What is the secret of the success of "The Squid Game"?
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(CNN) -
As the fascination with Netflix's "The Squid Game" takes hold of the world, doctors have one piece of advice for parents: Don't let your kids watch it.
"The Squid Game," which debuted on Netflix in September, is a South Korean fictional drama that follows the lives of contestants, who are deeply in debt, as they play a series of children's games in an attempt to earn money.
But, if the contestants lose, they are killed, and the show does not shy away from blood and violence.
And yet "The Squid Game" has accumulated a huge following, and Netflix reported that 111 million accounts had watched the anti-capitalist drama in less than a month since its debut, calling the show their "series. largest at launch. "
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Halloween costumes inspired by the show also top internet searches, while viral challenges inspired by the show can be found on TikTok.
On Netflix, the show is rated TV-MA, which means it may not be suitable for those under the age of 17.
However, the program has reached the very young, which raises concern from doctors.
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Doctors at the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to children's mental health, recommend that no one should watch "The Squid Game" until at least the late teens, regardless of whether parents are watching. with them.
"The level of violence is appalling, more so than in most programs," David Anderson, director of School and Community Programs at the Child Mind Institute, said in a statement.
"It is a festival of murders with the premise that of more than 400 participants, there can only be one survivor."
They take steps to prevent children from watching "The Squid Game"
Common Sense Media, which rates shows and movies according to age, called the violence on the show "very intense."
"Characters are systematically tortured and murdered for the sadistic pleasure of a master of the game. Adults have sex and there are threats of sexual violence: women are grabbed by the hair and beaten," the website notes.
"Topics related to the ups and downs you get from gambling, winning or cheating are a main focus."
In some cases, schools have cracked down on the show and its games.
A private school in Roswell, Georgia, has banned any discussion of the show and the games, according to CNN affiliate WGCL.
Similar movements have also been made internationally.
In England, for example, the Central Bedfordshire council's education protection team advised parents not to allow their children to watch the show after reports that children were copying games from the show, according to The Guardian.
The Squid Game