Wondering if Netflix’s Never Have I Ever is ok for kids? Never Have I Ever is a teen series ifull of fresh drama and comedy, yet also full of stereotypical and unnecessary fluff, language, and sexual content. Is Never Have I Ever on Netflix kid friendly? It’s a bit mature for tweens. Here’s what parents need to know in this Never Have I Ever Parents Guide.
Is Netflix’s Never Have I Ever Kid Friendly?
The first season of Never Have I Ever follows the sophomore year of a first-generation Indian-American teenager, Devi Vishwakumar. She’s been dealing with tragedy in her life when her father passed away, but this year was going to be different; she was going to get a boyfriend and be invited to a party where they “drink alcohol and do hard drugs.” But she obviously wasn’t going to do them, duh.
She’ll learn about friendships, boys, and family all while making mistakes along the way. As the seasons progress, so does Davi’s love life and drama. Each season becomes more mature than the last as we head into Never Have I Ever Season 4.
Age Rating: Why is Never Have I Ever Rated TV-14?
Netflix’s Never Have I Ever is rated TV-14 for sexual content, language, and teen drinking and drug use which means some content is not suitable for kids under 14.
Language in Never Have I Ever
There is some language in this series. There are a few uses of the f-word in each season and uses of bi*ch, sh*t, damn, a**, and g-ddammit. Other sexual words and phrases are used like bangable, bone, pop the cherry, boinking, railed, douche, and dick.
Mature Content: Is Never Have I Ever OK for Kids?
For a teen drama/comedy, there are some heavy and mature topics addressed like grief, death of a parent, teen relationships, sex, underage drinking, and mention of prescription drugs.
While there is a lot of talk about sex, no characters engage in it, but you do see a male character without a shirt, while another character touches him. As the seasons progress, teens do engage in sex, but there is no explicit nudity in Never Have I Ever. However Season 4 shows characters in bed together, then talking about sex, and then friends asking whether they had orgasms and had Euphoria sex.
In season 1 a character calls other characters unfu–able nerds.
There is mild violence where a girl hits a boy and flashbacks of Devi’s father’s death, but nothing gruesome.
Never Have I Ever Season 4 Parents Guide
In Season 4 of Never Have I Ever, there’s no explicit nudity, but there is still a lot of focus on sex and teenagers having sex. You’ll see people making out, taking off their clothes, and in bed naked together with sheets covering up most body parts. In one scene you’ll see a scantily clad teenage girl in bed trying to be sexy. You can also expect to see some males shirtless and a female in a bra.
There is also underage drinking and recreational drug use. Characters get high and start to see a little blurry.
You can also expect characters to use a lot of profanity including the f-word, a**, bi*ch, sh*t, damn, g-ddamn, and words like dick and pu**y.
Again, as the characters grow up in Never Have I Ever, their situations become more mature. It’s certainly not Euphoria-level graphic, and the relationships and interactions between family members and friends are realistic and relatable. However, the dialogue is too heavily focused on sex, and sometimes so are Devi’s actions. She makes a comment about how she’s finally achieved her sexual activity goals for senior year, and sometimes it all seems so flippant.
Is Never Have I Ever Appropriate for Kids Under 12?
There are some definite positives about Never Have I Ever, and I applaud the efforts in a beautiful story of dealing with grief. While Devi struggles with the death of her father and anger in general, we learn about the Hindu Indian culture and traditions. And I think many immigrant children and teens will relate to Devi’s somewhat strict upbringing and harsh expectations.
However, for a show trying to debunk stereotypes, some of the stereotypes were directed elsewhere with odd fat jokes and common jock/popular kid behaviors. Parts were very predictable and felt like parts of a story already told. Unpopular nerd wants to be with hunky popular guy. This main character just happened to be Indian.
Is Never Have I Ever appropriate 12 year olds? I would not recommend it due to the sexual content. It’s not ok for kids or kid friendly, unless you want them talking about different sexual positions with stuffed bears. I wouldn’t even recommend Never Have I Ever for teens under 15.
In an effort to discuss topics that can be seen as taboo, like sex, the portrayal of these 15-year-olds to 16-year-old kids crossed the line of curiosity into sex-hungry. And while that is accurate for many teenagers, there are also many who don’t think about it like that, who are trying to navigate first kisses, feelings, and sexuality without the pressure of it being a status symbol.
Of course the Model UN version of Devi could only be seen as popular while finding booze and having slept with the hottest boy in L.A. The notion reverses the message it seems like they were trying to accomplish, and if you throw in a sister with special needs, then she’ll show you the light, so you’re not an arrogant prick.
However, when one characters comes out as gay, the support of family and friends is very heartwarming and needed. And John McEnroe as the narrator was unexpected and surprisingly delightful.
With Never Have I Ever’s missteps, there are also wins. Devi’s awkwardness is adorable (see best Never Have I Ever quotes like Later, skater), visits to her therapist, explosion of anger, mistakes and repentance with her friends, and trying to figure out who she is with sass and wit make for real TV and relatability. It just doesn’t have to be so provocative for a teen crowd, even if it is better than Euphoria.
For more details on other seasons of Never Have I Ever:
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Anonymous
Wednesday 12th of July 2023
Why would homosexuality be "Heavy and mature" topics? It's like saying that straight people are a heavy and mature topic. Have you ever seen a cartoon on cartoon networks? IT IS FULL of LGBT people. Not offended or whatever, just why?
No Name
Wednesday 19th of July 2023
@Anonymous, it is a mature theme, because little kids who are immature and think kissing is funny, and think bf gf is yucky, will not have an understanding of lgbt. Some parents do not want their children to experience that topic and therefore it is mature only to some families. That doesn't mean its "bad", it means that some people believe differently to others on what their kids should, and shouldn't be apart of.
tanialamb
Thursday 13th of July 2023
Just using the word homosexuality in the topics wasn't a good way to phrase it on my part. If something can spark a conversation with a parent or adult, then I put it under mature topics. It was mostly referring to a character's struggle with coming out, figuring out her sexuality, and having meaningful conversations about it with her friends. Those are mature topics that I encourage younger children to talk about with others if they decide to watch a show and to let parents know it's a topic that they should be aware of so that they can have conversations with their children. It doesn't signal something as bad. But thank you for bringing it to my attention.
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