A good question for us non-Brits (thought perhaps in the wrong forum, perhaps not). The only one I recognize is PG, so I've always put everything in there - fittingly, I think.
Welcome to the site, Anna.
Foster
To my [expat] knowledge, the number next to the 'certificate' indicates,, the age limit (e.g. 'U' is either unrated [which can be benign or near pornographic, imo] or 'appropriate for all ages'; Cert 12 is for 'up to 12 yrs', Cert 15 'up to 15', and the like, a bit like the differences between PG and PG-13 in the States. Foster may be on to something by putting most work into the PG category...seems the most logical.
I may be way off on this, of course, but this is the belief I've been working under for a year now!
Rating is, of course, at your discretion...
Hope this helps...
If it's along the lines of UK cinema ratings then. U means suitable for everybody including children of any age. A 12 certificate means you must be AT LEAST 12 to see it. 15 = must be 15 and over etc. PG is for 'parental guidance' - ie it's not quite a 12 certificate but some parents may find the subject matter unsuitable or scary etc, depending on their child.
after several years of renting videos I managed to decipher the BBFC's rating system.
18 is everything short of hard pornography or whatever was winding up defenders of the nations morals that decade (e.g. blood splattering on naked breats).
15 means either tits or gore, never both. Violence that would normaly rate an 18 can get through as a 15 if it is obviously fantasy (say, people being torn in half in starship troopers), this does not apply to zombies because the BBFC knows that zombies are real. Sometimes scenes of drugtaking can earn a film an otherwise PG film a 15.
12 is a 15 that the BBFC thought was so good 12 years olds should see it too.
PG means that the BBFC reckons it's pretty harmless but don't want to get any letters from angry parents because little Johnny wet the bed.
U is cartoons or disney movies about dogs.
Do you choose what your children can see based on those understandings of the rationg systm AG?
hahaha! Jude! The lame shag scene made you shit yourself?!
maddan: I don't let my kids watch anything more malevolent than Harry Potter films (but mind you, the last one was reeeaally scary). I made the mistake a few weeks back of letting my son watch 'Timewatch' with me, about the bog bodies found in Ireland; I figured: archaeology, forensic science, a bit of history, what's the problem?
The problem was the producers decided it would be prudent to put in a few 're-enactments' of the poor sod found in the bog, getting his throat cut. There was NO warning prior to this scene. My son was a wee little bit disturbed by that (well, so was I), and that's the LAST bloody Timewatch he's watching...
Juliet
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www.fabulousmother.co.uk