at what age do you let your kids watch whatever they want?

[woolybear]

Title says it all.

[Chris in VA]

25

[Amy in NH]

~16

[Ottakee]

When they pay the bill. Actually if they are in my house I will not let them watch raunchy movies etc no matter what their age

[Murphy101]

Uhhh. Idk. I don't let dh watch whatever he wants...so somewhere after 42? LOL really though it's not an issue with him either.

 

Our TVs are nearly always viewable by someone other than just one person and nearly always only turned on to watch as a family. Sometimes it's only the older kids with dh and I after the younger ones go to bed, but that's still no where near open season either. And whatever someone else pulls up on the tv, shows up as recently watched on all the TVs.

[AK_Mom4]

Whatever age it is, we haven't reached it yet. TV watching has to be appropriate for the youngest viewer. Since I,still have a young teen at home, everyone else has to watch things that are appropriate for her.

I suppose in theory the older three could watch whatever they wanted if she wasn't here, but she is generally home.

[OneStepAtATime]

When they are no longer living in my home so I don't have to face what they call entertainment....  :)

 

Actually, I don't know.  I guess it would depend on the child.  We haven't crossed that bridge yet, but it is an interesting question...

[Guest]

After they move out and not under my roof. I'm okay with an older teen watching some R-rated movies with us, depending on the reason for the rating. But pornography, gratuitously overly violent or sexual movies, and about two thirds of what is currently on cable TV? Not in my home, please.

[Liza Q]

In High School they have a lot more say. But I have final say. Certain shows are just not acceptable and I tell them to wait till they are 18. When they are in college they can watch what they want. Actually, there are certain shows I don't even let my adult daughters watch. I tell them to go to a friend's house to watch something I find too racy. Not that they can't watch it...just not in my home!

[Joker]

Mine are 13 and 15. We don't restrict based on language. They like horror movies and we don't restrict but they don't want to watch anything with too much blood or gore. So, I guess they restrict themselves there. None of us watch things with a lot of, or raunchy, sex stuff. I honestly don't remember the last time they asked to watch something and we actually said no.

[katilac]

I don't really restrict now that they're both teens. I do check parental advisories on movies, but that's because we generally watch together and no one wants to be completely mortified  :lol:

 

We don't have cable. They do have laptops and internet access, and they don't have to ask permission to watch anything. 

 

No restrictions at friends' houses, but again, they are easily mortified and I'm not too worried. 

[katilac]

I don't really restrict now that they're both teens. I do check parental advisories on movies, but that's because we generally watch together and no one wants to be completely mortified  :lol:

 

We don't have cable. They do have laptops and internet access, and they don't have to ask permission to watch anything. 

 

No restrictions at friends' houses, but again, they are easily mortified and I'm not too worried. 

[NorthwestMom]

My oldest is 16, fwiw. I would let him watch pretty much whatever he wants since he would not watch p*rn or violent movies anyway. If he chooses to watch something I think is crap, he would have to do it when his younger siblings are not awake and also would be subject to my editorializing about WHY it is crap.  :lol:

[redsquirrel]

Well, when my older son was about 13 or 14 I stopped restricting what he could watch, but I never told him, lol. But, I should add that he is a very reasonable sort of kid and he's not the sort to take those sorts of risks, kwim?  He knows I have complete access to his media usage and we talk about what he watches. Mostly he watches Supernatural and The Walking Dead. He still asks permission before he starts watching a new show or movie and I haven't asked him to do that in years.

 

If he were a different sort of kid I would make different sort of rules. But, he's fairly straightlaced...he blushes when I swear, lol. And he is a very open sort of kid. He's not one to keep secrets and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He seems to be fairly incapable of lying and it is a complete disaster when he tries to the point where I end up just laughing at the attempt.

 

So we just talk a lot about what he is watching and reading.

 

 

[katilac]

  Mostly he watches Supernatural and The Walking Dead. He still asks permission before he starts watching a new show or movie and I haven't asked him to do that in years.

 

 

My girls love Supernatural! It was so funny when they suggested it as one of our shows to watch together -  they never liked anything too scary or gory, but apparently Sam & Dean helped them overcome that. 

[LaMere Academy]

When they're adults.  There's too much sick stuff on TV and in movies for me to ever give them free rein.  I even tell my adult kids to not watch certain movies I've seen that were really upsetting that I wished I hadn't seen.  Of course, doesn't mean they will listen to me. 

 

My youngest are almost 15 and just turned 16 and they can't see all PG-13's either.  Some are fine, some are really bad.  I don't think I'm super strict, but I definitely am careful with what they can see.

[Joanne]

Mid teens but I don't "allow" porn; I don't believe in the industry.

 

I don't restrict movies, video games, music, or reading material for any of mine (one of mine will be 20 next month and does not love with me anymore.)

[Lolly]

I think I stopped monitoring at 13 or 14. Maybe 12. That doesn't mean porn, but tv and movies are pretty much anything goes. The theater here does check ids for movie ratings.

[elegantlion]

I think I stopped monitoring at 13 or 14. Maybe 12. That doesn't mean porn, but tv and movies are pretty much anything goes. The theater here does check ids for movie ratings.

 

About the same, ds rarely watches television. He does watch shows on the computer, mostly anime, documentaries, or some TV shows like The Mentalist and Suits. He does watch Cops and old movies with my dad. 

[Spy Car]

33

[busymama7]

Dh and I restrict what is watched in our home regardless of the age of the person wishing to watch it. This goes for adult visitors as well. (At least on the TVs or desktop or anywhere public) Our house our rules. We dont require appropriate for the youngest in the home as we have infant to 18 and that's impractical. Things for teens/adults have to be watched after bed time or not in the main part of the house.

 

In addition we have standards as to what is appropriate viewing for anyone of any age. We expect them to uphold those standards when out of the home and I think they do but of course we can't always know for sure. We have taught them to the best of our ability but they do of course have to make their own decisions.

[go_go_gadget]

I'm thinking 16 for everything other than porn or Tarantino. I have actual nightmares about being forced to watch Tarantino films.

 

We watched Sense & Sensibility the other day, and I realized they'd never seen a Hugh Grant film before. I was surprised for a second, but then I thought about the films I'm looking forward to sharing with them eventually: Four Weddings, Love, Actually, An Awfully Big Adventure... and then I wasn't surprised anymore.

[BlsdMama]

Not in this house if it's R. Wait, my bad, Passion of Christ was R.

[Kari C in SC]

I'm an oddball I guess... I'm thinking 14 - in high school. I don't care about language and well, honestly, I would prefer a love scene to everyone killing everyone, but it is uncomfortable to watch that together. To me TeA is natural, killing people is not. Now, I'm not saying p*rn, but I don't really care if my kids see nude people. It is just a part of being human, ya know? Having said that, I tend to trust my kids till they show me a reason not to trust them. My 16 dd just binge watched House and Pokemon. She has also binged on Bones, My Name is Earl, Supernatural and others. I watched all sorts of movies when I was a teen that many would call not suitable and I can seriously say it did not effect who I grew up to be.

[Melissa in Australia]

when ds21 moved into Uni campus at 17 I no longer controlled what he watched. It was up to him then, I mean he is living over 400 km away. 

 

 

my older teens do watch M15+ movies etc. after the younger ones are in bed. I do not tolerate any program promoting drug use whatever the rating.

 

 

[tshirtyogapantmama]

We don't really have an age. Our 2 oldest (12, 14) are able to watch whatever they want on streaming (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu) G, PG, and NR Documentaries. 

 

We don't have cable. Just Roku (2), Kindle/Tablets, and the Internet (no filters). 

 

PG13 they ask permission before watching unless we have already watched it as a family together or it's in an action/sci-fi series like Transformers, GI Joe, James Bond, LOTR, etc. if DH or I haven't seen it we might read a review before letting them watch it alone or suggest watching it together as a family since we enjoy action/sci-fi movies. We've only watched a few as a family rated R mainly historical like Patriot & action like The Last Stand. 

 

For TV shows it's about the same....we do ask they ask permission before watching anything TV-14. We watch TV-14 together like Revolution (when it was on), Sherlock, Once Upon a Time, Downton Abbey etc. Currently, we do restrict TV-MA but it's not restricted forever. DH and I haven't determined when they can watch MA, I think it will depend on the show and then we'll probably watch it together like we do TV-14. 

 

 

[ChocolateReignRemix]

16-ish.

[Tsuga]

Whatever they want? Probably never, certainly nothing illegal in our house.

 

And if it says 18+ and that's the law, well, that's the law. We will be having a conversation about what happens in the pr0n industry, what it means, STD rates among sex workers, etc. etc. etc. but we aren't opposed to exhibitionism between consenting adults in theory. However we won't be encouraging it either.

 

Other than that obvious caveat, around 12 they can decide. Though I'm concerned about violence, nobody is actually getting killed in those movies, so it's a different discussion than the pr0n discussion.

[Tap]

under 9/10 --Everything is G rated unless I have checked it out first.

9/10 up until age 12 --they can watch anything rated PG without asking, they have to ask to watch anything else so I can check the reason for the content rating.

12yo--PG13 

about 15/16--R (depends on content)

16ish --NC17 (depends on the content)

 

I stop monitoring  at high school graduation so anything harder than that, I don't want to know about i, and I don't want to see or hear it. 

 

DS has been a ministry major since he was 17yo, so this has never been an issue for him.  He has been in a religious university and his closest friends are all very religious, so his unintentional exposure has been limited. He hates violent movies and will leave the room during romantic scenes in most movies.

 

DD16 is in public school, has a smart phone and unlocked internet.  She is much more exposed to unitentional violent/sexual topics through friends, than DS ever was.

 

I occasionally check my kids technology search/download history until about the age of graduation. After that, I consider it their right to choose what images they choose to view.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Around 12 I stopped monitoring if you can call what I did monitoring.  DC are excellent at self-censoring and have no interest in watching s*xually explicit stuff.  I trust them and we talk about what they watch a lot, DS likes Youtube stuff like PewDiePie and DD watches Anime.  DS has started to watch a couple shows (that I will not name because I don't want to get flamed) but he's quick to skip the inappropriate parts, like I tell them- there are things you can't un-see.

[Laura Corin]

About 17?  It was a process of slowly stopping asking what he was choosing to watch on his own - at that age he was allowed to have his computer in his room for the first time.  He went off to university that year, so he was learning his own tastes and limits

[Guest tainzhiuma]

I tell them to go to a friend's house to watch something I find too racy. 

[kroe1]

Never. It is my house and my rules. Nobody is really watching tv anymore, however.

[Pawz4me]

High school age. So around 14.

 

Although I can't say we were overly concerned after about 10.

 

But a LOT of that was due to our boys' maturity level and their personalities.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I'm an oddball I guess... I'm thinking 14 - in high school. I don't care about language and well, honestly, I would prefer a love scene to everyone killing everyone, but it is uncomfortable to watch that together. To me TeA is natural, killing people is not. Now, I'm not saying p*rn, but I don't really care if my kids see nude people. It is just a part of being human, ya know? Having said that, I tend to trust my kids till they show me a reason not to trust them. My 16 dd just binge watched House and Pokemon. She has also binged on Bones, My Name is Earl, Supernatural and others. I watched all sorts of movies when I was a teen that many would call not suitable and I can seriously say it did not effect who I grew up to be.

Don't really restrict much. Language is a non-issue. I try to keep the 7 yo away from things that might give her nightmares but I'm not hyper vigilant. No p*rn but nudity and love scenes are fine. Not a fan of blood and torture but dh is absolutely, no hold barred, they can watch anything so I try to modulate him a little.

[Joules]

Ds is 17, but self monitors. He's stopped asking "Can I?" in the past year or so, and more asks "Is this any good?". I've warned him off a couple of cable series because of the level of violence (particularly realistic violence and r-pe...I can't watch that stuff). If I haven't seen it, mostly I just summarize the Common Sense Media evaluation, eliminating spoilers, and let him decide.

 

Here's one giant warning about using something like Common Sense Media to decide if one should see an R rated movie in the theater: The previews may be more than you bargained for! It's been a while since I'd seen an R rated movie, I guess, and now the previews are no longer, "Approved for General Audiences.". Dh wanted to see Kingsmen for Valentine's and ds decided to go with us. The previews were horrible:scenes from a horror movie, a chunk of the beginning of a r-pe scene of a teen girl. I was was so shaken, it took a bit to get into the comedy I had gone to see! (There was also a preview with a fully nude sex scene, but it was from a comedy, so it didn't get to me the same way, but I imagine others might be disturbed.). I think I'll have dh snag me a seat next time and wait in the lobby until the movie starts!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'm not particularly strict about this.  I'm mostly concerned with excessively violent movies.  I don't care if my kids see naked parts or suggestions of sex scenes (so long as they aren't violent in nature), but I have a problem with them seeing stuff like gang violence or graphic war movies.  When they are 18 I can't disallow them to watch whatever movie they want except here at home.

 

 

 

 

[kewb]

Around 14 the reigns were greatly loosened. However, there are some things I don't want to watch so they are off limits when I am around.

[5wolfcubs]

The older the older ones get, the younger the younger ones get introduced to stuff. I think that is just the nature of having a range of ages. I just let DS15 watch The Last Samurai and Gladiator. When my oldest was 15 I would have said no.

 

Whatever they want? Own home, own money.

[Joanne]

Around 14 the reigns were greatly loosened. However, there are some things I don't want to watch so they are off limits when I am around.

I am this way about music. If the sound or lyrics bother me, I expect them to not listen around me and to ensure my short lecture on how many rap celebrities sing about nothing more than money, power, sex or partying.

 

They can give YOU the speech ;).

[Shellydon]

When they move out of the house.

[Carrie12345]

I don't do much sensoring at all and never have.  But my kids rarely show interest in anything I would find questionable.

I remember carefully considering Saving Private Ryan for my oldest a few years back and eventually approved it.  I've banned some YouTube channels for the 4 and 7yos.  I've had serious conversations with the girls about some crummy tweeny shows they've watched.  But these are not things I worry about on a regular basis.  They're pretty well aware of what they can and cannot handle.  For instance, my 12yo avoids all gore.  My 16yo tends to avoid "adult situations".

[Bluegoat]

My kids aren't old enough yet to have free access, but I'm interested in the porn vs nudity/sexthing, which a couple people have mentioned.

 

I think it is probably a distinction I would have made in the past as well, but my feeling is with some of the shows on at the moment, it is less of a distinction than it used to be.  The first season of GoT with the two prostitutes talking to Littlefinger comes to mind as not being much like a conventional sex scene and more like porn, though I can't quite put my finger on why.  It's obviously fake, it's gratuitous but that goes for a lot of things that wouldn't particularly worry me.  But I am not sure I'd want my teen to watch it.

[SKL]

I let my kids see some heavy stuff, but only if I (or other caregiver) watch it with them.  Since I hardly ever watch screens, this means they don't see much.  :P

 

With my kids, the bigger issue is how screens affect their behavior.  Judging from how they behave every time I let them watch "The Little Rascals," it may be a long time before I let them loose.

 

I was probably about 13 when my parents stopped wanting a say in what I saw on TV.  Of course times were different then.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Well, we have a small house and you can hear the tv in every room even with the doors closed.  SOOOO, with an 11 year old we all have to restrict in some ways.  For us, in our house, we will always have the right to say no to something raunchy.  Dh will stay up to watch his kung fu movies without me lol.  Our biggest issue is violent movies....what they can hear and what they see if they come out of their rooms.  Luckily dh hates horror films, so I don't have to worry about those being seen by accident.  There are a lot of movies I can't wait for the kids to be older to watch.  So yes, we limit based on age....and when I feel like they can handle it they can watch it. 

[Melissa B]

14ish. However, we only have one television. It is in the living room. Whatever is being watched on it must be acceptable viewing for the youngest person at home (and awake.)

[Momling]

When I have preschoolers or young kids, I'm very very picky. But with my own big kids, since they're not into porn or violence and are not addicted to TV at all, I don't really have censor anything. In fact, I often watch John Oliver's last week tonight with my 13 yr old and she knows I cringe at the bad language and adult themes, but we watch it anyway and laugh because it's both funny and insightful.

I suppose if they were watching something terrible, I would stop them... It's just that their tastes don't seem to run that way.

[kristi26]

My oldest is currently 15 years old.  He still can't.  I don't know what age we'll allow him to watch whatever he wants. Maybe when he moves out? Lol. Whatever the age, I hope by then he has a good hold on what is considered appropriate for viewing. :)

[ksr5377]

Well my parents let me watch whatever I wanted right after I got married and moved out, so probably around then.

[Trilliums]

My kids are not big tv watchers, but around age 13-14 I did talk to them about being mindful of books and audio books from the library as they were venturing out of the young adult section.  We talked about different content one might want to avoid and how you cannot "unread" or "unsee" some things.  I did not restrict their reading though.  Oldest is heading off to college this year and my other son will be going next year.  They have free access to the internet on their phones and I have no concerns about their choices.  If they consistently wanted to watch raunchy material, I am sure I would feel differently, but this just has never been an issue.