The South Korean Netflix series Squid Game has been at number one in the list of most watched series for weeks. The series is also extremely popular among primary school students – actually for 16 years and older, often to the dismay of parents and teachers. “I wonder if parents realize what the impact can be.”
In Squid Game Four hundred debtors compete for a large pot of money. For this they play various children’s games, in which they put their own lives on the line. Anyone who doesn’t make it or isn’t fast enough will be shot mercilessly. Due to its violent nature, Netflix has labeled the series as a series for 16 years and older, but younger children don’t always seem to care.
Last week a warned Belgian primary school parents for Squid Game, because students attacked each other while playing the game Anna Maria Koekoek. Also in France violence came after opening a special pop-up room and in England Several schools have now called on parents not to let their children watch the series.
To care
There are also concerns in the Netherlands, both among parents and teachers. The Amsterdam Barbara (she prefers not to mention her last name, ed.) saw parents warn each other in the group app of her 11-year-old son’s school. “The – mainly – mothers had no idea what kind of series it was and thought it was horrible that the children’s game ‘Anna Maria Koekoek’ ended in a murder spree. A mother warned about this in the group app, after which quite a few other mothers also indicated that their child was not allowed to watch, even though ‘everyone’ in the class had seen it,” she says.
Indra Spronk writes on Twitter: ‘The nine-year-old says ALL her classmates are constantly talking about it Squid Game have and so they can watch it, apparently, and why not them? It can’t be the case that so many parents let their children watch that, can it? Am I weird that she can’t?’
Not before their eyes
Tilburg primary school teacher Martijn Holsappel saw some of his students from group eight playing a game from the series in the schoolyard. He made a TikTok video of it with the text ‘If you know this, you should be 16 years or older… Uhm, how do you know this?’
Holsappel is concerned about the popularity of the series among his students. “The internet is full of them. I notice that a lot of high school kids have seen fragments that are not intended for their eyes. They are too young to be exposed to this kind of image.”
Media educator Marije Lagendijk agrees. “I think it’s amazing that it’s so popular, because the images are pretty intense. I wonder if parents realize what the impact can be.” According to Lagendijk, children mainly come into contact with it via Instagram and TikTok, but also by playing Roblox. “Such violent images can give children sleepless nights. If you are exposed to it for longer, it can also make you look at the world differently. You get used to it and violence becomes normalized.”
I notice that a lot of high school kids have seen fragments that are not intended for their eyes
Reality
According to Lagendijk, the attitude of children also plays a role. “At such a young age, they are not yet able to properly assess what is reality and what is not. They do have a moral compass, but that is still very easy to influence. In the whole group process around a hype like Squid Game you have to be very firm not to participate in it.”
Holsappel recognizes that. ,,After I shared my video, I received a lot of reactions from children under 16 saying that they were watching it too. When I asked them what they thought of it, they indicated that they were not afraid of anything and that the series was not scary either. But that’s all tough stuff, if you ask me.”
To explain
How do you, as a parent or teacher, deal with the popularity of Squid Game? Banning is not the answer, according to Lagendijk. “It’s complicated, because they come into contact with it anyway. It is therefore better to explain why you would rather not want them to watch it. Because it is too violent and therefore not good for them. Even if they secretly look, they look in a different way after such a warning.”
According to Lagendijk, it is also important to keep the conversation open. “You can say that your child can always come to you if something bothers them after watching. This prevents a child from keeping quiet for fear of losing his phone.”
Holsappel also regularly enters into discussions, based on the Kijkwijzer. “We talk about what they do and don’t want to see. There are children in group eight who really watch everything, but then I make it clear that I like it. But in the end it is the choice of the parents. One child is allowed more than the other.”
However, the teacher does not see it all gloomy. He sees an opportunity in classifying the positive aspects of the series. “It’s also about what it would do to you if you were played off against each other as friends. I do see opportunities to analyze this a little more deeply together with my students.”
You don’t want to know what children of such a young age have already seen
Squid Game success proves: ‘Korean content is here to stay’:
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