Just for Fun! As a kid, what were you banned from…

[jerseygirl]

As the thread title says, what were you banned from watching, reading, buying (etc) when you were a kid?  I came across a twitter thread recently, that asked these questions and it was entertaining.  It certainly got me thinking about some things Id forgotten about.

There was a cartoon my siblings and I had been following – I don’t even remember the specific name. I have “cities of gold” in my head but on googling, I found “The mysterious cities of Gold” and it did air in the ’80’s. I’m 95% sure this was it. I’ll need to confirm with younger sibling. 

We were primary school aged and probably young teens. Anyway, a woman from the community got in my Mums ear about it and suddenly we were not allowed to watch it anymore.  I will have to ask Mum if she even remembers this and what the reasons for banning it were.  She may have banned us from the wrong show altogether.     I do think adults will sometime worry unnecessarily about what a child may take from a tv show, book, movie etc. That said, a child may be influenced or become upset by something a parent/caregiver did not even predict they would either!

In my teens, I was banned, on and off, from watching soapies. We were already limited how much TV we could watch anyway. I can say this –  I was not really into the soapy itself, for me it was more about the privilege of being allowed to watch one, due to my age. I’d seen older siblings being able to view shows I wasn’t able to. When I reached the age I could, I COVETED this time. There was a time when it was just me, TV all to myself  for half an hour and no younger siblings allowed in the room – though, they tried!  What bliss -haha. I needed this time after school to just zone out.  

But, I had times of being a moody teen and my parents thought it was the soaps that were influencing my attitude. LOL.  Nope, that was just me – being a teenager. Sorry Mum & Dad!  I guess they were also taking away my privileges if Id been a pain in the backside. 

Onto books!  I remember being banned (by my older SISTER -She was bossy!) from reading The Flowers in the Attic series.   Anyone remember those books?  

I would have been about 13. My friends were reading them and I was curious enough but my sister quickly told my mum it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to read them at that age. So that was that. Same sister even tried stop me from reading a Judy Blume book . 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I had a lot of liberties as a child. Probably too many. My parents were great parents but not very worried about what we watched, listened to etc. I remember being like 8 years old and buying a cassette tape (yes, I’m old….) that had explicit lyrics warning. They accepted my taste in music early. My first celebrity crush was Jim Morrison from The Doors. I saw him on one of my Dad’s records and thought he was cute. I was like 6 or 7. I cried when Dad told me he was dead. I used my allowance every month to buy “Metal Edge” magazine. And my room was covered with Poison, GNR and Skid Row. Looked kind of funny mixed with all the Barbies and stuffed animals.

I also did a lot of stuff my parents had no knowledge about. Like watching Terminator 2 and horror movies when I was in grade school.

I guess I take after my parents in that I really don’t believe that what you watch, listen to, etc affects who you are and what you will do. I did all that stuff and turned out to be a pretty good person. (Tooting my own horn…Toot Toot).

I’m pretty easy going with Everly. She’s 3 and she watches Star Wars Rebels cartoon with her Dad every weekend. Not a big fan of it, I rather she not watch that, but it’s something they do together. And I know that I will be the same way when it comes to her choosing music. I think I would be relieved if she likes rock and metal as opposed to that horrible pop stuff my nieces listen to.

The Flowers in the Attic series. Anyone remember those books?

Yes, I loved those books. I was older when I read them. In High School. I read all the books written by V.C. Andrews and some of the new ones that were put out by diff authors after her death. Really didn’t like those ones, though so I stopped reading them. I actually had a huge box of the books I sold a couple of years ago.

[DanaNM]

My parents were pretty over protective (in my mind), but mostly about where I went and my curfew.

I wasn’t allowed to watch The Simpsons, or Ren and Stimpy. My husband is a huge Simpsons fan and has since filled me in on all the good seasons and episodes, and it’s actually a pretty tame show by comparison to some of the other stuff I was allowed to watch. Maybe my mom thought Bart was a bad influence? Who knows… we ended up including a Simpsons reference in our wedding, so it’s pretty funny in retrospect. Ren and Stimpy is horrifying to me as an adult, so I totally get that one.

Plus no PG-13 till I was actually 13, and no R until I was actually 17. I remember the first rated R movie I ever saw was “I still know what you did last summer”, and I watched it at a sleepover before I was allowed too. I felt so guilty I confessed! And I totally understood why I wasn’t allowed to watch it… ha!

I don’t think I was banned from any books, but I remember my mom wasn’t too happy about me reading “Go Ask Alice”…

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

My brother and I watched MTV all the time when we were kids. I guess my dad turned on the TV and it was on that channel and one of Madonna’s music videos was on. He put a parental lock on the channel and wouldn’t let us watch it anymore. o_O

Jersey – That is so funny because I would watch Soaps WITH my mom when I was a kid! Hahaha!

Dana – Ironically, Ren & Stimpy was OK to watch. Also, we watched R rated movies all the time when we were kids, particularly at sleepovers. But I do remember going to see some in the theater as well.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My parents were pretty over protective (in my mind), but mostly about where I went and my curfew.

My parents were big on curfew. That was one area I didn’t mention. Drove me nuts. My Mom was a worrier so if I wasn’t home on time, she’d be all upset. I’d have to call if I was gonna be late at all. And when I was like 20, still living at home and staying at my boyfriend’s house, I had to lie and say I was with my girl friends. Eventually, I just said “Okay, I’m old enough to be married to this guy…..” And I did marry him eventually. 

[Azerane]

Can’t remember much from when I was really little, but I do know that we weren’t allowed to watch the Simpsons. Probably the same thing with Bart being a bad influence, I do remember repeating “eat my shorts” a few times, lol. We must have still watched it a bit, probably when dad was home but mum wasn’t. Haha. Having said that, I remember watching Austin Powers, the Spy Who Shagged Me, probably well before I should have, again with Dad. I remember telling mum and she seemed pretty shocked. Not that much could be done about it by then though.

I was a pretty innocent kid though, didn’t pick up on innuendos and things till well after a lot of other kids my age who were already on top of that stuff years before. I’m not sure whether that has to do with being sheltered, I didn’t feel terribly sheltered, or just who I tended to hang out with. I was the kid who at a birthday party had to ring my mum to ask permission to watch “Scream”. Of course she said no so all the other kids watched that and me and a couple others watched Balto in another room, lol. So funny to think back on that now.

I think Doctor Who (or at least reruns) were still airing when I was little, but we weren’t allowed to watch because it was too scary. The same with X-Files, I wasn’t allowed to watch that when my brother was. Even after I was allowed I often found it too scary and I’d have nightmares afterwards, haha.

Regarding Ren and Stimpy, we only had cable for about 6 months, there was some sort of trial deal. I remember not being allowed to watch Ren and Stimpy, but I also remember watching it, so I’m not sure what the situation was there.

My parents were big on restricting computer time. We each had a day of the week where we were allowed on for 1 hour to play games (usually Commander Keen, or Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure). As we got older and needed the computer for school work I used to play Neopets instead of doing my work

I remember not being allowed to buy one of the kids magazines, it was sort of more a “tween” one with boy band gossip and those quizzes about being in love or boyfriends etc. I wasn’t allowed to buy those. But I could buy Disney Adventures or animal magazines if I wanted.

[jerseygirl]

My first celebrity crush was Jim Morrison from The Doors. I saw him on one of my Dad’s records and thought he was cute. I was like 6 or 7.

LPT, that is the cutest! I wish I could say my 1st celebrity crush was as cool as that. I don’t even know what his name was but he was a kid on a talent show we had here at the time.

I used to buy a mag called Smash hits for the song lyrics and occasionally the posters. I never developed an interest in mags like Dolly or Cosmo but I do remember the girls and guys reading out Dolly Doctor on the schoolbus. 

I also remember a younger sister and I were staying with my cousin and she had Cosmo with the sealed section. Knowing her, she would have bought it without her parents knowing. Anyway, we were an age where the contents just made us hysterical and grossed out at the same time.  

LBJ, there were some mini-series we watched with our parents, but the long running soaps were usually not encouraged. They weren’t super strict but they aired right when dinner needed to be prepped or eaten, and we always sat at the table. It wasn’t until I went to friends houses as a teen that I figured out that every family didn’t do that. For some, the ritual was sit down for the evening meal in front of the telly and watch the favourite show.

You did remind me of something about my Nana! She got into the evening soaps late in life. She had her elder sister (possibly 90 at the time) stay one time and it was her sister that got her hooked. They must have gossiped about the characters. About every fortnight, I used to clean her house and stay overnight. She’d make sure we’d have the meal over in time to watch her favorite soap. She was always interested in the love life of her grandchildren, so I can see why she liked this soap which mostly featured teens.

[jerseygirl]

Regarding Ren and Stimpy, we only had cable for about 6 months, there was some sort of trial deal. I remember not being allowed to watch Ren and Stimpy, but I also remember watching it, so I’m not sure what the situation was there.

Were you the youngest?…

[Deleted User]

oh gosh, I can’t even list all the things that I was banned from….I had a bit of a wild phase when I turned 18 and had all this newfound freedom…let’s just say I didn’t spend that time catching up on reading books and seeing movies that I had missed out on… My parents were extremely religious and way too overprotective. I think they meant well but they were a bit over the top with everything. Plus, they had me and my twin when they were in their 40s, so by the time I was a teen they were already in their 50s and were a bit old fashioned about everything.

The things I specifically remember not being able to watch are SpongeBob, Ren and Stimpy, Dragon Ball Z, or even Two Stupid Dogs… Even when I was 17-18 my mom still had everything over a PG 13 rating blocked by a parental access code. If there was a movie that I wanted to watch, she had to thoroughly look into it beforehand. I remember sneaking DVDs from my friends in middle school, and she found The Corpse Bride one time and freaked out!! C’mon… I missed out on A Series of Unfortunate events series because it was “evil” and I couldn’t watch or read Harry Potter because it was “witchcraft”.

I also couldn’t have sleepovers at others houses, I was occasionally allowed to have a friend over at my house…but no one ever wanted to come by cause we weren’t allowed to do anything! I have known my husband since we were 13 years old and he’s the first crush I ever had, and the only boyfriend that I’ve ever had, as I was told I wasn’t allowed to date but I liked him so much that I told my mom that she could shove it and that I was going to date him anyway. I guess she didn’t expect that our high school sweetheart business would turn into a marriage. bahaha! At least I was right about one thing, mom!

I was a lot closer to my older brother than I was to my twin sister, so I remember playing lots of video games. Does anyone remember a game for Nintendo 64 called Turok? You hunted dinosaurs. I can’t remember how we got the game, but I remember being so angry when my mom took it away because it was “too violent” … a Nintendo 64 game… well ok then!

[Muchelle]

Uhm…. I’ve never really been banned from anything. Only things were that my parents didn’t want me to collect stickers (only ever had the lion kind album that my mother probs liked and so we completed it together) and I couldn’t have garbage pail kids cause there was this rumor that people put drugs in the packets and handed them around schools… btw I still like them and I’m considering getting the illustration album I’ve seen pop up on amazon, lol!

I wasn’t also allowed to watch X-files cause one time I watched one ep and got night terrors for months when I was like 5 or 6 (still scared of aliens tho! ahaha)

Otherwise I was freely allowed to watch whatever on tv or to get whatever magazine/manga, but I’ve also never been left alone watching tv unless it was cartoons or kids programmes. Thus I have developed a fine taste for trash movies, since I’ve been brought up with all the good 70s and 80s italian comedy movies.

[Boymom4]

There were four of us kids in my house and we were not allowed talk crassly. When I was 10 I got my first rabbit and he was pooping all over the house so the word “poop” was being referred to liberally and with much hilarity by us kids. We finally had an excuse! My mom finally had enough and banned us from calling it poop, and instead said we were only allowed to call it “bunny berries.” ?
Fast forward twenty four years to my own home with four young boys (a 5th boy on the way) and their first house bunny experience and the word “poop” being shrieked over and over with howling laughter as our new little bunny binkied up and down the hall, tossing his little droppings this way and that in pure excitement of experiencing his first ever free roam. As the little pills bounced off the walls and he then shockingly stoppped to munch one down to my aghast kids appalled hilarity, I suddenly understood my mom a whole lot more and had no choice but to BAN my kids from using the word and only calling them “bunny berries!”
The next morning my three year old yelled for my help in the bathroom and when I came in he proudly announced that he had “bunny berries in the toilet.” ????

[Deleted User]

I grew up in an odd house. My mom was super strict and religious, and basically everything BN said her parents did. My dad was the complete opposite and didn’t care what I did as long as the cops weren’t involved ??? it was basically lots of sneaking things from my mom and then when she found out it was a crapstorm of anger. My dad would take her side, but then tell me to just keep it at school or watch whatever when she wasn’t home. I’m 26, and I finally read the whole Harry Potter series 6 months ago. It was perfect.

[LBJ10]

Oddly, it was always my dad who got upset about things. I remember my brother asking for something with an explicit lyrics warning on it. My mom got it for him. My dad didn’t know about it, but he came home from work one day when my brother was listening to it and practically had a heart attack. I remember him arguing with my mom and asking her why she bought that for him. LOL

I don’t know, it was always seemed so inconsistent. Some seemingly trivial things were not OK, but then other things were. But always more so with my mom. However, I do remember my dad walking into the movie theater, buying the tickets, and then telling them it was OK for us to see the movie. He’d then leave us there and come back to get us after the movie was over.

Jersey – My mom did like to gossip about her Soaps. Maybe that’s why she liked to watch them with me? I do remember my dad at one point telling my mom the content was not appropriate for me. Not that they ever showed anything, even during the “sex” scenes. Since, you know, this was daytime television.

X-Files? I loved watching the X-Files!

[Muchelle]

I love x-files as well Just… I tried watching ’em too early probs. I’m also one of those who were scarred forever by IT when I managed to sneak watch it at about elementary school age. We actually had a big dinner with other friends in high school who had all been traumatized and watched it again together ahaha

[Sr. Melangell]

I was banned from everything, I mean everything, I even got banned from Brownies, but that was favoritism, brown owl wanted only her children in Brownies, but I was the more intelligent one in the family no one liked, I was the one who said to the chemistry teacher at school when he said. “I’ll light this.” I said. “And it’ll blow your face off.” ‘Boof’ he’s scared for life that man.

[joea64]

I wasn’t really banned from much media stuff that I can think of when I was a child (the 1970’s, more or less, which shows you what a geezer I am). I do remember a couple of occasions when one of my parents would cover my eyes when we were in a theater and a couple onscreen were getting, ahem, frisky, but apart from that, not much. I had HBO on my bedroom TV – this was when cable TV was just really taking off, of course – when I was in high school, so I was able to sneak in watching movies with sexy scenes when my parents weren’t around from time to time. I also discovered Playboy magazine (that was during its glory days in the 1970’s), and though my mother knew I had a small stash under my bed, she never really raised that much of a fuss about it, to my surprise. (I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Playboy’s mascot is the you-know-what?)

[Deleted User]

Bahahaha Joe XD Now we know where the affinity for bunnies comes from

[pinknfwuffy]

Oh, boy. Looks like we were all quite the young rascals! ;]

I love how we all couldn’t watch the Simpsons. The universal bad influence, even internationally!

My family had an entertainment console with two cabinets on either end. One was full of our kid’s movies (Disney VHS, FernGully, books on tape, etc.) and the other end was locked. Why, you ask? Because that’s where all the grown up movies were. Anything that was basically not a cartoon. The Godfather! Oooooh.

We also didn’t have cable so I never watched anything on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. We only had 4-5 channels so my favorite after school shows were re-runs of Bonanza, Hawaii 5-0, and Happy Days. When we finally got dial-up internet my parents limited how long we could use it and I later found out my mom put a parental control on our instant messages that sent her a transcript. Which is hilarious because it was mostly me talking to my nerd friends about Harry Potter. Narf.

[Ava]

There were several things we were “banned” from as kids, including tv (there were times when the tv itself was banned from the house, then it was re-instated with only approved shows, and then no television, just approved vhs/dvd), pants (this was a sporadic banning, but by the time I was a teen-ager we could wear them), certain types of toys, certain books (fantasy types), dogs, etc…

I do remember once we were at a hotel (older kids in one room, parents and little kids in another), all us kids were watching a scary movie (which we weren’t allowed), my parents come in and we rush to turn it off, but they stop us to see what it was we were watching (we thought we were in trouble) and we end up watching the whole thing together! We were watching Tremors… to this day I have no idea why my dad allowed us to watch it. However, now it is one of the few monster slasher movies I like.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Haha….Tremors…I watched that as a kid too with my Mom. She was a huge Reba Mcentire fan. So awful it’s good. lol

[LBJ10]

OMG, Tremors was so terrible, but we loved it. My mom liked Kevin Bacon.

[Q8bunny]

Hmm… I read anything and everything at home, but at school I was not allowed VC Andrews either…

TV… The Red Shoe Diaries was off limits, even though I loved David Duchovny. Also anything scary horror or scifi because of my little brother.

Mostly I was banned from experimenting on my brother. I nearly killed him a couple of times, so….

[Author]

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