Movie Night at school "The Pacifier"

[LukesMum]

One of the reasons I have been a member here for 9 years is that I can come here and people dont think Im completely crazy!!

My children attend a wonderful International School here in Europe. Grade PreK-6 They had a Movie Night as a fundraiser for the 6thgrade trip. It was for Grades 2-6...the movie was "The Pacifier" with Vinn Diesel (sp?) I was really surprised that this was the movie choice......now I may watch it with my 9 year old at some point, but at a school function? No one agreed with me that it was not approriate. The movie starts that the dad was some sort of secret agent or something and was killed so Deisel comes to look after the kids ( he's a navy seal or something) Its very funny...but lots of fighting/weapons also. My argument was that kids are so desensitzed to violence. Am I crazy???

[lauren]

Over time I have found myself constantly on a different wavelength when it comes to movies and kids. I remember my 6 yr old boy being invited to a movie party to see the new Spiderman movie when it was released (he didn't get to go). That movie was full of graphic violence. Parents sometimes don't understand the impact of this, but schools?

Schools should know better!

[karika]

yes, inappropriate IMO. wasn't it PG-13? I explain thngs like this to my dd by telling her most of the world is living under a veil of forgetfulness and they have forgotten about things. They think it is funny when someone gets hurt, which it never is... etc....she seemed to understand for awhile, but to a degree i know she has to forget and get lost herself in order to find herself...

[Bekka]

A couple of years ago, our school had a "movie night" and I had to find out what the movie was b/c dd (kg age at the time) would have nightmares if seeing the wrong movie. I mean, even Snow White was "the wrong movie." (scary queen, etc.). It turned out to be OK, but you would not believe how many people I had to talk to and they all thought I had 3 heads or something (well, Disney's OK, isn't it? Well, not always).

[mammastar2]

No, you're not crazy.

Dd had to leave a children's party in tears because they were showing a scary movie (Monster House) when she was 6 - and we definitely got the 'you have three heads' reaction...there were younger children there who were just fine, but I think they were more desensitized through lots of exposure to that kind of thing.

[eepster]

I'm sure that many parents do show that movie to kids, but there are also plenty who would't. A school really should lean towards being more careful in their choices.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by karika

wasn't it PG-13?

I googled it, it was just a regular PG.

Now if anyone had flashed a boob, you can bet it would have been at least PG 13, and probably R .

[Heavenly]

I would be livid if someone showed that movie to my kids! My son is 8 and is not allowed to watch what most of the other kids his age watch. I definitely think most kids are desensitized to violence. When I look at the shows that are supposedly okay for someone his age I am horrified!

[Momily]

I guess I have mixed feelings. If they werre showing it in school (and I'm amazed how often people post here that their kids were watching movies in school for "indoor recess" or a reward or something -- the only movies that we can show at my school are things that are very directly related to the curriculum -- e.g. the magic school house video on butterflies during the first grade insect unit), then I'd be horrified, but if it's a fundraiser outside of school hours then I'd assume that the sixth graders chose the movie they'd want to see, and invited the younger kids in an effort to make more money. It's still up to parents to make individual decisions as to whether their particular kids are old enough to see that particular movie.

Having said that, I haven't actually seen the Pacifier so maybe if I had I'd feel differently.

[Needle in the Hay]

Originally Posted by mammastar2

there were younger children there who were just fine, but I think they were more desensitized through lots of exposure to that kind of thing.

There's no need to jump to that conclusion. When my DS was nearly 5 he insisted that he wanted to see Monster House in the cinema. I was hesitant but he was so sure that I took him and he loved it. We don't have tv and he hadn't really seen anything like that before. At that point most of our dvds were along the lines of Thomas the Tank Engine. The other movies we took him to see that summer were Cars and Garfield 2. FWIW though, I wouldn't have chosen that movie to show to a group of little kids at a party. I hope the hosts at least gave advance notice to parents of the guests.

[SpringMom]

Check with your school and find out where the movie that they are showing is coming from. There are many movie companies ( our church uses one ) that rent movies for mass audiences that have been cleaned up and the violence minimized. Perhaps this could be the case?

[meemee]

if that movie was shown here in the US i would have been livid.

BUt in Europe nah!!!! they just have a whole different way of raising kids, the attitude and the pacifier fits in well with their culture. i think.

[St. Margaret]

Monster House was really scary, in a creepy, kinda icky way. DH and I were trying to watch it and I swear the vibe was so odd, it was disturbing our infant DD sleeping on us.

It's too bad that so many people show questionable movies to kids at events like that. At least give the parents a heads up!