When is it appropriate to let your child read/watch The Hunger Games?

[Chess Dad]

I have a question for the Hive.

 

Our daughter is 12 years old.  She loves to read.  She has been asking to read The Hunger Games Series and to also watch the movies.  My DW and I have had several discussions on this topic and have (so far) not let her read/watch The Hunger Game series. 

 

How do you as parents filter (or do you?) what books and movies your kids watch?

 

I apologize in advance if this topic has already been discussed. 

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

[Southern Ivy]

I think it depends on the child's maturity honestly. As a 12 year old, I would have handled the books just fine. 

We currently have the books in our 3rd/4th grade library at school.

[Spy Car]

I read the Hunger Games as a re-aloud with my son when he was 7. He was begging to read it, I was skeptical, but said we could start—with the proviso that I would shut it down if I want liking the direction it was going (and there would be no arguments about my "discretion"). I half-expected I'd terminate the read. Instead, I think the book largely affirmed good values, and set an example of self-sacrifice in the heroine's decision to stand in for her little sister. The writing, while not brilliant, is not bad, and there is plot-driven interest. I ended up liking the book far more than I expected. There is moral complexity that mirrors the moral complexity of life.

 

The movies are quite poor. What makes the book(s) of interest in a ethical sense is largely lost in just the reduction of the movies to plot sans complexity.

 

My 7 year old was "mature" in the areas that maturity is called for when dealing with this sort of work, if not so mature in other ways.

 

Bill

[Farrar]

I wouldn't suggest it to a kid before they were about 12 or 13 maybe. I think it's worth waiting until a kid can have a discussion about it with you that's more in depth just because it's worth doing that.

 

However, I wouldn't stop a kid from reading it after they're 8 or 9 if they were especially motivated to read it. I don't believe in stopping kids from reading much. It's not s*xually explicit (quite the opposite - the romance is pretty chaste). The violence is pretty grim, but it's also not explicitly described IMHO. The overall messages are positive. Ds asked last year (10 yo) if he could read it. I said yes, but he decided to wait. I may read it with him and his brother next year when they're 12 yo. I think that's a decent age to read it.

 

I think it's important to remember that kids don't read or consume media with adult eyes. They filter things through their own perceptions. I think the thing that upsets many adults is that it's children killing children. That deeply upsets us as parents. However, to kids, they don't tend to see it that way at all. They see the bigger themes, the characters, etc.

[Pen]

I made my ds wait till he was 12.  

[Tanaqui]

At 12, I pretty much don't censor media. It'd have to be pretty explicit for me to do more than simply say "Okay, kiddo, but you should know there's some sex/violence/whatever in it, so you might not like those parts" or "You can read it now, but there's some boring stuff in there about taxes/divorce/politics, and so if you decide you don't like it now, try it again in a few years".

 

In my experience, kids usually will self-censor. If they come to a part of a book that's too much for them, then they either skim it, or they'll put the book down until they are ready to read it. So my darling read The Hunger Games last year, at 11, and I had no objection to it. (But she's not willing to watch iZombie with me because she thinks it's scary. Go fig.)

[Jaz]

We had our dd wait until she was 12 to read the books and watch the movies. We're having her wait even longer to read Twilight, another book series she wants to read, due to the intensity of the relationships.

[MrsWeasley]

I wouldn't give it to my eight  year old, but if I found her reading it, I wouldn't take it away.

[Kristie in Florida]

My eleven year old was curious abiut them. I was very frank about how sad it was and how much I cried during some particular scenes. She knew of the one in the last book where I cried the most. I told her that it was up to her and at any point she could put the books down and never read them again. I told her about pages I have to skip when I read them again.

 

She devoured the books very quickly and they are some of her favorites. They opened up so many discussions for us. She has watched the first two movies but currently has no interest in the last ones because of a particular scene that is difficult for us.

[Deee]

I read it aloud to my sensitive 13 year old. We're just finishing the last book. DS is now almost 15. Its a good age to discuss the issues presented in the books and we've both really enjoyed it. I should also add that DS didn't watch TV until he was about 11, and then only very few programs. He still only watches about 5 hours of TV a week, all as family viewing (DVDs of series). He is a gamer, though, and we are the meanest parents alive because we will not allow him to play Call of Duty and I made him trade Grand Theft Auto which came with his second hand xbox.

D

[scholastica]

We have made our kids wait until 13. They really understand it so much better and can process and discuss the complexities and moral issues. Plus, they are more aware of how it all relates to the world now.

[amsunshine]

I think 12 is fine for reading them.  I believe mine were 11 and 12 when they read them, or thereabouts.  However, I started them off on dystopian literature by first reading Animal Farm and then The Giver aloud with them.  I just felt those were the books I wanted them to read as their first exposure to the genre.  We also watched the HG movies after they read the books.

[redsquirrel]

I let my son read it when he was about 12 or 13.  By then I had let him read all the Harry Potter books as well.  I held off on the later HP books, until he was old enough to read YA books, as opposed to juvenile novels.  If she has read all of HP, or the Dark Materials series by Pullman, then Hunger Games is the 'next step' in books.

 

If you think she is too young, the same author wrote an excellent series aimed at a younger crowd, that deals with similar themes of how war shapes children and adults and the ways that love can drive us to make sacrifices. It is called Gregor the Overlander.  I liked it quite a lot. I personally found it just as engaging as Hunger Games.

[tmstranger]

 

 

If you think she is too young, the same author wrote an excellent series aimed at a younger crowd, that deals with similar themes of how war shapes children and adults and the ways that love can drive us to make sacrifices. It is called Gregor the Overlander.  I liked it quite a lot. I personally found it just as engaging as Hunger Games.

 

 

I want to also recommend the Gregor series. 

 

My son read The Hunger Games in 3rd grade, which seems really young!  He was in ps at the time and was begging to read it.  I had read them first and dh and I decided to let him read it, but we discussed the book with him each day (he read them all very quickly!) to make sure he understood it. 

 

Of course, he loved it.  His teacher asked the class to do an "author study" and to read a few books by the same author and compare them.  He wanted to do Suzanne Collins, which is how we found Gregor.  He flew through all of the Gregor books and read them all at least 3 times before he got out of 4th grade. 

 

All of that being said, I think it really depends on the kid.  My older son is gifted and mature in ways that my current 3rd grader just isn't.  The Hunger Games isn't even on my little kid's radar and that is FINE with me!  He is also an excellent reader, but he's all about super heroes and that sort of thing, so he can wait on these. 

 

Now, even though my oldest son is now in 6th grade, he still hasn't read the Divergent series or Mazerunner, which he has also asked to read, but The Hunger Games was ok with us.  

[Chris in VA]

We waited til 12 or 13. I told dd she had to read the whole series, bc the true, devastating effects of the Hunger Games are not revealed until the last book.I wanted her to get the author's point.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I told my dd she could read it if she wanted, but that I thought it was written so badly she shouldn't waste her time.  She hasn't read it yet. If she wants to I won't try to stop her - she's 13, and will handle it fine, having read Animal Farm, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, His Dark Materials, and a whole slew of middle grade dystopian/futuristic series.  I just think there is better stuff out there in this genre.

 

I wouldn't let my 9 year old read it if she wanted to (she has no desire to) because she's really sensitive, and I know she'd have nightmares. Neither of us wants to deal with that. When you're old enough to not wake up screaming and crying, you can read/watch what you want, until then, I absolutely get to censor, for the peace of mind (and peaceful sleep) of the whole family.

 

I thought the 2nd and 3rd books - especially the 3rd - were much more depressing, violent and unpleasant than the 1st one.  So there is that - I would discourage a kid from starting the series if I didn't think they were ready to handle the whole thing.

[LucyStoner]

My son had zero interest until this year. A friend told him about them and he really liked them. He's 12. I probably would have let him read them sooner if he had wanted to. He hasn't seen the movies. He's not so big on watching movie adaptations of books.

[RootAnn]

IMO, it will depend on the kid & the family.

 

My kids haven't read them yet. My kids actually really like movie versions of books, despite being disappointed in many of them after having read the books. I'd probably not do them as read alouds, but if any of the older three wanted to read them, I'd probably let them. I don't think the subject matter would be of interest to any of them at this point, although the oldest has read some other dsytopian literature previously.

[Kathryn]

DS asked to read them at 9 and I let him. He hasn't seen the movies though because I'd like to pre-screen visuals and I never got around to it before he lost interest and moved on to something else

[mathmarm]

This is timely, we have a 10yo that wants to read the series.

I looked into it and find the premise of child gladiators being forced to kill one another on an annual basis just savage and distasteful. I don't want the books in my house anyway, but I really don't think that this 10yo can not handle that type of violence, drama and stress anyway.

 

[shinyhappypeople]

I think DD was 10 or so when she first listened to the Hunger Games book.  It should be fine for most 12 year olds.  

[MrsWeasley]

We have made our kids wait until 13. They really understand it so much better and can process and discuss the complexities and moral issues. Plus, they are more aware of how it all relates to the world now.

 

The first time I read Romeo and Juliet, I was in middle school. I had yet to fall in love. I lived in a very safe suburban neighborhood. I hated reading it, but our school took a field trip to see it performed. I loved it, and I've had a lifelong love of Shakespeare because of it. When I watched it again in my twenties, after having fallen in love, after having snuck around for a boy, after having my parents hate his parents, after having lived in an area where gangs vied for control, I understood Romeo and Juliet much better. I don't regret going to see Romeo and Juliet at twelve, though. In fact, I take my very young kids every year to see Shakespeare performed. My oldest memorizes a few lines. They like it. They don't completely understand the complexities and moral issues. I probably don't. People devote their lives to studying Shakespeare, after all. Good stories are like that: we return to them over and over with a deeper understanding. I don't want to sound like I equate The Hunger Games with Romeo and Juliet. I just think it's okay to let a kid read something they might not fully understand yet.

[redsquirrel]

The first time I read Romeo and Juliet, I was in middle school. I had yet to fall in love. I lived in a very safe suburban neighborhood. I hated reading it, but our school took a field trip to see it performed. I loved it, and I've had a lifelong love of Shakespeare because of it. When I watched it again in my twenties, after having fallen in love, after having snuck around for a boy, after having my parents hate his parents, after having lived in an area where gangs vied for control, I understood Romeo and Juliet much better. I don't regret going to see Romeo and Juliet at twelve, though. In fact, I take my very young kids every year to see Shakespeare performed. My oldest memorizes a few lines. They like it. They don't completely understand the complexities and moral issues. I probably don't. People devote their lives to studying Shakespeare, after all. Good stories are like that: we return to them over and over with a deeper understanding. I don't want to sound like I equate The Hunger Games with Romeo and Juliet. I just think it's okay to let a kid read something they might not fully understand yet.

 

I agree with this, but I tend to be more open to it when we are talking about more important works of literature or really anything. I am not lacking for good and age appropriate, as I see it, books for my 10 year old to read. There is a very good chance he will only read The Hunger Games series once, or be enamoured of it for a short period of his life. Maybe not, but more than likely the case of it.  So, given that he is unlikely to be exposed to The Hunger Games many time in his life, at differing stages of development, I'd rather err on the side of his being able to more fully grasp what is going on. 

 

With other works of art and literature it is likely that instead of his consuming and moving on, we are at the beginning of a conversation, something that is going to continue over many years. Again, maybe not, but that is likely to be the case.

 

So, that makes me more willing to take my 9 year old to, MacBeth, for example, or Swan Lake, or the Met Museum. I know it's just the first time he is likely to interact with those things.  But, The Hunger Games? It is a pop culture moment. Personally, I am willing to wait until I think the time is right.

 

And, to be totally honest, there is a scene in, I think it is the last book, when  Finnick talks about how the Champions would be rented out as prostitutes. It was clear to me that there were sexual implications and it was very much against Finnick's will. He said that the President "used to sell my body," and if a Champion didn't agree Snow would kill someone the Champion loved.  I really didn't want to get into the whole idea of rape with my then 12 year old. It just felt too soon for that. I didn't feel comfortable addressing it when he was a little bit older either, but it was a conversation that had to be in general, so that was that.

[MrsWeasley]

I agree with this, but I tend to be more open to it when we are talking about more important works of literature or really anything. I am not lacking for good and age appropriate, as I see it, books for my 10 year old to read. There is a very good chance he will only read The Hunger Games series once, or be enamoured of it for a short period of his life. Maybe not, but more than likely the case of it.  So, given that he is unlikely to be exposed to The Hunger Games many time in his life, at differing stages of development, I'd rather err on the side of his being able to more fully grasp what is going on. 

 

With other works of art and literature it is likely that instead of his consuming and moving on, we are at the beginning of a conversation, something that is going to continue over many years. Again, maybe not, but that is likely to be the case.

 

So, that makes me more willing to take my 9 year old to, MacBeth, for example, or Swan Lake, or the Met Museum. I know it's just the first time he is likely to interact with those things.  But, The Hunger Games? It is a pop culture moment. Personally, I am willing to wait until I think the time is right.

 

And, to be totally honest, there is a scene in, I think it is the last book, when  Finnick talks about how the Champions would be rented out as prostitutes. It was clear to me that there were sexual implications and it was very much against Finnick's will. He said that the President "used to sell my body," and if a Champion didn't agree Snow would kill someone the Champion loved.  I really didn't want to get into the whole idea of rape with my then 12 year old. It just felt too soon for that. I didn't feel comfortable addressing it when he was a little bit older either, but it was a conversation that had to be in general, so that was that.

 

I was a tween when Harry Potter first hit the US. It was definitely seen as a pop culture moment. It's also been one of the most enduring fandoms in my life. Here I am, writing under a username that's an allusion to Harry Potter. 

 

And while I respect each parent to choose what they think is appropriate for their kids, I think the description of sexual trafficking in the Hunger Games evokes horror, which is so much more palatable to me than the way Shakespeare makes puns and jokes about rape.

[Farrar]

But this is what I mean about reading with adult eyes. I think the vast majority of 12 yo readers of Shakespeare or The Hunger Games will have all the references we're talking about sail over their heads. It's a very rare tween who is going to read that a bad person abused someone and immediately think "it must have been to do with s*x." We get that immediately with adult eyes. Kids just don't. I can't even say the number of books I read in middle school that I then picked up later only to discover there were many more references to s*x than I ever realized.

 

Earlier this year, I directed a group of young actors doing Much Ado About Nothing. I had edited the version we did, so that made a difference too (I took out a lot of the most clear language about s*x and emphasized other elements of the story), but mostly I just assumed that it wouldn't occur to anyone in the cast that the reason Claudio is upset about seeing "Hero" at the window is he thinks she slept with that guy. And I was right. They all thought he was jealous that she might have kissed someone else. Because... kids!

[SparklyUnicorn]

My 13 year old picked it up and couldn't get past the first 2 chapters.  He thought it was boring.  I liked the books myself.  I saw the first movie.  I didn't care for it.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

But this is what I mean about reading with adult eyes. I think the vast majority of 12 yo readers of Shakespeare or The Hunger Games will have all the references we're talking about sail over their heads. It's a very rare tween who is going to read that a bad person abused someone and immediately think "it must have been to do with s*x." We get that immediately with adult eyes. Kids just don't. I can't even say the number of books I read in middle school that I then picked up later only to discover there were many more references to s*x than I ever realized.

 

Earlier this year, I directed a group of young actors doing Much Ado About Nothing. I had edited the version we did, so that made a difference too (I took out a lot of the most clear language about s*x and emphasized other elements of the story), but mostly I just assumed that it wouldn't occur to anyone in the cast that the reason Claudio is upset about seeing "Hero" at the window is he thinks she slept with that guy. And I was right. They all thought he was jealous that she might have kissed someone else. Because... kids!

 

Oh there so many books I didn't get until I was an adult.  Sometimes I wonder why we were required to read some of them.  I often found them boring.  But then now I think some of them are amazing.

[Farrar]

Oh there so many books I didn't get until I was an adult.  Sometimes I wonder why we were required to read some of them.  I often found them boring.  But then now I think some of them are amazing.

 

Well, and that's why I think it's worth waiting on a lot of books, this one included. But, as I said before, I don't believing in taking many books out of the hands of kids motivated to read them.

[freesia]

I let dd read it at 11. I did read it first. The proviso was that she would discuss it with me and share if she was disturbed by anything.

[Mabelen]

My 11 year old had wanted to read it for a while. Apparently most of her school friends have already read it too. I decided we would make it a read out loud. We just finished the first book and very much enjoyed it. Yes, there is a lot of violence but the underlying lesson is one of humanity and solidarity. We are now on chapter 5 of the second book.

[Professormom]

My guys read it at 10 and 12. I read it just before I let them read it. For me, the s*x is what I look for. If it is smut. They don't get to read it/watch it. Because boys.

 

I was surprised it was such a controversial thing for that genre. It was much more tame than I had expected. No problems with reading. It was no literary masterpiece but it was interesting enough that it didn't put me to sleep. We have seen 3 of the 4 movies. They were ok.

 

We have had discussions about them. The whole experience was just a normal pop culture "thing." No regrets, but I definitely don't see why they ended up on public school literature lists. That was pretty weird to me but has been discussed here elsewhere. :lol

[Momling]

I think 11 or 12 sounds about right.  My 11 yr old hasn't read them yet and so I wouldn't let her watch the movies.  I think she'd like them, but hasn't seemed particularly eager.  My older daughter read them at age 11.  I binge-read them sitting by a pool with a pina colada on a vacation last year...  I enjoyed them a lot!

[Tanaqui]

My guys read it at 10 and 12. I read it just before I let them read it. For me, the s*x is what I look for. If it is smut. They don't get to read it/watch it. Because boys.

 

I'm confused. Did you mean to imply that your opinion on sex in fiction would differ based on their gender...?

 

 

[laundrycrisis]

Our younger read and watched them at age 9. I read East of Eden and The Dollmaker around that age, so I wasn't going to say no.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Laundrycrisis2

[Tsuga]

I read the Hunger Games as a re-aloud with my son when he was 7. He was begging to read it, I was skeptical, but said we could start—with the proviso that I would shut it down if I want liking the direction it was going (and there would be no arguments about my "discretion"). I half-expected I'd terminate the read. Instead, I think the book largely affirmed good values, and set an example of self-sacrifice in the heroine's decision to stand in for her little sister. The writing, while not brilliant, is not bad, and there is plot-driven interest. I ended up liking the book far more than I expected. There is moral complexity that mirrors the moral complexity of life.

 

The movies are quite poor. What makes the book(s) of interest in a ethical sense is largely lost in just the reduction of the movies to plot sans complexity.

 

My 7 year old was "mature" in the areas that maturity is called for when dealing with this sort of work, if not so mature in other ways.

 

Bill

 

Yes, that's what I'd do as well. However my kids are super sensitive and wouldn't go for it. I would let them use discretion, with mine as a backup, however. I think age is misleading. Emotional development is so uneven.

[Spy Car]

Yes, that's what I'd do as well. However my kids are super sensitive and wouldn't go for it. I would let them use discretion, with mine as a backup, however. I think age is misleading. Emotional development is so uneven.

 

 

Agreed. Even at 7 I knew my kid was not the type to be frightened easily. Calling him not sensitive, or insensitive seems (to me) like an odd word choice, especially since he did show sensitivity to the material, which we discussed as we read. But not the sort to be bothered or have bad dreams as a result. Not phased.

 

Kids can vary hugely in this regard. Know your own.

 

I personally found the books far less problematic than I'd been led to believe they were from what I was getting on the street. 

 

Bill

[IsabelC]

I have not previewed the movie, but I have read the books and I would let my 12yo and my 10yo read them now if they wanted to.

 

I wouldn't allow my 7yo to read it yet. She is not at all a 'sensitive' child; in fact, she takes violent and potentially upsetting things in her stride, and is sometimes fascinated with things graphic and gruesome. However I think this makes it all the more important that she not be exposed to too much disturbing content that could encourage her taste for the macabre. She's got, I hope, many years and many books ahead of her, so I figure it's as well to steer her toward the more innocent and wholesome offerings for now.

Edited November 23, 2015 by IsabelC

[lmrich]

Have you read it? 

[purplejackmama]

I guess I'm in the minority but I think the writing is wretched. I wouldn't recommend these books to my kids. There's just too much great writing out there to mess around with these.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I guess I'm in the minority but I think the writing is wretched. I wouldn't recommend these books to my kids. There's just too much great writing out there to mess around with these.

 

 

Well, we're a minority of two!  ;)  :D

[IsabelC]

I'll join your minority. I found the books a rather average example of the dytopian genre, and I agree that there are better examples kids could read for their educational and literary value.

[Farrar]

IsabelC, if you think these are an average example, clearly you haven't read many of the recent YA entries into the field. Even if you think it's not that great, it's buoyed by the dregs of all these more recent ones. :D

 

Shrug. I think the writing is just so-so. I feel sort of similarly to Hunger Games as I do about Harry Potter and even Lord of the Rings - the storytelling, world building, and themes greatly surpass the merely competent writing.

[Chess Dad]

Have you read it? 

 

I have not read it.  I've seen the movies though.  :o)

[lmrich]

Read them. Consider what you are studying in history. These books lend themselves to excellent discussions of revolutions, totalatarianism, exploitation... great discussion about why a ruling class would keep another group down. One of my history classes just studied the Russia Revolution and read Animal Farm - the ideas about how to start a revolution (book 3) where they pick a song, a slogan, a symbol etc.. were all so important. It can be quite interesting. 

[Spy Car]

I have not read it.  I've seen the movies though.   :o)

 

The books are better. A lot better.

 

Not as good as Moby Dick :D

 

Bill

[Tanaqui]

I guess I'm in the minority but I think the writing is wretched. I wouldn't recommend these books to my kids. There's just too much great writing out there to mess around with these.

 

Life is too short to spend your life only reading Great Writing^TM, if you ask me :)

[IsabelC]

It seems to me that we're talking about two different judgments here. There's the question of merit (whether a book is 'good' - whatever that means - and some parents set the bar very high). Then there is the concept of 'appropriateness', or whether a book contains subject matter that might be detrimental for a child of a certain age. For some of us, there can be many books and movies that would fall into the middle ground of not-great-but-not-immoral-or-dangerous.

Edited November 24, 2015 by IsabelC

[IsabelC]

IsabelC, if you think these are an average example, clearly you haven't read many of the recent YA entries into the field. Even if you think it's not that great, it's buoyed by the dregs of all these more recent ones. :D

 

 

You may be right there. I'm not all that au fait with the latest books and I probably still tend to compare everything to 1984. I do remember reading another trilogy, Matched (Ally Condie), at around the same time as the Hunger Games books and I remember liking that one better. I don't think it's been made into a movie though.

[Tanaqui]

I do remember reading another trilogy, Matched (Ally Condie), at around the same time as the Hunger Games books and I remember liking that one better. I don't think it's been made into a movie though.

 

To each their own. I thought it was a little overdone.

 

But this is all reminding me of my favorite Twitter feed - Dystopian YA!

 

Relevant quote:

 

 

I hate to say it, but as the Chosen One, I'd actually think more than two boys would be interested in me.

 

Other relevant quote:

 

"Wait," I whispered breathily. "We don't need to have sex. Overthrowing the government is just as good a marker for growing up."

[Chrysalis Academy]

To each their own. I thought it was a little overdone.

 

But this is all reminding me of my favorite Twitter feed - Dystopian YA!

 

Relevant quote:

 

 

Other relevant quote:

 

Now, that's what I'm talking about!!!  :lol: