Childhood rules that are a bit odd
Bryce Faulkenberry, Staff Writer
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During everyone’s childhood, thier parents lay down the law. Most times the rules are very similar, like everyone has to wash your hands after going to the bathroom. But in some houses, there are certain rules that are just unusual. These rules make others wonder why the parent would ever enforce it.
The first example of parents enforcing a weird rule comes from Shianne Parsons, a Youth Ministry major at North Greenville University. One rule that she had to follow while growing up is having to eat some form of protein and a piece of fruit before she could get any junk food from the pantry. Everyone has heard of eating all the food on your plate before dessert so this rule could also be beneficial. Another rule she had while growing up is that she was not allowed to chew with her mouth open at any time. On the one hand, manners are important. On the other, younger kids may have trouble with a strict rule.
Another example of weird rules comes from Laura Pfeiffer, an Elementary Education major at North Greenville University. While growing up, the first rule that she could remember that was not being able to watch Harry Potter or Wizards of Waverly Place. This rule is well-known, because many people have parents with strict content guidelines. This rule is a little weird since, especially with Wizards of Waverly Place, these are mainly for kids. It may be about wizards, but Wizards of Waverly Place mostly portrayed age appropriate, relatable content.
The later Harry Potter movies do get a bit dark but are still fictional and should not have an effect on the viewers faith. Another weird rule that she grew up with was not being allowed to say the word stupid, shut up, or other words along those lines because they were labeled as “cuss” words. This rule, like the last one, is not unheard of, but is still weird because these words should not be said to a teacher or a parent, but also come off as fairly strict.
The final example of weird rules comes from myself, Bryce Faulkenberry, a Digital Media major at North Greenville University. While growing up the rules to follow were not that weird but there were a few that were sort of out there in my eyes. The first was not being allowed to play video games after a specific time limit, so on the weekdays the limit was an hour and on weekends it was two hours. For a child, this was crazy because all I wanted to do was play games with my friends. The other rule that was a bit odd was that a friend was not allowed to come to my house or me to there’s unless our parents got in contact first and planned everything out. However, my friend’s parents and my parents had known each other forever and sometimes I didn’t get why we had to bother.
All rules that parents put into effect when we are children are established for a reason. Maybe the parent heard some advice or saw why it was beneficial. Most rules are fine and easy to follow, but sometimes they just go a bit far and confuse everyone.
