Whoa! I'm really off topic. Back to screening. I know that my parents watched movies and tv shows first to ensure they were appropriate and read books first to ensure that the material was suitable for my eyes. As an adult I can truly appreciate their protecting my innocence but as a child, specifically in middle school, I found their protectiveness a lot of things but I never appreciated them for doing it. I had never seen MTV until I was a senior in high school and that was because I snuck and watched it at my grandparents (they had the good cable), I couldn't listen to mainstream radio other than the christian or oldies stations until I was in 7th or 8th grade, I wasn't allowed to read teen girl magazines but as an alternative my mom got me a subscription to a christian teen girl magazine, and the protective list goes on and on. The reason I'm telling you all this is because those things I just listed only encouraged my peers to test what I "knew." And when I didn't know something they knew about, it warranted more teasing, taunting and the like. I cried a lot in middle school. I never talked to my parents about it, I don't know why. But those three years were the worst years I've experienced so far.
There are a couple of interesting things that have come from not only my middle school experience but also from being protected by my parents from inappropriate things.
- I became more compassionate towards others being teased.
- I learned who my true friends were.
- While I haven't learned to not care about what other's feel about me...I feel like I care less.
- I feel the need to read a book first before passing it on to my mom.
- I also need to watch a movie first before I will either recommend it to my parents or watch it with them.
- I find myself cringing when I'm watching a movie with my parents and there is a sex scene, excessive cursing, etc.

I remember sneaking to my grandparents and seeing Real World for the first time. It was a marathon that day and I was hooked. We didn't have cable until I was about 16. And I STILL cringe if there is a sex scene or crude language in a movie if I'm watching with my parents.
ReplyDeleteP.S. They think I don't cuss. Shh
I can totally relate to the entirety of your comment!! ALL of it!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you joined the swim team.
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds a lot like my upbringing. My parents were protective and strict. No, make that very strict. And when it came to not knowing "things" my peers did, I was wayyyyy behind.
ReplyDeleteI turned out just fine. Thanks mom and dad.