Movies are a wonderful and exciting world for children to explore, learn and entertain, your role is to ensure that the journey through the new world is a positive and rewarding experience for your child. One of the key steps in making sure this journey is positive is making sure your child watches movies and TV shows that are right for them.
With more and more kids watching Netflix, it’s a good idea to learn how to set parental controls on Netflix to make sure your kids see only the right genres for them.
How maturity ratings work on Netflix
Netflix establishes age ratings according to the occurrence and impact of adult, violence, nudity, or substance use content in a video. You can see a video’s age rating in the upper corner of the screen after it starts playing or on the movie and TV details page.
Because Netflix ratings of TV shows and movies vary by region, in general, Netflix categorizes them into the following 3 categories:
- Children:
- All: Movies and TV shows are suitable for everyone
- 7+: Movies and TV shows suitable for children over 7 years old
2. Teenagers:
- 13+: Movies and TV shows suitable for children over 13 years old
3. Adults:
- 16+: Movies and TV shows suitable for people over 16 years old
- 18+: Movies and TV shows suitable for people over 18 years old
According to information from the Motion Picture Association of America, films labeled PG-13 – not suitable for children under the age of 13 are a strict warning for parents to determine if their children under the age of 13 watches the movie, as some scenes may not be suitable for them.
Remember that this is the age of entering puberty with many certain changes in the body, children are very easily affected by inappropriate content in movies such as marijuana.
Compared to PG ratings, PG-13 films have many topics, languages, images related to violence, nudity, sexuality, adult activity or other factors, but not serious enough to be rated R. Any initial substance use will require at least a PG-13 rating. Even short nudity shots will be required to be at least a PG-13 rating, but nudity in a PG-13 rated movie will not be sexually oriented in general. If more than one word becomes R rank – (Restricted): Under 17 years old must be accompanied by a parent or adult.
How to set parental controls on Netflix
Create a profile with a specific maturity rating
The answer for Can I restrict what my child watches on Netflix? Yes. You can. To manage the types of movies and TV shows that people on your Netflix account can watch, you can create a personal profile with a custom age rating such as here Netflix Kids. Netflix Kids has several features such as:
- Simplified interface.
- Remove direct access to account settings.
- Play only carefully selected TV shows and movies for children.
Implementation steps:
- You access your Manage Profile.
- Click Add Profile.
- Name the profile. To use Netflix Kids, select Kids. The profile will have a kids icon in yellow
- Select Continue. The new profile will show up on the list of profiles on your account.
- Refresh the page to update the settings by switching to another profile and switching back or signing out of your device and back in.
Choose your profile’s maturity ratings
Another cool Netflix Parental Controls. When you set an age rating for a profile, that profile will only see TV shows and movies that match that rating. You can also block specific TV shows and movies from individual profiles.
Steps to set a maturity rating for a profile:
- From a web browser, go to your Account page.
- Open the Profile & Parental Control settings for the profile you want to manage.
- Change the Viewing Restrictions setting.
- Enter your Netflix password.
- Set the adult ratings for the TV shows and movies you want to allow in that profile.
- Select Save. TV shows and movies above the selected age range will be removed from the profile.
- Refresh the page to update the settings by switching to another profile and switching back, or signing out of your device and back in.
Block inappropriate movies or shows
You follow the steps below:
- From a web browser, go to your Account page.
2. Open the Profile & Parental Control settings for the profile you want to manage.
3. Change the Viewing Restrictions setting.
4. Enter your Netflix password.
5. Under Title Restrictions, enter the name of the TV show or movie and click the title when it appears.
6. Select Save. TV shows and movies listed in red under Title Restrictions will be removed from that profile.
7. Refresh the page to update the settings by switching to another profile and switching back or signing out of your device and back in.
Lock or unlock profiles
To restrict your child from having access to a specific profile on your account, you can protect that profile by setting up a Profile Lock PIN.
To add a PIN to a specific profile:
- From a web browser, go to your Account page.
2. Open the Profile & Parental Control settings for the profile you want to lock.
3. Change Profile Lock settings.
4. Enter your Netflix account password.
5. Check the Require a PIN box to access the selected profile.
6. Enter 4 numbers to generate your Profile Lock PIN.
Turn autoplay on or off
Netflix has two autoplay features that you can turn on or off for each profile on your account. Autoplay next episode and Autoplay preview:
- With autoplay next episode
A feature commonly used when watching TV shows with multiple episodes, you can choose whether to automatically play the next episode for your child.
- From a web browser, go to your Account page.
2. Open the Profile & Parental Control settings for the profile you want to manage.
3. Change Playback settings.
4. Check or uncheck the option Autoplay next episodes in a series on all devices
5. Select Save.
6. Refresh the page to update the settings by switching to another profile and switching back or signing out of your device and back in.
- With autoplay preview
This feature allows you to choose whether to automatically play previews of TV shows and movies.
- From a web browser, go to your Account page.
- Open the Profile & Parental Control settings for the profile you want to manage.
- Change Playback settings.
- Select or deselect the Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices option.
- Refresh the page to update the settings by switching to another profile and switching back or signing out of your device and back in.
Tips for parents to choose movies for kids
Parents, please make your own movie classification
Netflix or the National Board of Review movie ratings have the role of providing parents with important information about a movie’s content, but the final decision is still up to you as to whether the movie is a good fit for your child.
Use the movie rating system as a reference to set your own standards as just because your child is 14 years old does not mean that your child is fully capable and aware of 13+ movies content.
Learn about movies through reliable sources
Read the content of the movie carefully to make sure it contains the type of content that you are comfortable showing your child. Take advantage of helpful parent resources for movie reviews, online movie resources to learn more about the rating system, understand what type of content is appropriate for each rating category, and whether it is suitable for your child.
Try to watch the movie with your child as much as possible
With the sheer amount of media kids are exposed to every day, it’s impractical and not always possible to spend time previewing and pre-screening everything your child has access to.
So, instead of previewing, watch the movie directly with your child, you have to experience it yourself because there are images on the film that are considered normal for one family but negative for another. Watching movies with your kids also reinforces family values and relationships between members.
This should also apply to Internet use. Besides actively talking to your children about harmful effects on the Internet or using content filtering software, you should sometimes use the Internet with your children (if they agree) to better understand what they access online and cleverly incorporate mini-lessons on what is and isn’t appropriate for your child.
Wise modern parents are always proactive in bringing the best for their children. To better protect your child from all porn sites, for all internet-connected devices your child use, you should pre-order Wifi Device, becoming the first parents to own the solution which 24/7 protects your kids from harmful websites. Best prices are always available for early birds!
Don’t forget to talk to your child about the movie after watching it
Movies are a whole new world for children to explore and learn, your role is to ensure that their journey through the new world is a positive and rewarding experience. After watching the movie, discuss content with your child that will reinforce positive values and come up with things they should not be imitating, such as smoking scenes. Use watching movies with your child as a means of educational support.
Try and you might love this:
—