What age do you think is okay to let kids watch Harry Potter? I saw it years ago and can't remember the scenes. Thanks!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 06:44 pm:

My kids (8 & 10) have seen the first 2 Harry Potter movies that are rated PG, but not the PG-13. I've seen them all and know those would scare the heck out of my kids. You know your kids best. Do they scare easily?

I've found this web site to be very helpful when screening movies for my kids.

MovieMom.com

By Kate on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 06:57 pm:

I'd say at least eight years old...the ending of that first movie is pretty horrific. DD11 says it's 'sick' and frankly, it is. The endings of ALL the movies are the biggest problems, of course, as that's when it gets most disturbing ("sick!" exclaims DD11) And if K watches it you know J is going to want to watch it....I'd hold off until they're all older. DD11 loves Harry Potter, but she keeps standing here exclaiming how sick the endings are...that's pretty significant since DD doesn't usually put down something she worked so hard to see herself. DD6 isn't allowed to see Potter for quite awhile and DD11 knows to watch the movies upstairs in a closed room where little DD can't see.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 07:26 pm:

Just remembered, my kids have seen the first two but not the Prisoner of Azkaban or the newer ones. Even though the Prisoner of Azkaban is rated PG I know it would freak them out.

I tend to be fairly strict about what movies my kids watch, but people have different views and all kids are different. As I stated above, you know your child best.

By Kate on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 07:36 pm:

Ahem. DH did not like my response to you. HE says your kids should not watch the movies until they have read the books. He's a purist.

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 07:40 pm:

I haven't let my dd read or watch any Potter stuff yet.I really think it would bother her too much.She just turned 8 and we cannot believe the ratings for some 8+ shows,who rates this stuff ??Most of it is inappropriate for us to let her watch it.She's past the baby stuff but too young for the pre-teen stuff.Even the commercials are outragious today.They sell sex for everything these days. IMO

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 07:42 pm:

BTW-Thanks for the movie link,Trina.I've put it in my faves

By Debbie on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 07:50 pm:

We rented them and watched them last year, my oldest ds was 8, and my youngest was 6. However, nothing bothers my 6 yr old. In fact, my oldest scares easier then him. He always tells him, "it's just a movie, it isn't real" I would say around 8 or so is a good age, but like Trina said, it really depends on your dks. Also, we read the books first. I read them out loud to both my boys, so they knew what to expect.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 08:25 pm:

Sarah was already 10, before she started reading the books, and 12, by the time she saw the first movie, which we saw on its opening day 11-16-2001. Emily would have been 9. They have seen and read all movies and books.

So, I guess age was never an issue for us, since my kids were already old enough, when the first one came out.

Neither of my kids has ever had nightmares, because of Harry Potter.

We are all looking forward to the last book. Sarah had to pick a window cling, when we per-ordered the book, a few weeks ago. Either Snape is a good man or a very bad man. I just wonder if he ends up being a good guy, because we have all thought he was so bad, thoughout all the books! Maybe we have all been fooled. Sarah picked a Bad Man window cling.

By Jjb on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 10:36 pm:

Thank you! We're struggling with my oldest ds who is 6. His friends at school are watching movies that I would NEVER show a 6 year old (ex. Titanic)- I'm very conservative with movies. He's having a hard time understanding why I won't let him watch "anything" these days. It's hard for him, but I'm sticking my ground with the movies that I feel he's not ready for, especially since his younger brothers would want to watch them too. I thought Harry Potter was too much for him, but I wanted to make sure. There is a wide variety of movies rated PG- some are harmless for my ds (ex. Shrek) and others are far beyond what I'd like him to see. Thanks for the advice!

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 11:19 pm:

DD is now 6 and watched the first 3 with us on video without issue as they came out. And she loved them. We talked about how it was just a movie, someone's imagination, nothing about it is real. Actually, I asked her a couple of times while watching them if she was scared and she replied that they were just a movie.
But now...
one of them was on Disney a couple of weeks ago. She crawled up in her daddy's lap and said it was too scary for little girls. We turned it off. She won't see any more until she asks to.

By Kaye on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 08:31 am:

The thing with the Harry potter movies is they are very addictive. I really don't know a kid who has seen one and not really really wanted to see them all. That being said, the last few are pg 13, so I would wait.

It does all depend on maturity. I don't think they are age appropriate until 4th or 5th grade. Our schools cover them pretty heavy in 3rd grade (some teachers).

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 09:54 am:

My kids, ages 6 and 7 have seen parts of some of the Harry Potter Movies. I think they have see all of the first one. They have see a very small part of the Prisoner of Azkaban....that one gets scary at the end. And they have not see the Goblet of Fire. That's a bit too scary too. DD7 has not read the books. I really think the books are scarier because your imagination can get carried away.

it really just depends on the child.

That being said, my kids don't get to scared with movies. They have seen all of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl.
The only way i let my dh show that movie to them is if they saw the MAKING OF THE MOVIE on the DVD first. That way they saw that the skeletons were just computer generated etc. Now they love the movie. They've also seen parts of the newer Star Wars (but not gross parts)

By Tonya on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 10:25 am:

Timmy is 8 and has seen them all a million times over. He has not read the books they are too complex reading for him but he loves the lovies and I would sy he has been watching them since he was 5 or 6 he loves them and wasn't scared by them and we have never sensored Jade from them either. There again she doesn't scare easy and loves to see Harry.

We had a Harry Potter marathon day Sunday and watched all 4. And SUnday night I started reading book 1 again so when 7 comes out in July I will be reprepared for it. They say things are going to come up that have happened in all of the previous 6 books.

And the 5th Movie comes out on 7/13/07 and that is Timmy's 9th B-day so I am taking the day off work to be in line with him at 8am to see it. He and I are both totally excited. I myself have read all 6 books (each at least 20x) and will be in line for the 7th the night it comes out.

Like allot of you have said we monitor what our kids see and watch but Harry is not something we monitor with either of our kids. It is the parents preference and what the child can handle seeing.

By Breann on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 02:37 pm:

My dd is 7, and she has read all of the books. It really is quite amazing. I didn't think she would stick with it. She started last July, and just finished the last one this month. She is anxiously awaiting for July when the final book is released. She has seen most of the movies. Not sure exactly which ones. I'm not a Harry Potter fan, so I haven't even read book 1. My DH and DD are the Harry Potter addicts

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 03:25 pm:

Gosh, Tonya, when have you had time to read all 6 books, about 20 times? LOL! I'm lucky I've read each, about once! My kids read the last two, within days. It took me weeks, since I have a lot less time to read!

By Tonya on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 10:49 am:

I read allot at night after everyone else is in bed. That is my unwind time. Plus I read allot in the summer sitting on the porch or back yard swing when the kids are outside playing. I love to read and can read pretty quickly.

20x each was exageratting but probably not by much.

On our cruise I read the entire 6th book on our at sea day.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 02:29 pm:

You read it in one day? Wow! I like to read before bed, too, but sometimes I don't get much read, because I'm too tired!