Schools have begun issuing warnings to parents to not allow their children to watch ‘Squid Game’, a South Korean show on Netflix, reason: students might want to mimic scenes from the show.
The Squid Game is one of the most-watched series on Netflix as the dystopian dark drama has made millions of viewers around the world sit in front of the screens.
The show depicts a group of debt-ridden contestants playing childhood games for a chance to win a huge sum of money and those who fail the tasks are shot dead. Now, various media reports suggest that children are reportedly asking teachers to play similar games as shown in the South Korean show.
Obviously, the same rules don’t apply when kids play the game at school, but parents have reported concerns that kids might end up being part of copycat attacks, prompting schools to issue warnings to parents.
Egyptian actress Ayten Amer took to Twitter and stated that she received an email from her daughter’s school warning her and the parents about the show.
“The school sends an email, warning about the squid games series, and they say that watching it is dangerous for the children, and they ask for the parents’ help in controlling the issue because the idea of the game in the series is spreading at the time of the break and the children are playing it The series appears to be really violent because the world is upside down because of it,” Amer tweeted.
A number of Amer’s followers have interacted with her, and many have shared her post on social media, confirming the concern that children are imitating some of the challenges.
One of the Twitter users wrote, “We’ve received 2 school letters (primary/secondary) warning parents about letting kids watch “Squid Game”. I’m starting to think a more general letter about parental responsibility might be more useful!”
A primary school in England has also issued a letter to parents expressing concern. The letter states, “Dear Parents, It has come to our attention that a number of our children are watching Squid Game on Netflix. Children who are watching this are being exposed to graphic realistic scenes of violence and sadly children are acting out this behaviours in the playground which will not be tolerated.”
“It is not appropriate for primary school aged children. Any child who mimics or demonstrates these behaviours, parents will be called upon and sanctions applied. Please be aware of the dangers of this TV programme for your children and reinforce positive behaviour,” the letter concluded.
Besides England school, John Bramston primary school in east London issued a letter to parents explaining its concerns that children who watched the show were pretending to shoot each other as a way to reenact the show.
It is reported that one of the schools in south-east England has started offering lessons on violence and abuse online, in response to the show’s huge popularity and student interest in watching it.