Is it possible to be too strict?

In high school, we constantly being nagged by our parents. Do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. Be home by 11:30, don't text and drive, clean your room, finish your homework. I absolutely love my parents but sometimes the nagging has got to stop. Honestly, I don't even have to experience the worst of it.

One of my good friends that I have known since I was young has the strictest parents around. She couldn't date until she was 16. She can only go out one night a weekend, she has to go to church every sunday, and she didn't even have a cell phone until half way through her freshmen year. The funny thing is that her parents think they are turning her into this perfect angel that will grow up to create some charity to stop world hunger. But they are very, very wrong. She goes behind her parents back about everything. She dated before she was 16 and she sneaks out often. This begs the question: does being strict as a parents really help your kids? In my opinion, no it does not.

I am the youngest of three kids. My parents have always been the laid back type, they have always trusted us. They give us enough space to learn how to make the right decisions on our own and also they give us enough space to make mistakes and learn from them.

My older siblings have made their fair share of mistakes, big ones too but they learned from them, grew and moved on. I know I'm bound to make mistakes too but I know when I do my parents will tell me, “Take responsibility for your actions, apologize, learn and move on.”

From what I've seen, being a strict parent only makes your kids rebel from you even more. Its important to give us space, let us mess up now rather than later when we are out on our own. Love ya mommy and daddy, thanks for everything.