Hi,
I haven't seen the film but my nine year old's teacher wants to show it to the class despite it being a 12 classification in the UK. He said I could borrow it but has asked for it to be back in tomorrow and I am out tonight (I think he must think I haven't got a life!!) and therefore haven't got chance to see it!
Any thoughts?! Is it OK for a nine year old to view?
Personally, I'd say no (and I'd question the authority of a school deciding it can show 12 certificate material to children under that age - are they at least making parents sign permission slips?). While the first two-thirds of the movie don't contain anything especially offensive, be aware that the final third contains extended scenes of concentration camps and all the horrors within - starvation, disease, degradation and death. There is also some nudity in a scene depicting women being stripped naked and having their hair shaved off.
This is harrowing subject matter that, I feel, most nine-year-olds would have some difficulty handling.
Well, I first found out about Anne and her life when I was four and this came on when I was seven. I insisted upon watching it because that was when I started to become obsessed with Anne Frank. I didn't really understand it then but today I find the concentration camp scenes harrowing and quite sickening. I can't watch it.
Jordan =]
Waterloo Road is the best programme ever to be transmitted
[deleted]
if you watch it with your kid, I would say sure but there will most likely be a lot of q&a afterwards. in a school, I cant believe they would want to show this one to the kids. its pretty grim at the end.
shareWhy? It depicts reality. Putting them under a glass lid and sheltering children from reality does them no good.
shareallow this kind of reality to be something you learn at home. when you are learning something this harsh as suh a young age in a school setting, the students dont get all their questions and concerns worked out. better if they can watch it with a parent so the parent can sit there and tell them one on one. its not sheltering, watching it in middle school is fine, but 9 year olds arent as mentally stable to grasp scenes like that in a classroom setting.
shareYou give nine year olds too little credit. And whatever makes you think that after the movie there wouldn't be a discussion? Usually the whole purpose of such a movie is for there to be a discussion afterwards.
Also, a lot of parents actively do shelter their children way after 9 years old. If the school doesn't break that glass lid, no one else will.
I was 9 the first time I saw this film and I was able to handle and grasp it quite well. I remember speaking about the film afterwards. We didn't have a Socratic seminar or anything to that effect; we simply gave our input. I think it is important for parents to expose their children to some of the world's realities and let them know that there are some bad people out there who do unforgivable things for the sake of power, and that as a result the innocent might suffer. It may be grim, but it is something they need to learn about sooner or later, preferably sooner. I think that my having known about it at a young age gave me a very realistic world view.
shareAlso, a lot of parents actively do shelter their children way after 9 years old. If the school doesn't break that glass lid, no one else will.
Écrasez l'Infâmeshare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CovDmvnKVBg
Teaching people about the facts of history so it wouldn't repeat itself doesn't break anyone's soul. And even if it did, it was necessary to avoid said repeat of history.
shareTeaching people about the facts of history
And even if it did, it was necessary to avoid said repeat of history.
Die Deutsche Passionshare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8jvmKxu48w
I watched it today with my 14 yr old (who is reading the diary), my 12 year old, my almost 9 year old and 7 yr old. I had already seen the film so I knew what to prepare them for. I don't feel that it becomes "too much" until the camp scenes and I explained it to them beforehand and gave them the option to leave if they got uncomfortable, as my 7 year old did. My 9yr old definitely wanted to stay - BUT we watched it together and we had previously discussed it in some depth. My kids are homeschooled; and we are studying WWII. My husband is Jewish, so I felt this was an important part of the holocaust that they should be acquainted with. The film opened up a lot of interest to them about the entire war, how it started, ended, who was involved, etc. The film gives an excellent platform for that, and for children who have read or are reading the diary itself, which can be a little hard to get through if you don't know Anne's whole story.
That being said, I know your message is a year old, so this is long past, but for other parents asking the same question; no, I would not permit my (young) child to see this film in a classroom setting without me, if they were in school. I really think this is the kind of film that a parent should watch with their child if they are under the age of 10. It is VERY emotional and disturbing to see these horrible things happen to Anne after becoming attached to her as a character, (even if it's a fairly white-washed depiction of concentration camp life) and I think this is just one of those films that should be watched with a parent right there.
My school showed this three weeks ago.
"Simba, you have forgotten me"
"No, I am your father"
"NOO, THIS IS PATRICK"
"Do'h"
I know this post is over a year old, but for any other parents out there, my opinion, as a college student, is no. I think it's important for children of that age to start learning about the realities of WWII and the concentration camps the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, &c. were all sent to, but there's a big difference between being ready to learn about it and being ready to actually see it. Like another poster said, for the first 2/3 of the film, you become very attached to Anne and the 8 others who are imprisoned in the annex, and no matter how old you are, you are never truly prepared to see them treated in the manner that they are. It's not gruesome as much as it is powerful: You fear with the Jews when the selections begin. You feel and pity their sense of desperation when they have to fight for food, in Anne's and Mrs. van Pels' cases. And even if you know the true outcome of the group beforehand, you still hope beyond hope that they somehow make it out alive because you know how close almost all of them were to being liberated by the Americans and the families reunited again. And all that's implied in the camera shots in the camps is just as horrible, especially when you see the ovens at a distance the children are told to run to. The concentration camp scenes are heart-breaking, to say the least. Parents, I think it's extremely important they watch this movie, but there's no need to show it to them now if they're younger than middle school age.
Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory.
*~Tennessee Williams~*
I know this is an old post now but to nitpick... Bergen Belsen - the camp Anne and Margot died in - was liberated by the British, not the Americans. The Russians were also responsible for liberating camps. Anyone would think the Americans fought the war on their own...
shareYou know your own nine year old best, but I'd say no. Too graphic and it helps to know the back story.
share[deleted]
You're about 2-years late, he/she is at least 11 now (if not 12).
"Toto, I've [got] a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
[deleted]
NO. I was 13/14 and I was traumatized by it. But people have to learn about it sooner or later. But they'll never look at the world or people the same way again.
share