R Card? (Debate)

[Maleficent13]

I heard this story this morning on the radio. It seems that in the midwest, there is a new item being promoted by movie theatres called an "R" card, which can be purchased by a parent for their under 17 child, and if the child has this card, they have carte-blanche to see any R rated movie at participating theatres without a parent or guardian present. I likened it to an "adult" library card.

What are your thoughts on this? Good idea or bad? The personalities on the radio were all up at arms about it.

I have searched Yahoo, CNN.com, and MSNBC.com for a link, but can't find one. If anyone has one, please post? Thanks!

 

[caitycaity]

hmmmm...

i don't think i have a problem with it, but maybe there is some aspect i haven't considered.

why are people up in arms about it?

 

[MHopkins2]

I heard about this a few weeks ago. Sounds good to me, with the caveat that anyone (minor or not, for that matter) can get booted from the theater if they can't sit down, shut up, and watch the movie.

 

[MosMom]

I don't see a problem with it. What is the current rule on a "R" movie? Does the parent have to be WITH the child during the movie or can they just purchase the ticket for them?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I have no problems with it. I went to see R rated movies often after I was 16 and had my Drivers Liscense. I'd probably purchase one for my kids if they were that age.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I don't have a problem with this either.
I mean - what is a parent going to do phyisically sitting next to their teen - cover their eyes at the bad parts?

I think the R-card is a decent idea - good way for the parents to decide.

I forget which movie I was at - I know it was R-rated and I was old enough to be there...but I watched a group of kids (who were sitting there quitely) get booted out for buying for one theater and sneaking into that one.

 

[Maleficent13]

Originally posted by caitycaity
hmmmm...

i don't think i have a problem with it, but maybe there is some aspect i haven't considered.

why are people up in arms about it?

The radio personalities, and all the callers too, for that matter, were calling parents lazy and useless and saying this was just another way for parents to get out of parenting. "Just sign your kid over to violence, sex and drugs and go about your merry way" was I believe one statement.

I don't have a problem with it either. I think parents know their own kids and what is and is not appropriate for them. If you trust your kids judgement at 15, then I don't see the problem. Like I said, I likened it to an adult library card. My mother authorized one of those for me when I was 10. It meant I could check out any book I wanted. I wonder how many people would have a problem with that.

MosMom: I believe the parent has to accompany the child into the movie, not just buy a ticket for them.

 

[C.Ann]

If they are as incredibly easy to get (and swap) as are phony driver's licenses and ID's for underage drinking, then I would definitely have a problem with it..

 

[Eeyore1954]

I don't understand the uproar. In our area young teens get into R-rated movies all the time anyway. In some cases parents purchase the tickets for the kids, but often the kids just purchase them -- most often because the person selling the tickets is not that much older than the kid purchasing them.

Given the way most multiplexes are laid out around us, kids could buy a ticket for a PG-movie and then walk into an R one easily. No one checks ... I don't think the theatre really cares.

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by C.Ann
If they are as incredibly easy to get (and swap) as are phony driver's licenses and ID's for underage drinking, then I would definitely have a problem with it..

there's a big difference between underage drinking and watching an r-rated movie, imho.

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by caitycaity
there's a big difference between underage drinking and watching an r-rated movie, imho.

I don't know about that. I think for the right kids, under reasonable circumstances (no driving and no immitating the Terminator, respectively), they're both pretty harmless.

 

[MosMom]

Do you really think underage drinking is harmless? What about underage smoking? Is that harmless as well?

 

[Maleficent13]

Originally posted by caitycaity
there's a big difference between underage drinking and watching an r-rated movie, imho.

The radio show people did not think so. They started their "slippery slope" theory, and by the time I got to work, they had 12 year olds buying vodka. Why is it always "the world's going to hell in a handbasket" the minute we give individuals (in this case, the parents) the power to decide? *sigh*

I don't know about that. I think for the right kids, under reasonable circumstances (no driving and no immitating the Terminator, respectively), they're both pretty harmless.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by caitycaity
there's a big difference between underage drinking and watching an r-rated movie, imho.

------------------------

Yup - you're right - big difference between underage drinking and watching R-rated movies - but the analogy still fits (access) and there are still some parents who simply don't want their children watching R-rated movies for whatever reason..

 

[Son of the Morning]

I like it: It beats the current system.

Overall, I oppose the idea of denying access to R-rated movies to underage children in general, but this is a step in the right direction.

An example: Last summer, my brother (at the time, 15) and I (17), wanted to go see 'Terminator 3.' He was not permitted to go in because he was underage... yet, later that day, we bought the movie 'Cannibal Ferox (Make Them Die Slowly),' and watched 'Pink Flamingos' later in the day. Universal standards in regards to things like this are silly.

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by MosMom
Do you really think underage drinking is harmless? What about underage smoking? Is that harmless as well?

I find it equally harm-inducing for 20 year olds vs. 21 year olds, and 17/18 for smoking. I think the age limits are arbitrary and largely silly, although I understand the logistics of a common sense based "carding" system would be impossible.

 

[MosMom]

Okay, I agree with you there. I took your post as you felt laid back about kids drinking and it being harmless.

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by MosMom
Okay, I agree with you there. I took your post as you felt laid back about kids drinking and it being harmless.

Well, that too, under the right circumstances. I mean, people hear "underage drinking" and think of Drew Barrymore, 9 years old and getting hammered on her parents' Scotch. There's a big difference between that and a group of high school kids at a party, all spending the night at the party-holders house, with at least one person sober enough to prevent any moronic behavior. (Which was usually me, back in the day. )

 

[caitycaity]

i agree that underage drinking CAN be harmless, but underage drinking can also cause death and i've never heard of an r-rated movie doing that.

 

[Son of the Morning]

Let me put it this way:

In a week and a half, I'm going to be going on a graduation trip to Disney World. There, I'll be eating at the California Grill... Artist Point... the Yachtsman Steakhouse... Narcoossee's...

... and at each place, I'll have a Coke with my dinner.

Bull****? I think so.