Movie Ratings & Reviews Parents Can Trust

As a parent I often worry about what my children are watching on television, what they encounter on the internet and also which movies are really appropriate for them to see. The MPAA ratings do help in some respects, but for the most part are unreliable. Anyway, what the world finds acceptable for their children doesn't always measure up to my standards and beliefs.

I have come to rely on the Kids In Mind website for all movies that are rated above G and even found it useful for some movies that did receive a G rating. A good example of a movie with a G rating that I still didn't want my children to see is Disney's The Princess And The Frog. My reasons were the voodoo aspect of the movie. Silly to some parents but very important as a Christian parent to steer my children away from contrary doctrines and in a direction that draws them nearer to God.

I think the PG-13 movies of today would have been given an R rating when I was a kid. Hollywood likes to push the envelope in regards to sex, gender issues, dialogue and nudity. They do this for a number of reasons. One big reason is money. If a movie can appeal to children and also with the use of double entendre and sexual innuendo, they can get parents to pay for a ticket for themselves too. The second reason is trying to rid society of the morals and Christian values Hollywood finds outdated and unwarranted. Life is difficult enough on its own and children should be allowed to stay innocent as long as possible. Kids In Mind have been online since 1992 and they have a vast database of movie reviews to search through.

The Kids In Mind website gives accurate in depth descriptions of particular scenes in any given movie to justify their rating system. Kids In Mind rates movies in three categories; Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore and Profanity. At the end of a review they also include topics from the movie that you might want to discuss with your children. They also give an account of any substance abuse included within the film. The ratings are given on a 1-10 scale with an explanation of their reasoning.

I recently visited Kids In Mind because my daughter wanted to watch The Lovely Bones. It is rated PG-13 and she is twelve. I went to Netflix and read the movie description and on the surface found it innocuous. Netflix synopsis: When 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered, she watches from above as her family deals with her tragic death -- and as her killer prepares to strike again. Torn between vengeance and healing, Susie's loved ones are forever changed.

Then I went to Kids In Mind and decided there is no way I was going to allow her to watch this movie and I don't feel she's ready for the book either. The same synopsis on Netflix was also on Kids In Mind, however there was an additional five paragraphs explaining the film. See below for more detailed information on their rating system and their site.

I didn't mean to get so involved with explaining the ins and outs of the Kids In Mind website. It is a great resource for parents who wish to use it and lately they have had some economic woes. Their revenue from advertising is down and I thought as a parent you might want to utilize the site to help increase their frequent visitors and revenue. I would like to see the site continue for many years to come, so if you feel as I do, help them out. Thanks.