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Look, my kids enjoyed all of the Terminator movies, I never forced them. Sorry my kids happen to like action and think machines and robots are cool (or did, when they were younger). At the same timme we saw all the Disney movies too. In fact the one time any of my kids cried was when Mufasa died on The Lion King! when you think about it, it was a childrens movie yet involved violence and murder.
I think most people on this thread are being very judgemental. I agree with some things like not taking preschoolers out to a late night indoor theater ...but if a person has kids that are mature and can think for themselves then why does anyone have to judge them? There are plenty of kids that grow up with very strict parents and end up heroin addicts or in jail.....on the other hand there are people like me that teach their kids what is real and what isn't, what is right and wrong, and help them make their own decisions as they get older.
You can call me a bad parent because I let my kids watch a few R rated movies or play video games but my kids are mature and hard working and honor roll students... so I guess that's what my bad parenting brought up.
There's a reason movies like Terminator get a PG-13 rating - duh, it's not appropriate for kids under 13
You obviously have no idea the damage you have potentially done to your kids by taking them to such a violent, intense, loud, scary movie at such tender ages (2 and 5). And since you won't believe that (I know, it's not very convenient) I'll refrain from wasting any more energy on the subject
There's a reason movies like Terminator get a PG-13 rating - duh, it's not appropriate for kids under 13
You obviously have no idea the damage you have potentially done to your kids by taking them to such a violent, intense, loud, scary movie at such tender ages (2 and 5). And since you won't believe that (I know, it's not very convenient) I'll refrain from wasting any more energy on the subject
Look, my kids enjoyed all of the Terminator movies, I never forced them. Sorry my kids happen to like action and think machines and robots are cool (or did, when they were younger). At the same timme we saw all the Disney movies too. In fact the one time any of my kids cried was when Mufasa died on The Lion King! when you think about it, it was a childrens movie yet involved violence and murder.
I think most people on this thread are being very judgemental. I agree with some things like not taking preschoolers out to a late night indoor theater ...but if a person has kids that are mature and can think for themselves then why does anyone have to judge them? There are plenty of kids that grow up with very strict parents and end up heroin addicts or in jail.....on the other hand there are people like me that teach their kids what is real and what isn't, what is right and wrong, and help them make their own decisions as they get older.
You can call me a bad parent because I let my kids watch a few R rated movies or play video games but my kids are mature and hard working and honor roll students... so I guess that's what my bad parenting brought up.
Honestly, you don't owe anyone an explanation. We all do our best to parent our children. My grandson has watched movies like Terminator since he was about 4. He's the gentlest, kindest, smartest teen boy I have ever known. He is not messed up or 'damaged' at all. I think in all his years, the movie that scared him the most was 'Small Soldiers', a kids' movie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scientist Mom
However, when we take our 3- and 6- year old children to see our first theater movie as a family (Toy Story 3 in just a few weeks ), we will probably not go to a 10:30 pm show..maybe 8:30 pm though...
There's nothing more exciting as the first theater movie in the dark of night. When I was very small my parents would occasionally put our PJs on us and throw a few blankets and pillows in the back of the car and take us to see a drive-in movie. What a treat to stay up late, be outside in our jammies and watch a movie.
We always had very strict bedtimes (7pm until I was 10, 9pm all through high school except game nights (I marched in the band and played in the pep band for varsity games.)), but exceptions did rule from time to time.
Honestly, you don't owe anyone an explanation. We all do our best to parent our children. My grandson has watched movies like Terminator since he was about 4. He's the gentlest, kindest, smartest teen boy I have ever known. He is not messed up or 'damaged' at all. I think in all his years, the movie that scared him the most was 'Small Soldiers', a kids' movie.
There's nothing more exciting as the first theater movie in the dark of night. When I was very small my parents would occasionally put our PJs on us and throw a few blankets and pillows in the back of the car and take us to see a drive-in movie. What a treat to stay up late, be outside in our jammies and watch a movie.
We always had very strict bedtimes (7pm until I was 10, 9pm all through high school except game nights (I marched in the band and played in the pep band for varsity games.)), but exceptions did rule from time to time.
Thank you! It just irks me when people are so judgemental , saying things like that is bad parenting, or as someone messaged me-it's akin to child abuse! Apparently many people don't know that there is real child abuse happening every day in our communities-sexual abuse, neglect, child protective services overwhelmed and kids falling through the cracks in the system and ending up in foster care or worse...
I'm sorry but to sit there and judge someone who takes their kids to a movie that may or may not be for kids ( age remaining questionable) and basically saying that they are throwing their kids lives down the gutter b/c of this is ridiculous. If someone feels so strongly about kids being abused write to your comgressman and senators urging stricter laws against child abusers, or donate to a charity, or work with really neglected and abused kids!
We walked in and to our surprise we saw a mother and a father (24 years old at the most) with two kids looking 5 or 6 and a child in a stroller, about 2 years old!
The Judgmental View:
I am surprised that in these 5 pages of this thread no one brought up the issue about the age of the parents. If OP's guess is correct, then the 24 yr-old parents had their kids while they were in their late teens and one more just a few years later. That itself speaks volumes for them being able to make responsible decisions.
The Non-Judgmental View:
Maybe the 24-yr olds weren't parents at all. The girl was the baby sitter for the kids whose parents were out thinking that their kids were sleeping at home with the baby sitter. But, instead, the baby sitter called her boy friend and said, 'hey, wanna go for a movie? the parents aren't coming until early morning!".
this is one of the reasons I have stopped going to the movies . Children at the movies and then the cost of food and such and then if you go to the bathroom you miss part of the movie . No thank you . If the movie theaters depended on me they would go broke . Whatever happened to the dollar theaters ?
On the issue of letting kids see movies not "rated" for them, is to me a judgement call by the parent. If my son really wants to see a movie that I know may be questionable I read reviews and talk to people at work or friends that have seen it and get their take. For instance, at 4 I took my son to the movies to see Transformers 2. It had it's share of violence, some mild sexuality and even some language. However, he loved it and it wasn't something so over the top that it was even noticeable to him outside of watching the giant robots. We also recently watched Avatar at home and he thoroughly enjoyed it and it was interesting to see what his take was on the theme of the movie.
I don't believe that movies, video games and music turns kids into monsters. That whole line of logic seems to be reserved for parents of kids who had real issues that they ignored so that they feel better about themselves. Also, while I think it is up to the parent to judge what's appropriate or not for their child it does require them to sort of pre-screen what they are going to see. For instance, I wouldn't let my son watch Smokin' Aces, but I didn't have an issue with Transformers.
The Judgmental View:
I am surprised that in these 5 pages of this thread no one brought up the issue about the age of the parents. If OP's guess is correct, then the 24 yr-old parents had their kids while they were in their late teens and one more just a few years later. That itself speaks volumes for them being able to make responsible decisions.
The Non-Judgmental View:
Maybe the 24-yr olds weren't parents at all. The girl was the baby sitter for the kids whose parents were out thinking that their kids were sleeping at home with the baby sitter. But, instead, the baby sitter called her boy friend and said, 'hey, wanna go for a movie? the parents aren't coming until early morning!".
Cheers,
K
No one knows for sure how old those people were though....maybe they just look young. I'm 40 but I get ID'd all the time when I buy alcohol.
And just because someone has kids young doesn't mean they aren't good parents. If 18 yr olds can join the military and have to face death every day then someone that age could also be a good parent.
Except for the kids being loud and bothering people (in which case a person could complain to the manager)and I could see how that would bother someone(myself included) what business is it of theirs if someone takes their kids to a later movie, even a R rated one?
Define "kids" and define "adult movies". A child doesn't just magically turn 18 and all of a sudden, is capable of processing movies with adult themes. Some may not "get it" until they're around 18. Some may be 12. I don't think there's a magic number. Parenting involves one gathering the information (or using information and experiences already known) and making a decision in the best interest of your child. That decision may be very different from someone elses.
.....
In the OP's case, yes, I think the ages and the time of the movie are highly inappropriate, and the parent's should have gotten a babysitter or foregone seeing the movie. However, I don't think every case of a child under 18 seeing a rated R movie=bad parenting.
From the OP
"....two kids looking 5 or 6 and a child in a stroller, about 2 years old! ..."
I am not going to come up with a hard and fast definition about ages and suitabilities. We have government committees and university professors tryingto do that and still we get little agreement.
In my view those ages in that movie is bad.
Bad for the kids and ruins the enjoyment for the adults.
My parents often took us to see inappropriate movies. I hated it, but they just made fun of me for it. My father was particularly interested in horror movies at the drive-in, so I had the pleasure of the serial murder double feature "Blood Feast" and "Paint me Blood Red" when I was about 9. The first concerned a cannibal, and the second featured an artist who was ecstatic when he found the source of the perfect color red.
At 12, my mother took us to see "Deliverance" which traumatized me for life. I've never been able to consider canoeing without thinking of it, and even though I loved the tune "Dueling Banjos," it also always conjured up images of redneck homosexual rape.
At the very least, exposing young children to those kinds of images desensitizes them to the horror of real violence. And sharing the intimacies of adult relationships can foster the kind of curiosity that can get a child in serious trouble with other children's parents when they relate their knowledge or try to act it out.
In my opinion, it is nothing less than abuse or neglect to expose children to overt sex and violence. But perhaps these parents are also ok with allowing children to watch porn at home. I don't see much difference.
When our kids were small, we didn't even allow them to watch the trailers before the movies. They were not approved for our children.
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), we will probably not go to a 10:30 pm show..maybe 8:30 pm though...
