Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

“Oh, we cover his eyes during scary scenes”
– Mother of 5yo boy, who went to the 9pm show of ‘The Revenant’ with her husband and 5yo child. The Revenant is R-rated.

“I love James Bond movies, and our son loves his fancy gadgets and tricks”
– Father of 6yo boy, who went to watch ‘Spectre’ together at a cinema. The movie is rated PG-13.

“I sat next to 10yo boy who laughed while watching violent scenes!”
– Woman in her 50s, while watching the 9pm show of ‘Deadpool’. This is R-rated.

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This will probably be an unpopular post because I’ll be direct and frank in writing out my thoughts and concerns.

I’ve been wanting to write about this, but never quite gotten down to it.

Here’s the question I hope all parents ask themselves:

What movies do MY kids watch?

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Movies have ratings, and one of the reasons for it is to inform the public of its content so that decisions can be made BEFORE watching it.

If it’s ‘R-Rated’, then it usually contains nudity, gore, vulgarity, drug use, strong language and/or violence.

If it is PG-13, then it means ‘Parents are strongly cautioned – some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.’

It’s quite obvious actually.

And, I can say for sure that parents today who are mentally capable of bringing their kids to the movies are 99% capable of checking the ratings and reading what the movies are all about BEFORE watching them.

(I give ‘1%’ for the possibility of parents who live in a village, who don’t know how to read nor search the internet, and who let their kids watch movies)

My deepest concern is when children are allowed to watch, or taken by their parents to watch movies that are obviously ‘too adult’ for their age

 
And so what’s my real concern here?

Well, my deepest concern is when children are allowed to watch, or taken by their parents to watch movies that are obviously ‘too adult’ for their age.

Check out these facts:

5 year-olds watching graphic violence and gore.

8 year-olds watching scenes of topless women at strip clubs.

10 year-olds watching adults committing extra-marital affairs and having s*x talks.

Sigh.

Seriously I wonder, do the above facts even ‘sound’ okay?

Or, does it become ‘okay’ because these young ones ‘cover their eyes’ during such scenes?

To me, of course no it’s never okay.

Actually, if you ask me, if a child ever has to cover his/her eyes during any scenes in a movie, then most likely that movie is not age-appropriate for the child, no?

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So what am I saying?

I’m saying, no actually I’m pleading and urging fellow parents (and grandparents, aunties, uncles, and adults) to reflect upon these three points concerning their children:

>> Let’s be extra aware of the kinds of materials that our children are exposed to. Be it movies, books, comics, games, anything. Access can be from the cinema, TVs, internet, games on smartphones, etc.

For movies, please do check out the trailers ourselves first. Read reviews. With today’s technology, such info is accessible to all. Be in the know. For our children’s sake.

>> Let’s remember that whatever our children watch and hear, they’re ABSORBED and RECORDED for life in their hearts and minds.

To me, it’s like planting seeds. It will eventually grow and bear fruits. The question is, what kinds of seeds have we been planting in our children’s hearts and minds today? As the parents, aren’t we the ones accountable and responsible for our little ones whom we have been entrusted with?

>> Continually develop a genuine and close relationship with our children, based on trust, open communication, love and respect (and this needs to start from day 1, btw).

We should really try to be their loving parent, not their suspecting police officer.

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Parenting is extra hard today.

And none of us is perfect or capable.

But let us never find an excuse to not work extra hard for our children’s sake?

May God help us all.

And May God have mercy on our children and us adults.