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As a parent, I have often found it difficult to monitor what my son watches.
He loves kids shows on Netflix, which there are a lot of, but there are also other shows intended for grown-ups on there.
I can’t always tell at a glance whether a show’s going to have colorful characters or colorful language, so I needed to educate myself on how Netflix rated their shows so that I can control what he watches.
Netflix does have an age rating system, but it wasn’t immediately apparent what type of content would appear on each type of rating.
The TV-MA rating stood out to me as the one that had all the adult oriented content, so I decided to look at the fine print and see what this rating really meant and block it if required.
TV-MA on Netflix stands for Mature Audience. Shows with this rating can contain explicit violence, uncensored sex scenes, bloodshed, coarse language, etc. If divided into sections TV-MA falls under the adult section.
What Classifies a Series as TV-MA on Netflix?
TV-MA (Mature Audience only) on Netflix means that a Series/TV show with that rating was made for people who are above the age of 17.
The TV-MA indicates that a particular TV show contains explicit violence, foul language, graphic sex scenes, or a combination of these elements.
This rating is often seen and compared as similar to the R ratings and NC-17 rating assigned by the MPAA.
For example, shows like Dark, Money Heist, Black Mirror, and The Umbrella Academy, are all rated TV-MA.
In addition, animated shows like BoJack Horseman, The Simpsons, and Family Guy, which by nature are seen as suitable for kids due to their animated genre, are all rated TV-MA.
These shows contain elements of Sexual dialogues and imagery , violence, and jokes offensive to good taste or morals.
Here’s What Netflix’s Rating System Looks Like
Netflix rates content on an episode by episode basis.
Some shows like Stargate have wildly different ratings for each episode than what you expect it would have when you see what is in each episode.
It depends on what is shown in the episode, with events like Smoking, or violence giving the episode a higher rating.
Netflix’s ratings are classified into four groups: Little kids, Older kids, Teens, and Mature.
These groups are subdivided into the following ratings:
- Little Kids: TV-Y, G, TV-G
- Older Kids: PG, TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV, TV-PG
- Teens: PG-13, TV-14
- Mature: R, NC-17, TV-MA
TV-MA vs R Rating
At first look, the TV-MA and R ratings tend to seem comparable, even identical, especially when you see the terminology used to describe them:
TV-MA: This content is intended for adults only and is not appropriate for individuals under the age of 17. This rating indicates that the program contains crude obscene language, explicit sexual activities, and graphic violence.
R: Children under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. An R-rated film may include adult themes, adult action, strong language, violent or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug misuse, or other aspects.
But what separates the lines between TV-MA and R ratings are two huge differences,
- The R rating refers to a movie rating system whilst TV-MA refers to a TV/broadcasting rating system.
- In addition to this TV-MA is the MOST restricted rating. On the other hand, R is just the second most restrictive movie rating.
The highest restrictive rating in the movie rating system is ‘NC-17’. NC-17 stands for “no one under the age of 17 admitted.”, Even if accompanied by an adult or not.
A TV Show/Program rated TV-MA can include both R-rated and NC-17 rated material.
Thus TV-MA can be considered to be a more restricted or worse rating than R.
Popular Shows on Netflix that are TV-MA
Netflix has a pretty big library of shows that are rated TV-MA which should not be watched by anyone below the age of 17.
To give you an idea about the types of content that come under this category, Here is a list of shows that are tagged with the TV-MA rating:
- Breaking Bad
- Better Call Saul
- Ozark
- Family Guy
- Dark
- Money Heist
- Black Mirror
- The Umbrella Academy
- Succession
- The Simpsons, and more.
Make use of this list to avoid all of the popular TV shows that are rated TV-MA which Netflix may recommend to you since they are popular among all Netflix users.
One thing to note is that even though some shows get a single wrap rating for the whole series, the episode-to-episode content can vary greatly.
This Is Why Netflix Has Ratings
The purpose of ratings is to give you a basic idea about the nature of the content you’re about to watch.
The ratings themselves state whether a particular show/movie is suitable for your and your environment.
The kid’s category has the most sectional ratings. For example, TV-Y, TV-PG, TV-G, TV-14, etc.
This is due to the fact that the adult category doesn’t need any further sectional categories as anyone above the minimum age can view the content.
For kids, each age group varies in mental maturity and lighter content can get boring for their age group.
In simple words, as the kids mature, they tend to look for longer and more engaging storylines and characters, rather than your regular cartoon that has an episodic format.
For example, a seven-year-old would enjoy a show like Bob The Builder, whilst a 12-year-old might not be entertained by it.
A 12-year-old would be more into shows like Beyblade, or other shows that include more mature storylines and concepts that are not in Bob The Builder.
The ratings for shows are suggested by the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America) in the US, Netflix needs to follow these guidelines.
For any online streaming service platform, including Netflix, a regional content grading system will be suggested by the government authorities (of that region) which will be followed to set the rating system in that particular region.
The suggested system usually is proposed for a country as a whole.
Netflix Ratings for Younger Audiences
This ain’t the old times when we were able to put on cartoons to entertain our kids as most of them were suitable for them, now it has changed and many of the shows that we might think are suitable for our kids won’t be so.
We can all agree on the fact that even though contents suitable for adults fall into even though bigger but fewer categories when it comes to children the maturity ratings can be classified into different ratings.
Children do have increased maturity levels as they get older and each category of age has its own ratings.
Here are some of the ratings that are suitable for younger audiences:
- TV-Y
Designed to be appropriate for all children. Aimed towards a very young audience.
- TV-Y7 or TV-Y7 FV
TV-Y7 on Netflix means that the show is suitable for kids aged 7 and up. It may be more suited for children who have gained the developmental abilities required to differentiate between make-believe and reality.
The “FV” designation indicates that the show involves greater “fantasy violence.” These shows are typically more intense or confrontational than programs with a TV-Y7 rating alone.
- TV-G
TV-G on Netflix means content that may not be very inviting to kids, but it is intended to be acceptable for all ages. There is minimal to no violence, mild language, and no sexual dialogue or situations in these shows.
- TV-PG
It’s possible that some of the content is inappropriate for younger children and will require Parental Guidance. There may be some crude language, mild sexual content, provocative conversation, or mild violence.
- TV-14
TV-14 on Netflix means that most parents would consider this content inappropriate for children under the age of 14. This grade denotes strongly provocative dialogue, strong language, severe sexual scenes, or intense violence in the program.
How to Prevent Children from Watching Unsuitable Content on Netflix
If you’re a parent, you can set viewing limits for whatever content your children are watching.
The best way to do this on Netflix would be to make use of the Netflix Kids Experience.
To start using Netflix Kids Experience, you’ll need to create a Kids profile.
Follow these steps:
- Go to Manage Profiles on your Netflix app.
- Tap Add Profile.
- Set a name for the profile and make sure Kids is selected.
- Select Continue.
Your children can now use the Kids profile for watching Netflix.
Profiles that have Netflix Kids Experience turned on will not be able to change account settings, including ones that involve parental controls.
The profile will also exclusively show TV shows and movies oriented towards a child audiences.
Netflix Games will also not work for Kids profiles.
You can also change an existing profile to Kids by going to Viewing Restrictions in your account settings and selecting Display the Netflix Kids experience with titles just for kids.
Don’t Rely Just On Parental Controls
Parental controls can go a long way in protecting your child from mature content, but you’ll also have to do some active parenting as well.
Check on what your child is watching by going to their profile on your phone where you’ll be able to see what they were watching on the main screen.
Accompany your children when they’re watching Netflix as well so that you can recommend what they can watch and keep an eye on their watching habits.
Simply leaving Netflix to do what you should be proactively doing isn’t recommended, and settings like Parental Controls work well when the parents are also involved in the process.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What age is TV-MA for?
TV-MA stands for TV Mature Audience. As this program is meant for adults and is not suitable for children under the age of 17.
It translates to the MPAA film ratings R and NC-17. The contents may contain elements of Sexual dialogues and picturization, violence, jokes offensive to good taste or morals, bloodshed, etc.
What is a 98% match on Netflix?
A Netflix recommendation that comes with a match score means that the show/movie is likely to be suitable for your taste and liking.
This score is generated by the application by taking some criteria into account such as the type of content you watch, the recent genres of content watched, content you have given thumbs up to, etc.
Higher the match score, the higher the probability that the content suits your taste.
What does 7+ mean on Netflix?
7+ is generally tagged as TV-Y7. This indicates that the show is only suitable for kids of age 7 or higher.
This age-based rating system exists in order to ensure that the contents match the rating, and the show is appropriate for children to watch.
