Squid Game is a massive hit. According to Netflix, just US viewers alone have watched over 3 billion minutes of the program on their streaming network. It’s no wonder that the pink jumpsuit and mask combo has become such a popular Halloween costume this year.
The downside of that popularity is that kids who have all watched the show where humans are pitted against each other in a life and death game, are one of the biggest groups of people putting on the costumes. In fact some of them are going further than just dressing up, they are recreating the games from the show in playgrounds.
As a result, several New York schools have had to ban the costumes as the kids have taken to playing the Squid Game during recess.
Fayetteville-Manlius School District Superintendent Dr. Craig Tice is one of the administrators who has banned the costumes in his schools. Here’s what he told USA Today:
“Some of our younger students are talking about and mimicking aspects of the show/game at school,” Tice said in a statement. “Parents and guardians … have the opportunity to speak with their children themselves about it and reinforce the school message that games associated with violent behavior are not appropriate for recess.”
The issue is not limited to NYC, there have been similar problems in places like Florida and even in the UK and Australia.
For their part, Netflix offered a comment that seems to not really address the situation at all:
“Squid Game is rated TV-MA and intended for mature audiences.We offer parents a wide variety of parental controls to make the appropriate choices for their families.”
Educators in the UK Australia and Belgium have made similar observations and issued similar warnings to parents.
Source: Deadline