Dear Parents/Carers,

We have recently experienced children in Key Stage 2 talking about the Netflix programme, Squid Game.

Squid Game is a South Korean, fictional television series streaming on Netflix. The plot centres on a group of adult debtors, thieves, and gamblers competing against each other in a series of childhood games for a grand cash prize. However, there is a dark twist to these seemingly innocent games – losing competitors are violently killed off in ways that grow more twisted as the games grow more intense.

At school, we have witnessed children talking about Squid Game and bringing it to the attention of others in their class. Some children are acting out scenes from the programme at break and lunch time. Squid Game has a rating of 15+ as the visual content includes high levels of gore, death, violence, and physical assault. It also has graphic depictions of suicide, murder, and sexual assault. To avoid your child accessing this content, parental controls can be set on Netflix. See the attached Netflix Safety poster for how to do this. Even if you restrict your child from watching Squid Game, they may be able to access content on other social media platforms. One being TikTok, which could also increase their interest in watching the show. Squid Game is currently trending highly on TikTok and is being viewed by many children despite it being an app for ages 12+. Despite this, the video feed will still display content rated at 18+. Please use the attached TikTok safety poster for details on how to set up ‘family restricted mode’ for the video content.

Another alarming feature of the show is it’s innocent and childlike design. This is to provide a clash with the excessively violent content that is meant to be jarring and unsettling to viewers. Due to its popularity and emergence within school we wanted to address this as soon as possible. If your child is not aware of Squid Game, do not feel you have to bring it to their attention. What we do recommend is, you play an active role in your child’s online activities. Ask them what they are watching, what are the latest trends etc. Don’t shy away from asking questions and having a discussion. We will continue to address this consistently in school.

If you have any queries, questions or support about any online safety issues, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind Regards,

Helen Smith

Head Teacher