Take me out to the movies

This is my first blog, which I liken to writing a journal entry. To let you know a little about me, my husband and I have been married for over 26 years and have two daughters. One is recently married and the other just finished her junior year in college. I’ve been a licensed parent educator since 2000.

On Sunday our family had lunch with our extended family where we had an energetic discussion of movies and video games. My niece had seen Iron Man 2 the night before. She was upset that there were young children viewing a movie that was rated PG 13. Another family member gave an enlightening point of view that the draw of adventure movies or video games is that you, or your child, can experience something that can’t be experienced in real life. Children get to experience what it might be like to interact with a centaur, mermaid, or minotaur! Knowing that young children aren’t able to differentiate between real life and fantasy, I question if it is the best for them to experience these fantasies, especially if it includes an action-adventure character like Iron Man, Spider Man, or a Transformer. These characters can dehumanize us as people. They can minimize or ignore feelings that caring people have.

I understand that parents like to go to a movie or maybe play a video game with their child as a way of connecting. I am curious how do you decide which movie to see with your child? How do you determine what is age-appropriate for your child? There are so many choices for parents to make. And with the heavy marketing of movies via commercials, there is even more pressure from children to their parents to see what seems popular. I’d love to hear from you how you make the decision of what to allow your child to watch or play.