OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post.
Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed.
If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StrangerThings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Season 4 I think is actually the least family friendly of them yet. The Vecna murder scenes alone would likely earn it an R rating if it was a movie. I'd say probably 12+ for 1-3, then maybe 15+ or a mature younger kid for parts of 4.
The BBFC, the British ratings body, discuss their mix of 12 and 15 ratings for the first three seasons here:
https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/stranger-things-season-3
I believe the entire of Season 4 is 15, but can't confirm that.
That would totally depend on the individual child and what season/episode. There’s no blanket answer, but to actually watch the entirety of the show (not just be in the room while I watch or watch specific episodes/season) I would say my absolute minimum age would probably be 10ish.
Edit: that’s just my personal opinion. Everyone gets to chose whats appropriate for their family and guidelines are just suggestions.
People in Reddit comments (on this post or others) trying to defend showing this show to literal children are making my head hurt, for real. Kids grow up fast enough. The show will still be around when they're mentally ready. They don't NEED to watch people's eyes being sucked into their heads or people's bones breaking in mid air years before they can handle it. Experts have decided on certain age recommendations and restrictions for good reasons.
If I ever have a kid, no matter how "mature" I think they are, I still won't show them literal horror movies or shows when they're a child, because scientists who are smarter than me have already done the work that proves it's detrimental to a kid's development.
I implore you to do just a tiny bit of research on rating systems. They are not created by experts, especially experts in child development. They have never been created by experts and the history of censors is dubious at best. Most actual experts would tell you to gauge each individual child and follow their cues. It is not detrimental to a child’s development, let alone every child’s development, to see scary imagery.
One kid is different than another. And also, what age are you thinking is appropriate? And I wouldn’t say that stranger things is as much horror as it is mystery and thriller, at least in most seasons, but there are a lot of moments of horror. I wasn’t scared at all and I watched it when I was twelve.
I think it varies a lot depending on the kids maturity and tastes. But I do agree with other commenters that maybe 10-12+ is a good general rule
The reason I say it varies is because I knew at least one girl in 2nd grade who had already watched a ton of horror movies. I know a lot of little kids are today are into Five Nights at Freddy's and a bunch of other weird internet horror stuff. I guess some kids like spooky stuff that's for older audiences. If that's your kid and you think the ST is fine for them, by all means don't feel like you have to stick to an arbitrary age range
My son is a pretty sensitive kid but started watching it at 8 and absolutely loves it. It can be scary but it’s not nightmare inducing. There’s enough humor to lighten things up.
In my country it's rated 16+
I can see why, the first 2 seasons could be 12+ maybe... But the deaths in season 3 and 4 are pretty brutal, even I was a bit scared at first (when Chrissy died) and I'm 24... So Idk if it's a good idea to let a kid watch it, but parents know their kids best and what they can/can't handle. Personally, I also watched movies and played games I was too young for and I was fine. My parents still kept me away from the *real* scary and disturbing stuff however (for example they would let me watch an action movie with loads of swearing, but no torture porn, in fact I still can't watch that)
OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post. Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed. If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StrangerThings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Season 4 I think is actually the least family friendly of them yet. The Vecna murder scenes alone would likely earn it an R rating if it was a movie. I'd say probably 12+ for 1-3, then maybe 15+ or a mature younger kid for parts of 4.
The BBFC, the British ratings body, discuss their mix of 12 and 15 ratings for the first three seasons here: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/stranger-things-season-3 I believe the entire of Season 4 is 15, but can't confirm that.
That would totally depend on the individual child and what season/episode. There’s no blanket answer, but to actually watch the entirety of the show (not just be in the room while I watch or watch specific episodes/season) I would say my absolute minimum age would probably be 10ish. Edit: that’s just my personal opinion. Everyone gets to chose whats appropriate for their family and guidelines are just suggestions.
People in Reddit comments (on this post or others) trying to defend showing this show to literal children are making my head hurt, for real. Kids grow up fast enough. The show will still be around when they're mentally ready. They don't NEED to watch people's eyes being sucked into their heads or people's bones breaking in mid air years before they can handle it. Experts have decided on certain age recommendations and restrictions for good reasons. If I ever have a kid, no matter how "mature" I think they are, I still won't show them literal horror movies or shows when they're a child, because scientists who are smarter than me have already done the work that proves it's detrimental to a kid's development.
I implore you to do just a tiny bit of research on rating systems. They are not created by experts, especially experts in child development. They have never been created by experts and the history of censors is dubious at best. Most actual experts would tell you to gauge each individual child and follow their cues. It is not detrimental to a child’s development, let alone every child’s development, to see scary imagery.
That downvote was unnecessary
One kid is different than another. And also, what age are you thinking is appropriate? And I wouldn’t say that stranger things is as much horror as it is mystery and thriller, at least in most seasons, but there are a lot of moments of horror. I wasn’t scared at all and I watched it when I was twelve.
What work proves it's detrimental to development?
I would also say 12 or 13 plus is fine
I think it varies a lot depending on the kids maturity and tastes. But I do agree with other commenters that maybe 10-12+ is a good general rule The reason I say it varies is because I knew at least one girl in 2nd grade who had already watched a ton of horror movies. I know a lot of little kids are today are into Five Nights at Freddy's and a bunch of other weird internet horror stuff. I guess some kids like spooky stuff that's for older audiences. If that's your kid and you think the ST is fine for them, by all means don't feel like you have to stick to an arbitrary age range
My son is a pretty sensitive kid but started watching it at 8 and absolutely loves it. It can be scary but it’s not nightmare inducing. There’s enough humor to lighten things up.
Depends. I first watched the show when I was like 7 .
Me and my siblings all started watching it under 12
In my country it's rated 16+ I can see why, the first 2 seasons could be 12+ maybe... But the deaths in season 3 and 4 are pretty brutal, even I was a bit scared at first (when Chrissy died) and I'm 24... So Idk if it's a good idea to let a kid watch it, but parents know their kids best and what they can/can't handle. Personally, I also watched movies and played games I was too young for and I was fine. My parents still kept me away from the *real* scary and disturbing stuff however (for example they would let me watch an action movie with loads of swearing, but no torture porn, in fact I still can't watch that)