Silly things you weren't allowed to watch/read/have as a kid?

[Generic Anime Girl]

Did your parents ever just not let you do something as a kid that everyone did? Like watching Spongebob, having sleepovers, climbing trees? Did they have reasons, or did it seem random?

For me, it was Bratz Dolls. While I had a multitude of Barbie, Disney Princess, and Monster High dolls as a kid, I was never allowed to have Bratz and never told why. When I asked my mother as a teen, she said it "would make you act like a hoe" and I recently bought one out of spite.

 

[Lou Bega]

My parents didn't want me using a website called Kiwi Farms but I did anyway.

 

[Gay Vito]

I used to go to a friend's house where he wasn't allowed to read Harry Potter, watch Star Wars or anything fantasy/sci fi because his parents thought it was "demonic." He trooned out now and his parents are QAnoners today.

 

[The Repeated Meme]

I really wanted Goldeneye 007 for the N64 but this was during the Clinton administration where the violent videogame hysteria was at it's peak, so my mom said no. I think I was 12 at the time. My mom was a liberal then and still is now, although to a lesser extent, because she's more of an old-school liberal than a modern-day liberal.

 

[Lou Bega]

Alcohol, drugs, and unprotected gay sex. Parents can be so uptight, y'know?

 

[Preacher ✝]

My Mom didn't want me to watch Ed, Edd, and Eddy or CatDog because she thought they were stupid.

I watched them anyway and just changed the channel if she happened to come check.

 

[fist_of_khonshu]

My grandmother didn't let me watch Courage The Cowardly Dog because it was "demonic" and then would turn around and let me watch shit like Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

[TheRaptorJesus]

I can't remember being barred from anything. Guess growing up in the 80s was a different time.

 

[Sparkletor 2.0]

Beavis and Butthead. I was allowed to watch for a while but when my mom heard them talking about kicking each other in the nads she said no more.

 

[Lovely Kin]

My dad banned anything that got on his nerves under the guise it was idiocy which consisted of most cartoons, especially anything that was loud or had annoying voices. On the other hand, I was allowed to watch the original Evil Dead at my Great Uncle's which probably shouldn't have happened. Not exactly family, but there was this kid who lived nearby us for a short time. His mother banned everything from kid shows to video games thinking it was satanic. I had to play with him because my dad felt bad for him, all I remember is he and his sister only watched the same four things. Playing with him didn't last long either because his mom got mad that I went to a Catholic school so she banned me from playing with him because "I would teach him false Christianity."

 

[Soy Fed]

Mom refused to pay for cable because she remembered when it was ad-free. It's interesting to see history repeat.
It's also interesting how many people in my peer group watch what is essentially spongebob for adults, very weird and hard to relate.

 

[Meelo]

I remember when I was growing up my parents HATED Guns N Roses for some reason and I didn't know why, their songs weren't extremely edgy or anything, especially compared to what my dad liked, so I didn't get what their problem was.
Later on I realized they were right because GNR sucks donkey dick.

 

[Incitatus]

I was a big horror movie fan as an early teenager, and watched the usual stuff like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween movies. But when Scream came out in 1996 my parents didn't want me watching it because they thought it was "too scary". Looking back, they were probably just misunderstanding word of mouth and thought it was some hardcore shit like Audition or I Spit On Your Grave, but knowing what the movie and series is now, its especially funny to me that out of all the movies they could have focused on, it was Scream that they drew the line at.

 

[A Very Big Fish]

My younger siblings were banned from watching Rugrats, because my Mom thought it would make them idiots.

I also remember her thinking YouTube would expose us to all sorts of terrible things, but honestly, all I remember of YouTube circa 2005 was terrible skits and Runescape videos with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven and a massive watermark for unregistered hypercam 2.

 

[eDove]

Everything was demonic when I was young. Everything.

It wasn't consistent though. My parents loved Rage Against the Machine, the Beastie Boys, and all their other degenerate teenage-era bands (my parents are young). I grew up watching my dad play "evil" games like RE4. Nothing was wrong with that apparently.

Looking back, it's evident that a lot of their restrictions boiled down to not having to spend too much money on us. A lot of hypocrisy. I was only allowed hand-me-down stuffed animals (no dolls, barbies, etc.,) and could only watch things like Veggie Tales. Even then, I'd ask for new tapes 'cause I'd been watching the same 2-4 ones for years and my mother told me I was too old for those shows. I was only six.

I was forced to throw away games I loved because there was magic or something else my parents objected to, yet they enjoyed all sorts of "witchcrafty" media to their hearts' content. Anything I liked was subject to scrutiny and moral review, which I understand to an extent. But it's pretty unfair in hindsight.

In my teens, I kept 99% of my interests and hobbies a secret from my parents 'cause I knew they'd be viciously scorned or mocked. None of my younger siblings were treated like this. Their interests were actively, openly encouraged.

Nowadays, my parents are alcoholics who've all but dropped all their noble and godly pretensions, let their remaining kids watch, listen to whatever. It's total whiplash.

I say all that to ask, if your parents raised you like this, did they loosen up like crazy or are they still militant buzzkills? I wonder how common this trajectory is. It's like they wait for the kids to get older and then stop pretending they cared about instilling Christian values or whatever their initial goal was. Being the eldest to two neurotic, barely-legal parents also just sucks in general.

 

[Star Classic]

This isn't me but I know a friend of mine wasn't allowed to watch SpongeBob because his mother said quote: "It's a retarded show"

She wasn't wrong.

 

[Star Classic]

Everything was demonic when I was young. Everything.

It wasn't consistent though. My parents loved Rage Against the Machine, the Beastie Boys, and all their other degenerate teenage-era bands (my parents are young). I grew up watching my dad play "evil" games like RE4. Nothing was wrong with that apparently.

Looking back, it's evident that a lot of their restrictions boiled down to not having to spend too much money on us. A lot of hypocrisy. I was only allowed hand-me-down stuffed animals (no dolls, barbies, etc.,) and could only watch things like Veggie Tales. Even then, I'd ask for new tapes 'cause I'd been watching the same 2-4 ones for years and my mother told me I was too old for those shows. I was only six.

I was forced to throw away games I loved because there was magic or something else my parents objected to, yet they enjoyed all sorts of "witchcrafty" media to their hearts' content. Anything I liked was subject to scrutiny and moral review, which I understand to an extent. But it's pretty unfair in hindsight.

In my teens, I kept 99% of my interests and hobbies a secret from my parents 'cause I knew they'd be viciously scorned or mocked. None of my younger siblings were treated like this. Their interests were actively, openly encouraged.

Nowadays, my parents are alcoholics who've all but dropped all their noble and godly pretensions, let their remaining kids watch, listen to whatever. It's total whiplash.

I say all that to ask, if your parents raised you like this, did they loosen up like crazy or are they still militant buzzkills? I wonder how common this trajectory is. It's like they wait for the kids to get older and then stop pretending they cared about instilling Christian values or whatever their initial goal was. Being the eldest to two neurotic, barely-legal parents also just sucks in general.

To be honest, it seems to me that your parents were just doing what their parents had instilled in them, not actually believing in what they tried to instill within you. I know this because for me it was the opposite, since mine genuinely believed what they taught to me.

As for the whole parents getting less strict, that's everybody's parents minus exceptions, its an age thing. I've seen it happen in my own family and others but the last child is the most free because parenting only increases in difficulty as you get older and have more children, you care less as you get older.

 

[lolcow yoghurt]

The Green Mile film. For some reason my dad wouldn't let me see the film

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Three Stooges

 

[Safir]

When I asked my mother as a teen, she said it "would make act like a hoe" and I recently bought one out of spite.

So, do you act like a hoe now?

My Mom didn't want me to watch Ed, Edd, and Eddy or CatDog because she thought they were stupid.

She was right.

---
My mom didn't get me rollerblades (even the poor kids had them, no rollerblades meant I couldn't hang out with classmates) or a skateboard (I wanted one because of Back to the Future), because they were "dangerous". I bought a skateboard with money from my first job, and rollerblades last year, when I saw a pair that looked cool. Both were underwhelming. (They were cool with bikes, though, and bought me four bikes. When I grew up, I bought five more. Bikes are awesome.)

I say "first job", but that took a while, because my parents also forbade me from working -- specifically, they told me that if I worked, I would have to pay for my share of the rent and food (and there wouldn't be much left from an underage child's salary). They also threatened same if I went camping (I was 16 and already bought camping supplies with the $500 they gave me for a perfect GPA), RIP my social life at university.

My dad in particular insisted on buying me "nice" clothes, to "cultivate a sense of style". I was not permitted to wear them except for special occasions. But my ex-sister, having got them as nearly-unworn hand-me-downs, was allowed to wear them every day and looked great, and resented it. Generally, I served as a trailblazer for her, every permission I had to fight for she got for free and two years earlier for her age.

When I was 13 or so, we were at a clothes market and they made me try on an awesome red coat. It fit perfectly and wasn't particularly expensive (come to think, it looked like my waifu Maetel's coat, but without the fluffies). Both mom and dad were horrified to see how "adult" I looked (it wasn't a slutty coat) and refused to buy it. I credit this incident with destroying my enjoyment of clothes. I wear jeans in winter, fast-drying pants in summer, and moisture wicking t-shirts. As for slutting, I ended up losing my virginity at 32 to Surgitron® Dual RF™.

I also remember a vague notion that coffee wasn't good for children, but we rarely brewed it and I didn't like the taste. (Holding the button on the coffee grinder was fun.) I drank, and still drink, gallons of unsweetened tea with lemon slices.