PG 13 or A-rated movies and shows are some terms every parent and kid is well aware of but that doesn’t stop the children to go overboard and watch certain content that might not be age appropriate. Recently, Netflix Inc has rolled out a new feature that gives parents more control over access to content by allowing them to block individual movies and specific shows. We ask a few youngsters and parents on what they think about this.
Richa Deuri, and MBA student from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management believes that higher the privacy, greater would be the tendency to infringe it. She says, “There’s already a section available on Netflix which is implied for the kids. While there are “adult” ratings being given to specific shows, I don’t think there should be additional features that give parents more control over access to content by allowing them to block individual movie and specific shows. In the event where one wouldn’t like to watch the kids section, one has full right to avail for any show s/he likes. Moreover, shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are extremely popular among the youth of today. These are what, we as Indian youths want to see because these are different from what we are being offered by the Indian Bollywood or Television industry.”
Clyde Rohan Noel, a teenager and a student who thinks that this feature will be a positive factor for the parents says, “But it’s not like all the kids or teens reach out only to Netflix for specific movies and shows. There are other options but it is a good initiative as parents would definitely feel inclined to give more freedom to children or teens. Now, that they know what their children are watching is safe and filtered.”
While a parent might have a completely different take on this and some might even be happy about it. Johnson Arokianathan, a parent and a CEO at a Bengaluru-based NGO says, “Giving parents more control over access to content/shows or movies will be a wonderful move as it will help parents keep track of what kids are watching and avoid them (kids) from getting exposed to shows/ movies that are violent and sexual imagery that is inappropriate for their age. It will also help them to regulate the time they spend on these shows or movies as the ones not good or appropriate is cut out of the list.”
