Too Young for Buffy?
 

In my family kids are raised on horror movies... not like "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Friday the 13th" but like "Leprechaun" and "lost boys" and such... And so when my Neice discovered the show "buffy the vampire slayer" she has always pressed me to let her watch it... and I have let her watch a couple episodes... well now she is almost 8 years-old and she's asking for the first season for christmas...(I was 9 when the show premiered and I watched it from the beginning) I personally don't think she's too young for the first season, but I was wondering what the general thought was as a good age to start people on this series?

There can be some scary stuff in Buffy, and starting in S2 some really heavy sexual connotations (it doesn't get explicit until the Buffy & Riley sex fest in S4).

I would say she's too young, and should probably wait until she's at least in the 'tweener years, say 12-13. The first season is pretty harmless, but you don't want to set a precedent that forces her parent to buy her later seasons before she's ready for the material.

Well, everyone's different and some kids handle mature stuff better at a younger age than others. I grew up watching horror movies, and was allowed to see R-rated movies once I was about 10/11 (like "Alien", "Phantasm", "Dawn of the Dead"). And I was certainly watching Buffy-level horror at a much younger age. The monsters and violence in Buffy shouldn't be that bad -- especially if they can watch stuff like "Lost Boys". Of more concern might be dealing with the relationship/sex stuff. It's still tv level of content, but the characters are high school age and they are sexually active over the course of the show (with major episodes and storylines regarding lost virginities).

Anyway, if its for your niece, what do the kids parents say? I'd give them the final say on what is (and what isn't) appropriate viewing for their kids.

you're never too young for a dose of Buffy. oh...and...Buffy rules!

I'm I think she would benefit more if she waited to watch the show for a few more years. The show isn't scary but it would probably be best to wait it out a bit for another reason. The sexual stuff is probably more of a concern than anything else. I can think of a few sexual incidents over the years that would be a bit of a problem. Granted these aren't in the first season.....but she'll be asking for the rest real soon if given the first season.

I'd let her know all this, buy her something else and then cover your ears until she is done pitching a fit about it.

How weird - its ok for a young child to watch people's blood getting sucked out of their necks by vamps and seeing those same vamps get staked through the heart, but don't let them see stories relating to sexual activity!

Anyways, my practical advice: check with the kid's parents and find out what is ok with them. They are the ones primarily responsible for her moral upbringing and their wishes (within legal limits) should be respected.

The show is cheesy at times and the creatures are for the most part kinda lame. It's now that it's ok for a young child to watch.....it's the fact that it's so blatantly fake looking. Plus she already said they grew up on The Lost Boys so the sucking and staking shouldn't be an issue there Ahab.

The Buffy and Riley stuff was already mentioned but I was thinking more about when but since Ahab thinks there is nothing wrong with that I say buy her the the set of the whole damn series and have a marathon.

I think people in this country (and thus in this forum) will overwhelmingly say it's up to the parents to decide. That's the way the law has developed over the years and so that's the way social norms have developed as well. It could have easily been different, like it is in Europe. Parents in America are much more squeamish about their kids seeing nudity/sex, whereas parents in Europe have more of a problem with violence. Our obscenity/indecency laws only proscribe sexually explicit materials, so that has a lot to do with it. Even here, in a forum of reasonable people, I think many would be uncomfortable with letting their kids view sexually explicit material.

Actually I think girls should learn about something like that as soon as possible. I am puzzled by why you would think that is any more shocking than what Willow did to Warren at the end of season 6. That certainly looked real and gruesome enough.
I suspect we have a difference of opinion regarding morality. Probably have to leave it at that.
Anyways, to repeat my original post: it is up to the parents to decide.

Pretty much agree here. But some of us Americans do happen to have views that are more in line with the Europeans. I'm much more concerned about youngsters viewing violent material. Though the way any subject matter - sexual or violent- is presented also has to be taken into consideration.

If she is already familiar with movie horror, then nothing on Buffy is going to be too much for her, scariness-wise.

I would say that pre-teen is definitely too young to understand everything that will be happening on Buffy, but that doesn't mean she won't enjoy it.
In my experience, when kids watch stuff that they know is mainly for adults, they accept that they are things that they don't understand and (sort of) just ignore those things, and give their attention to the stuff they can understand.

I think there are definitely some sexual things going in the later seasons that might not be appropriate for a child, but not in Season One.

But, I agree with most of the other posters. Ask her parents. She's asking for it, so it's not out of line for you to get it for her, but the parents will have to decide whether to let her watch it or not. So, why cause trouble?

Also, I want to add that I think it's a great idea to get a kid watching something that's good, rather than the crap they usually watch.

Up to her parents and depends on the kid. My daughter watched it first when she was 9 or 10. But hey, I let her watch Sex and the City now, and she's only 13. Strangely, I am pretty sure I won't let my son watch it when he's 10 because he has a different personality, and he is very upset by violence in a way his sister never was.

Thanks for pointing out that scene but it would be nice if you would use spoilers. :P

I too believe that girls need to be educated on the subject but do you honestly think a teen horror/drama show is a respectable teaching aid?

Plain and simple the show wasn't designed for kids but they could certainly watch the show. Some think it's violent and others may think it's slightly sexual but you'll get just as much of those two things elsewhere on TV or a multitude of places in the real world.

We both do agree that this would be a choice best made by a family member and not a forum of strangers.

The OP is a family member, and he's asking the advice of people who are familiar with the show and have opinions about, and may even have experience with, choosing to present the show to a youngster.
Anyone at risk of being spoiled about anything that happened on Buffy has no business reading this thread.

I'm 31 and grew up with Jason, Freddy and everything like them. I grew up fine and am not a killer, gang member, drug user, pedo or some such... I turned out to be a cop after a stint in the military. It's not the age of the child but the upbringing and values she's taught that counts. But 8 might be too young to fully understand the other content matter of the show that deals with growing up in High School and such. Girls also grow up and mature much faster than guys, but you'll have to be the judge on that.

I wonder about this in relation to my own niece and nephew. Season 1 is pretty safe if they can handle horror movies. Season 2 requires a little more maturity to be able to deal with events in its second half. I would think many nine year olds would be up to. The biggest problem, to me, is Buffy's relationship with Spike in Season 6. It's pretty damn complicated and dysfunctional, not to mention disturbing (IMO). That's what I would think about - when will they be old enough to handle Season 6? Can you start them now and then possibly stop them for a year or two down the line? I dunno - every kid is different. When in doubt, consult with the parents.

Sorry to ask what I'm sure is a retarded question, but I'd like to make a comment that includes a spoiler and for the life of me can't figure out how to black out my text so you have to scroll over it to read it. People do this all the time and I've searched and looked through the faq and just can't figure out how to do it.. help?

Just quote (that is, hit the "quote" button within a message) any message with the spoiler tags, and you'll see exactly how it's done.

Cool.

Thanks for all the opinions...

I did ask my sister about the show (the kids mom) and she basically told me that it was up to me and she trusted my judgement so I decided to let in and buy her the first season... But I told her mom about all the "soapy" (for lack of a better word) stuff in the following seasons and we agreed that season two will wait about three years or so...

I grew up watching Buffy, I was 9 when It started airing and it is basically teh reason that I'm in college studying film and my neice knows this and is one of teh factors in her wanting to see the show beyond "welcome to the hellmouth" and "once more, with feeling" (also she LOVES teh idea that its a girl saving the day and not a boy like most horror movies, which I think is awesome for her)...

I know that the storylines get more intense and darker as the series goes on (and especially when the story goes into "Angel" and season six) which is why I figure If i give her a season every birthdy and xmas she'll it will take 6 years (starting at her 11th birthday for season 2 of buffy) and it will all work out...

Thanks for your opinions!

I used to watch the show the with a girl that was the same age. I would change the channel if anything questionable came on. Without any supervision your probrobly right in only giving her the first season for now.

I mentioned this topic at work, and my boss said that her 8 year old daughter watches Buffy all the time on FX in the morning, before she goes to school.