Are schools allowed to show kids PG rated films without permission?

we generally only watched films etc.. at the end of term/end of year etc..... the day or two when you don't have much in the way of lessons (or at least didn't back then, apparently schools are so pushed for time now that they fine parents for taking kids out of school)

I think we watched a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in an English lesson once (not the Baz Luhrmann version but some foreign film). Juliet did get naked and nips were visible briefly... which of course prompted a very immature cheer from the class of 12/13 yr olds and an annoyed teacher who paused the film and told us we'd be writing essays instead if we didn't stop being disruptive :D
 
Vonhelmet said:
Harry Potter is not on the national curriculum.
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are you sure, some of the posters seem to think it is and that not allowing a child of 7 to watch it equates to chaining them up and abusing them. or have I got it wrong?

Vonhelmet said:
It’s a lot easier to argue with people if you make up their side of the argument as well as your own.
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Ah so the OP didn't turn it into a rant about his kids not reading non Christian books. cool. to be clear he's still just interested in having a say on what his 7 year old daughter watches and doesn't watch, irrespective of what social 'norms' or rather the 'norms' of GD dictate?​
 
dowie said:
we generally only watched films etc.. at the end of term/end of year etc..... the day or two when you don't have much in the way of lessons (or at least didn't back then, apparently schools are so pushed for time now that they fine parents for taking kids out of school)

I think we watched a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in an English lesson once (not the Baz Luhrmann version but some foreign film). Juliet did get naked and nips were visible briefly... which of course prompted a very immature cheer from the class of 12/13 yr olds and an annoyed teacher who paused the film and told us we'd be writing essays instead if we didn't stop being disruptive :D
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Vonhelmet said:
I was going to post about watching that R+J film. Nipples are serious business.
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our music teacher, I think it was, let us watch Gregorys Girl one year leading up to summer hols - he was very liberal (if that's the correct definition). the bit where he was peeping on her and there was a flash of le muff abruptly ended that screening though!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Harry Potter is not on the national curriculum.
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It is primary, I don’t think any specific books are on the curriculum. It is only when you get to secondary and GCSE do the silly rules about what books are and are not suitable come in (Dickins is in, Steinbeck is out...) Prior to that schools can pick and choose books relevant to their scheme of work. For example they may read Frankenstein or Jekyl and Hyde if the are studying gothic literature.

In primary school they can pick and choose what books they use in class. It may be they are reading the Harry Potter books and using the films to supplement learning.

Or the teacher might just need a couple of hours of quiet to write reports, drink coffee or gossip. :)
 
All kids react differently and usually a parent is the one that has the best idea of how a child is likely to react. I vividly remember watch Jaws 2 as a 5-6 year old around at my mates house and it left me fascinated with Sharks and wanting to know more, yet another kid of the same age may have been terrified for life. However I don't think my Dad would have let me watch it if I'd asked as, at the time, I couldn't even watch the Thriller music video because the MJ transformation was too scary for me, yet I was happy with an 18 rated Jaws movie :D

SexyGreyFox said:
I don't think anybody has actually bothered to read what the OP has posted which is typical for these forums.
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Yeap, 100% agree and it "feels" like it gets worse day after day, like people only come here to argue and get some warped sense of stress relief by being a keyboard warrior until everyone is sick of reading their tripe and gives up, leaving our warrior alone in the thread thinking "yeah, they've give up now so I was right see, told you". When those people start to "take over" a forum it's usually the beginning of the end for it as most people just don't want the hassle of dealing with them and stop visiting.

Of course the "Ignore Poster" function on this board is GREAT!!!!! :D
 
It might not be on the curriculum per se but reading is, so inspiring kids to read books by showing them a film that’s backed up with a best selling book series can be seen as part of the curriculum.

Contacting governors is way ott and will take too long to get a response. Phone the school and ask to speak to someone if you want quick action. Going to governors should be for serious issues or because you’ve tried to speak with the school and you aren’t getting anywhere.
 
ianh said:
All kids react differently and usually a parent is the one that has the best idea of how a child is likely to react. I vividly remember watch Jaws 2 as a 5-6 year old around at my mates house and it left me fascinated with Sharks and wanting to know more, yet another kid of the same age may have been terrified for life. However I don't think my Dad would have let me watch it if I'd asked as, at the time, I couldn't even watch the Thriller music video because the MJ transformation was too scary for me, yet I was happy with an 18 rated Jaws movie :D



Yeap, 100% agree and it "feels" like it gets worse day after day, like people only come here to argue and get some warped sense of stress relief by being a keyboard warrior until everyone is sick of reading their tripe and gives up, leaving our warrior alone in the thread thinking "yeah, they've give up now so I was right see, told you". When those people start to "take over" a forum it's usually the beginning of the end for it as most people just don't want the hassle of dealing with them and stop visiting.

Of course the "Ignore Poster" function on this board is GREAT!!!!! :D
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oh my, never have I saw a truer post. nomination for man of honour just for this post alone. well said sir, well said
 
I watched many films over the course of junior and secondary school, and parental content was never required. Some of it was fairly graphic/mature by the time we were in secondary school - Stand By Me, The Cross And The Switchblade, Richard III
Watching a film can be an extremely effective learning method, especially in a Youtube generation where people are very accustomed, even as children, to learning things from video.
 
My 8 year old son has watched most of the first three Harry Potter films. He didnt enjoy them and won't watch others because he found them scary. Kids react differently to things, for example he loves the lord of the rings films.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I don't think anybody has actually bothered to read what the OP has posted which is typical for these forums.
He knows exactly what triggers his own daughter and wants some say in it - I agree.
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Yep, I would agree that it is quite extreme to have a problem with Harry Potter but the OP specifically mentioned that his 7yo Daughter is quite sensitive to films. He even mentioned Lion King at one point so in his case it is more than reasonable to want to moderate what she is watching.
 
ianh said:
All kids react differently and usually a parent is the one that has the best idea of how a child is likely to react. I vividly remember watch Jaws 2 as a 5-6 year old around at my mates house and it left me fascinated with Sharks and wanting to know more, yet another kid of the same age may have been terrified for life. However I don't think my Dad would have let me watch it if I'd asked as, at the time, I couldn't even watch the Thriller music video because the MJ transformation was too scary for me, yet I was happy with an 18 rated Jaws movie :D
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So what you're saying is your dad didn't know what you would and wouldn't like. Which is my point in this whole thread...

I'd guess he wouldn't let you watch it either, most parents wouldn't let a 6 year old watch jaws. That's completely understandable as it's a horror/suspense with gore and outright terror!
It's not a children's fantasy film!
Still don't fully trust the sea to this day...
 
cyber69 said:
My daughter (13) told me she had watched ‘The woman in black’ at school some time ago.
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My daughter (ten) watched child's play round a friend's house during a sleep over and really wants to watch IT but I did tell her no to that one! She loves going to the Cinema and she has watched plenty of 12a stuff with us. I can remember watching Terminator, Aliens etc all at a young age. I guess she takes after her mother as she likes a good scary film. I am the one who hates them!

I watched Jaws while my teenage cousin was looking after me when I was 6 years old. We ran home in the rain and I was scared of the puddles because jaws would get me!
 
Mumsnet would be proud of some of the posts in this thread. Showing Harry Potter to a 7 year old? Oh boo hoo. I could understand calling the teachers judgement into question if they proposed to show the kids The Exorcist or something, but a Harry Potter film - a series of books about good morality, childhood friendship, resisting the urge to "fit in" and loyalty? Surely these display good values that you would want instilled in your child?

I think, as a society, we have become *way* too over protective of children and thinking we have to shield them from absolutely everything - to the point that they never get to experience anything in their formative years and never form any resilience to things and lack confidence as a result. This impacts later on in life when they struggle to problem solve, become way too sensitive to everyday experiences and think they need to call the police/ambulance/GP/social services to solve their issues for them.

Children need to be given a chance to develop grit and resilience - this is something which is severely lacking in today's society. Even the head of Ofsted thinks the general cotton wool wrapping of children is contributing to them not being able to deal with life's small foibles.

If the OP even raises this with the school - I think he is contributing to this problem.
 
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One of our art teachers showed FMJ to Year 8 last year. She claimed it was only the beginning so it wasn't that bad. (Spoiler: it's pretty bad!) Needless to say, I was unimpressed.

The Head subbed a history class last lesson before the winter/Christmas break and showed them Twelve Years a Slave. Again, not something I would've chosen for Year 8/9..
 
I often wondered about this as when I was 15, in 1995 and doing media studies GCSE, one of the films we worked on was Clockwork Orange, and that included a full viewing of the film. I think it was the unedited version to, including death by giant willy. Looking back I’m pretty shocked now.
 
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