Which Things Did Your Overzealous Parents Ban?

by pale.emperor 43 Replies latest jw experiences

  • pale.emperor
    pale.emperor

    Well wernt we all just weird little kids? Glad i wasn't the only one.

    I remember one time my older sister reported my Super Mario game to my parents because in one of the levels there's ghosts. That was the end of that game.

    This is what she was referring to:


  • scratchme1010
    scratchme1010
    ...did anyone else out there have parents that implemented rules upon those rules?

    Yes, the list of things that were banned in my family is too long. I can actually provide the stupidest things that my weirdo born-again father banned.

    • Vitamins - He said that Jehovah will keep us healthy and the new order is around the corner anyway
    • Exercise - He said that house to house preaching is plenty of exercise
    • Bicycles, skates and skateboards - No reason given
    • Attending congregation social gatherings - This was more over his political fight with the other moron, equally abusive elders in that congregation who were doing the same shit to their children.

    My mother forbid pretty much everything she didn't like hearing about. She used the Jehovah crap as an excuse to be a controlling bitch.

  • DesirousOfChange
    DesirousOfChange

    I guess I had the most liberal of JW parents (father was even a prominent Elder in the Circuit).

    No rules against watching "I Dream of Jeanie" or "Bewitched" etc

  • punkofnice
    punkofnice
    paley - Well weren't we all just weird little kids? Glad i wasn't the only one.

    I discovered early on that being punched in the face doesn't hurt as much as you think it will. Made me resilient to bullies. I got a regular kicking for being a jobo at school until I developed a sense of humour and joked my way out of it. A big skinhead came up to me at school and said, 'tell us a joke or I'll boot your head in.'

    I told a joke. Luckily he got it and didn't boot my head in.

  • snugglebunny
    snugglebunny

    My parents didn't ban me from much. They were so consumed with their own addiction to dubbism they hardly noticed when I was around. As long as I read the text every day and turned up at meetings I was pretty well left alone. I did my own JW imprinting regrettably.

  • truth_b_known
    truth_b_known

    Much which has already been posted on, I too was prohibited from owning or participating in. So, I thought I would add to the list -

    Watching movies Rated PG-13

    My father invented this and tried promoting it in the congregation, but it fell flat. His belief was that they were R-Rated Lite movies and therefor should be avoided. He adopted this policy at the worst of times. I was in middle school and two important movies were released - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman. Batman was the one that really broke my spirits. I was and still am a huge fan of comic book heroes. I had all sorts of Batman t-shirts and memorabilia. I remember friends in the congregation called me "The Batman".

    When Batman was released everyone was sure I'd be the first in line. When I said I was not allowed to see it I was asked why. When I stated because it is Rated PG-13 everyone gave me an odd look.

  • AverageJoe1
    AverageJoe1
    • "Grange Hill" - classic series. Prefer the original theme tune though. Yep that was one of the things I watched at friends' houses as I wasn't allowed to watch that either.
    • "Now That's What I call Music" albums as the artists looked worldly!
    • Grotbags (Rod Hull & Emu spin-off)
    • He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, Dungeons & Dragons
    • Randall & Hopkirk Deceased
    • 15 & 18 rated films (12 rating didn't exist when I was in my teens; stupid rating anyway!)
    • X-Files
    • MJ's "Thriller" album
    • Guns n Roses
    • Neighbour's kids' birthday parties (obviously)
    • Raffle Tickets (even free ones)
    • A-Team
    • Neighbours, Home & Away, Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm, Take The High Road, Eastenders

    Sounds like we had a similar upbringing!

  • pale.emperor
    pale.emperor

    "Now That's What I call Music" albums as the artists looked worldly!

    WTF?!! haha!!

    Neighbours, Home & Away, Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm, Take The High Road, Eastenders

    My parents fluctuated on this. They'd ban them, then lift the ban when there was a major storyline, then get hooked again then the CO would come and it'd be banned again. I used to like Home & Away. I genuinely believed that there were no ugly people in Australia.

  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW
    Vitamins - He said that Jehovah will keep us healthy and the new order is around the corner anyway

    Wow, I thought my mother was the most wacky, Uber Dub out there.

    My mother didn't like music that had "that beat" in it, which was just loud music with bass in it, "no, I"m not having that music in my house, Jehovah doesn't approve of that", Just about every time she heard my music via radio or record player I always heard that, I guess 5 per cent of my time growing up I probably did not here that and could listen to a song beginning to end without hearing her mouth.

  • Phoebe
    Phoebe

    My parents didn't ban too much - I had posters on my wall and listened to pop music (this was in the 60s) mainly because they were so busy fighting they didn't have much time for us kids.

    The only thing was - mixing with worldly people in any way at all was strictly forbidden. I could go to school with them, but I was the kid who had to sit alone in a classroom doing homework while the Xmas disco was on in the school hall.

    I wasn't even allowed a phone call from a school friend. I remember once a girl saying she was going to phone me up about some homework we were doing and I was truly petrified because I knew my dad would go ballistic. So much so I sneaked down the hall while they were watching television and wedged a card in the phone so it would appear engaged if she rang.

    To be honest, what a life! How could parents be so awful to us?

    I never banned my kids from anything. I got into a shed load of trouble with a pioneer sister because my son had a ghost busters car. She said I must throw it away. I didn't.

    All my kids have grown up into kind, well-rounded young men and I couldn't be more proud of them.

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