Perhaps you‘ve heard or read the following before, “The legal age to see a Rated R movie is 17 and if you’re younger than 17, you must be accompanied by an adult.”

There are possibly the most annoying and disappointing words to hear when you’re extremely excited to see a movie on your own. Really, do a couple years make a difference in how a movie affects a person? Does the company of a parent really inhibit or change anything? If your mother tells you to cover your eyes I’m pretty sure you’re going to look anyway.

The age to see a rated R movie should be lowered to 15 years of age. Getting permission from our parents should be enough to go enjoy a movie. Teenagers watch Rated R movies all the time on regular TV or online.  By the age of 15, we have a strong amount of knowledge and exposure to topics such as  sex, drugs and violence. We learn from the news or our peers and even our families. What’s the point of hiding it from us by keeping us from seeing a movie? Teens are mature enough to handle the adult content in movies because they are surrounded by it anyway in the world they live in each and every day.

Even though the content in rated R movies is not always positive, the information is sometimes beneficial to the mind of a naïve teenager. Seeing certain things on film can force a teenager to become more responsible because teenagers under 17 are preparing to be adults. A two hour movie will not destroy a person or cause him or her to act any differently than the way they have been raised.  Negative, long-lasting effects cannot be blamed on a movie.