Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Some of this makes no sense. If you want your child to remain sensitive to loud noise, etc. Then why take them to the movies? Movies are not going to ever become quieter I'm guessing.

There are certain things we can control and certain things we will just make ourselves a little neurotic over trying to control (even if we are somehow 'successful')- I have to ask myself why its even worth it if what you want and the control you want don't line up with the way something is in reality (here, movie theaters).

True. We are selective about what movies we go to. (Is this a difficult concept to understand? There are lots of websites that preview movies for parents so that you can know what to expect ahead of time, and make your decision. Also, our Catholic paper, The Arlington Catholic Herald, does the same. Also, adoption websites do the same; both my children are adopted. I could go on and on about similar options for parents, depending upon what you are looking for. Anyway. . .) We have seen two movies in the theater: "Inside Out" and, last summer, "Frozen." If you don't want to take the time to do this for your children, that is fine, but don't act like it is an astonishing that people do this.

I'm PP you are quoting and I am not on the "you should stay home because the world is scary and if you are too scared of preview at 8 you are dumb" bandwagon that many other posters are. I get how previews might be jarring. I guess I am more wondering how about how it might be kind of mentally draining, and not worth the effort, or just a unnecessarily harder way to live as a parent trying to exert a lot of control over things that we can't. Its the vibe I got from your post. And it made me curious. I am not "astonished" that people research media for their children, nor should you be assuming that I don't want to "take time" to do something for my children.

Eh, I guess it doesn't seem that hard to me. I read a lot, come across these things anyway, etc. But your mileage may vary. What's easy to one person may be "not worth the effort' to another!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Some of this makes no sense. If you want your child to remain sensitive to loud noise, etc. Then why take them to the movies? Movies are not going to ever become quieter I'm guessing.

There are certain things we can control and certain things we will just make ourselves a little neurotic over trying to control (even if we are somehow 'successful')- I have to ask myself why its even worth it if what you want and the control you want don't line up with the way something is in reality (here, movie theaters).

True. We are selective about what movies we go to. (Is this a difficult concept to understand? There are lots of websites that preview movies for parents so that you can know what to expect ahead of time, and make your decision. Also, our Catholic paper, The Arlington Catholic Herald, does the same. Also, adoption websites do the same; both my children are adopted. I could go on and on about similar options for parents, depending upon what you are looking for. Anyway. . .) We have seen two movies in the theater: "Inside Out" and, last summer, "Frozen." If you don't want to take the time to do this for your children, that is fine, but don't act like it is an astonishing that people do this.

I'm PP you are quoting and I am not on the "you should stay home because the world is scary and if you are too scared of preview at 8 you are dumb" bandwagon that many other posters are. I get how previews might be jarring. I guess I am more wondering how about how it might be kind of mentally draining, and not worth the effort, or just a unnecessarily harder way to live as a parent trying to exert a lot of control over things that we can't. Its the vibe I got from your post. And it made me curious. I am not "astonished" that people research media for their children, nor should you be assuming that I don't want to "take time" to do something for my children.

"it might be kind of mentally draining, and not worth the effort, or just a unnecessarily harder way to live as a parent"

A lot of things that are worth doing are not necessarily easy. Exercise, eating right, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Some of this makes no sense. If you want your child to remain sensitive to loud noise, etc. Then why take them to the movies? Movies are not going to ever become quieter I'm guessing.

There are certain things we can control and certain things we will just make ourselves a little neurotic over trying to control (even if we are somehow 'successful')- I have to ask myself why its even worth it if what you want and the control you want don't line up with the way something is in reality (here, movie theaters).

True. We are selective about what movies we go to. (Is this a difficult concept to understand? There are lots of websites that preview movies for parents so that you can know what to expect ahead of time, and make your decision. Also, our Catholic paper, The Arlington Catholic Herald, does the same. Also, adoption websites do the same; both my children are adopted. I could go on and on about similar options for parents, depending upon what you are looking for. Anyway. . .) We have seen two movies in the theater: "Inside Out" and, last summer, "Frozen." If you don't want to take the time to do this for your children, that is fine, but don't act like it is an astonishing that people do this.

I'm PP you are quoting and I am not on the "you should stay home because the world is scary and if you are too scared of preview at 8 you are dumb" bandwagon that many other posters are. I get how previews might be jarring. I guess I am more wondering how about how it might be kind of mentally draining, and not worth the effort, or just a unnecessarily harder way to live as a parent trying to exert a lot of control over things that we can't. Its the vibe I got from your post. And it made me curious. I am not "astonished" that people research media for their children, nor should you be assuming that I don't want to "take time" to do something for my children.

"Minions" is supposed to be totally misogynistic. We won't be seeing that one. Sources:

http://www.thestatelyharold.com/#!The-Minions-are-sexist-and-need-to-be-banned/cmbz/55a0847a0cf24f011b5b3836

http://reelgirl.com/2015/07/minions-most-sexist-kids-movie-of-the-year-rated-triple-s-for-gender-stereotyping/

(Did not see "Despicable Me" 1 or 2 either, so, really, no big loss. DDs not asking about it.)

Anonymous wrote:Inside Out isn't for young children (i.e, not really for kids under 8). And the Lava short is about the worst thing ever.

Agree on both points.

Inside Out isn't for young children (i.e, not really for kids under 8). And the Lava short is about the worst thing ever.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a psychologist and think it's perfectly normal that a very young child finds movie previews scary and overwhelming. The loudness, the abrupt scene cuts and the lack of story continuity are meant to titillate, but they are often developmentally inappropriate for a child under age 7 or 8.
This is why so many excelllent kids TV shows are repetitive and move at a boringly glacial pace. Bad for us adults but good for our children! Anyone remember Mr. Rogers?

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Some of this makes no sense. If you want your child to remain sensitive to loud noise, etc. Then why take them to the movies? Movies are not going to ever become quieter I'm guessing.

There are certain things we can control and certain things we will just make ourselves a little neurotic over trying to control (even if we are somehow 'successful')- I have to ask myself why its even worth it if what you want and the control you want don't line up with the way something is in reality (here, movie theaters).

True. We are selective about what movies we go to. (Is this a difficult concept to understand? There are lots of websites that preview movies for parents so that you can know what to expect ahead of time, and make your decision. Also, our Catholic paper, The Arlington Catholic Herald, does the same. Also, adoption websites do the same; both my children are adopted. I could go on and on about similar options for parents, depending upon what you are looking for. Anyway. . .) We have seen two movies in the theater: "Inside Out" and, last summer, "Frozen." If you don't want to take the time to do this for your children, that is fine, but don't act like it is an astonishing that people do this.

I'm a psychologist and think it's perfectly normal that a very young child finds movie previews scary and overwhelming. The loudness, the abrupt scene cuts and the lack of story continuity are meant to titillate, but they are often developmentally inappropriate for a child under age 7 or 8.
This is why so many excelllent kids TV shows are repetitive and move at a boringly glacial pace. Bad for us adults but good for our children! Anyone remember Mr. Rogers?

Anonymous wrote:OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Some of this makes no sense. If you want your child to remain sensitive to loud noise, etc. Then why take them to the movies? Movies are not going to ever become quieter I'm guessing.

There are certain things we can control and certain things we will just make ourselves a little neurotic over trying to control (even if we are somehow 'successful')- I have to ask myself why its even worth it if what you want and the control you want don't line up with the way something is in reality (here, movie theaters).

OP, My almost 8 year old DD is the same. And I don't WANT her to become desensitized to loud noises, violence, or base humor. What? You WANT your children to be ok with these things, the rest of you? Dumbing down of the masses.

Anyway, OP, if it helps, my child did not like the "short' about the volcanos (nor did I) b/c I thought it was terribly sad for a "lark" of a children's movie we were going to see ("Inside Out"). Also, she was scared of the dumb Geico ad of the pirates who are torturing a prisoner. Yeah, good thing to show children - torture - that's nice. She also did not like the Peter Pan preview. I too thought it was very "dark." She did not like the "Minions" preview; it was pretty crazy, loud, and ridiculous.

The previews that were ok were "Peanuts" (looked cute; we will probably go see it) and that vampire one (which was sort of just silly but harmless).

Took DD to see the Minion movie and it included previews for the Peanuts Movie, Pan, and another I don't recall. DD is 3 and wasn't scared from any of them, actually VERY excited saying we should see Peter Pan next. Seems as though your child is very sensitive.

OP here. Can't believe all the replies this question has generated. Thanks to those of you who provided the factual answer or constructive advice. No mental health issues with my kid. He happens to have been scared by a loud preview when he was much younger and hasn't enjoyed any movie previews for this reason since then. So when he goes to movies now, he usually does wait outside during the previews. However, I thought he was ready to be exposed to the type of previews they might show for a gentle cartoon like Inside Out, which is why I asked. As it turned out, he was just fine with the ones we saw and it felt good for him to actually be able to watch the previews without waiting in the lobby.

Again, thanks again to those of you who replied thoughtfully with constructive advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally get your post. Previews are louder and they are not for the type of movies DD likes (much more violent and scarier) -- no it's not possible to turn away.

I am not knocking anyones fears but why can't you turn away? Are you locked in a wheelchair? What about using your hand to cover your eyes?

Actually, yes, my daughter does use a wheelchair. Thanks for asking. No, she's not locked in it. I do cover her eyes but it's the volume that is really disturbing and since we don't know what the scary scenes in the previews are, it's hard to just constantly cover those little eyes.

I try to just skip the whole previews altogether but that got me in trouble last year when I had to politely ask someone to move out of handicap seating...that became the subject of another long debate here on good ole DCUM as to whether or not my daughter was "entitled" to handicap seating if we skipped the previews.

I just don't think you should take your kid to the movies. Sorry.