to give their children the ability to select their own programming, but 67% worry about what they’re watching. Parents want to give their kids more freedom to choose what they want to watch (ahem…you talking to me?) as their child gets older, but the concern about what their children watch does not decrease.
The Netflix survey also showed that an overwhelming majority, 89%, say it’s important to be able to choose from a large selection of programming. Letting children select the TV shows and movies they watch together is also important for 86% of Canadian parents.
Toss in my 7 yr old into the mix and things get a little more sticky with the older one entering teen years. They are still at the age where I can say “it’s ok to watch these show on these channels” and they will. But the selection on regular TV is limited and repetitive. How many times have we seen Zack and Cody graduate off the Suite Life on Deck? Know what I’m sayin’?
My kids (and I) are looking for more selection. Movies from our current cable service provider costs us an average of $5 to $9 each time and if it’s not appropriate (BAD TEACHER included), we’re just stuck with it.
“NetFlix Just for Kids is like a well-lit playground.” says David Watson, Director of Production Innovation for Kids and Family at Netflix. “Parents can feel safe about where their kids are going”. More than 40% of kids have been accidentally exposed to something on TV that scared them or have seen commercials that were not suitable. As always, there are never any commercials on Netflix.
To help parents and kids find a wide selection of shows and movies, Netflix “Just for Kids” section lets subscribers scroll through content that has been selected for them in mind. Designed for kids 12 and under, Netflix uses an easy-to-navigate system through their computers and gaming consoles that now include PlayStation 3 (PS3) as well as Nintendo Wii, Apple TV, PC and MAC. FYI…Xbox 360, tablets and other devices are coming! But the full list is available on their website.
Parents can feel comfortable letting even younger children browse and watch titles in the “Just for Kids” section. Shows include Curious George, Caillou, Johnny Test, The Backyardigans, Power Rangers and more. Movies include popular titles including Rio, Chronicles of Narnia, Fantastic Mr. Fox…the selection is pretty good!
Netflix members pay a monthly subscription of $7.99 US for UNLIMITED and instant viewing of movies and shows streamed over the internet through their devices.
For more information please visit their website at www.netflix.com
*The research was conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Netflix in Canada. They looked at Canadian families and their television viewing habits to understand how parents and children watched television together and alone. The poll was conducted between March 20-23, 2012.
I have Netflix and I LOVE IT! My 7 year old automatically goes to the “Netflix For Kids” section and doesn’t even bother with the regular Netflix (even though the same Family movies can be found there too). Although, my son is very aware of the fact that some shows are inappropriate (he tells me so himself – or he’ll ask me (eg. “Mom, Dad let’s me watch Austin Powers, do you think it is inappropriate?”)
There is a thin line between what is and isn’t appropriate these days – especially when dealing with shows geared at teens (“Pretty Little Liars” anyone?) As for the rating system – I know for a fact they have changed from when I was a kid… (There was a movie with Eddie Murphy in it on Netflix that was rated PG, so we assumed it would be good for the kids, it was funny but there was non-stop swearing and sexual innuendos in it)
There is a rating system for movies. It helps as a guide and gives information as the what content is in the movie. Bad Teacher is rated R. There’s also a lot of websites that will give you the content information about movies before renting them. The rating systems and websites also give a chance to discuss content with kids what is appropriate for their maturity level even before watching it. When my kids suggest a movie that isn’t appropriate we tell them why and they find something else .
I’ve been using the Netflix Kids for the last few weeks. The kids love it because they don’t have to weed through a lot of content they’re not interested in.
I’m glad you were there to experience that with him Sonya, and that’s exactly my point, I think a lot of parent’s shelter their kids from everything “grown-up” but in some cases, especially when you are there, it is a great teaching moment for them to experience something that they are not quite ready for and for them to make that decision that they are not ready for it. It allows them to gauge what they are mature enough for and allows them the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. This can often have a positive influence when they are with their friends and they have the confidence to say they are not ready to do/try something that their friends are encouraging because they (the friends) have no experience with their own limitations. So now your son may have the courage to turn to his friends and say “I’m not enjoying this movie/game can we change it to something else?”.
I absolutely agree with you Jennifer! This time we were both uncomfortable and he was the one who asked for it to be shut down. I totally trust his judgement and have always said that to him. Like you’ve said you can’t shelter them but I’m glad that he’s comfortable talking openly about what he understands or not.
I’m in no way saying kids should watch anything/everything. But as a child my parent’s never censored what we watched/listened to and often if the subject matter was something we didn’t like or didn’t understand we would quickly get bored and move on to something else, in a sense it gave my parents freedom to enjoy what they were watching as well as a way to help us (me and my four siblings) gain exposure to different situations and they were always very open to answering questions that came up along the way, if they did. I remember watching all kinds of movies, that now looking back should have been deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, but at the time not knowing the context they just seemed silly and boring. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can’t shield your kids from the world but you can provide an environment that allows them to ask questions and experience more grown up situations with you present as opposed to them sneaking off and watching it at a friends house in secret. In the end most of the time your kids will be bored and ask to change the channel if the subject matter is beyond their understanding anyways. This is not everyone’s view but in my mind I would rather my kids see something like Bad Teacher with me present to answer questions and discuss the more grown up themes, than for them to run to a friends house and watch it where they let their imaginations run wild with deviant possibilities :).