Growing up I had the opportunity of seeing movies with my family members. It was always an enjoyable time as I would sit on the floor, happily enjoying the movie.
Before the advent of home videos, we depended on the National television to see movies and they were mostly shown after 9 0'clock news especially on weekdays. Sometimes they start before the news and then finish it after the news. But on weekends, they show in the afternoons and then midnight too.
If you know some of James Bond's movies like The Spy Who Loves Me, 007, The Man With The Golden Hand, etc, and some other ones like 90 Minutes At Entebe, Fast and Furious, The Scorpion King, She who must be obeyed, etc, you'll agree with me that they are legendary movies and they were mostly shown in the night especially on weekends.
These and more were the kinds of movies I saw while growing up and they were interesting that I always look forward to seeing them again and again. Don't mind my little mind, I was following my dad's footsteps, lol.
My dad loves action packed movies - thrillers, adventurous and blockbusters including interesting soap operas. Now that we have Nollywood movies, he sees them too.
Even as I am older now, I'm mostly drawn to these kinds of movies than love, romance and all what nots. They bore me, hehehe.
Mom on the other hand isn't much of a movie person, infact she can't see a movie from the beginning to the end without sleeping off and on waking up she'll ask to know how the movie ended. hehehe. If you are banking on her company for an enjoyable movie time, sorry, you'll be so disappointed, lol.
Inasmuch as my parents allowed me see movies and TV shows, it wasn't without guidance. Since movies were mostly shown in the evenings when my parents must have come home so it was just same movie that everyone will see so it was easy to guide what I watched.
I can remember that before a movie starts showing, the duty continuity announcer usually gives highlights about it and that was another way parents, mine inclusive, were able to guide the kids and stop them from watching movies that are rated above their age. Once the movie highlight is done and dad sees that the movie isn't for kids the next thing you will hear him say is oya tofi, to your bed, lol. Till today I still wonder what language is tofi 😅.
Not only that, screen time regulation was also enforced. I only get to stay up late only on weekends to see midnight movies, other days are early to bed, early to rise except during holidays. Again, you dare not sit down to watch the TV when you have unfinished house chores or even home work, hmmm, you're calling for my dad's koboko, hehehe.
You know before the advent of home videos, or cable televisions, movies shown on the TVs were usually censored. It was a big deal then and no station fails in doing so else they will be sanctioned. So what they usually do is this, as the movie is showing and gets to the adult or horror or gory scenes , they either play commercials or cut it off and then continue when such scenes must have passed. With this parents needn't worry when seeing movies with their underaged children.
But with the coming of home videos, cable televisions and even mobile phones, children now have access to watching all kinds of movies with or without parental guidance. Even when movies are rated 13, watching some of them would leave you confused and wondering if the producers didn't make mistake with the ratings because they are absolutely not for the age rated. How would they not rate movies anyhow when the regulatory bodies that are supposed to ensure strict compliance aren't up and doing.
Rating movies 13 when they are northing close to what children can watch is totally wrong and I see it as an abuse of their young minds and right. This exposes them to actions or scenes that may cause harm to them at the long run if care isn't taken. You know children are inquisitive and they love practicing what they see, so they may likely want to try out these things they saw in the movies.
Parental guidance with regards to movies children see is very important as it's a way of protecting them from harmful TV contents, and it should be encouraged.
Just like the way my parents guided the movies I watched, I'll be doing same to my children. Whatever movie, TV shows, and even cartoons, infact, just about anything they watch will be under guidance as this is one of my responsibilities as a parent. The mental health of my children are as important as their lives so I will ensure to protect them from screen abuse. Technological advancement has made it so easy to do so these days unlike during my own time. Just with the phone, you're good to go.
Thank you for reading...
Still the #threadsaddict 😂
