Mom Divides Internet After Sharing Her ‘Unpopular’ Parenting Rules, Including Making Kids Pay Rent At 16

Would you make your children do this?

TikTok parenting rules TikTok
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Everyone parents their kids differently — there are a ton of different parenting styles and techniques that people believe is the best way to raise their children.

Some people draw from the traditions of their own family, their parents, their grandparents, maybe friends or something they simply grabbed online.

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However, not everyone is on the same page when it comes to parenting and one viral TikTok of a mother’s rules for her children has split the internet between people who agree and people who think she’s being too harsh.

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This mother makes her kids: pay rent, lets them cuss, leave her alone in the morning, and get their license when they turn 16.

Fawna (@tru_n8v on TikTok) posted a video over a month ago where she talked about her “controversial rules” for her children which has gotten nearly 700 thousand views.

   

   

“In my house, at the age of 13, you’re allowed to cuss as long as you use it in the proper context and you do not disrespect adults,” she starts her video.

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A lot of parents don’t like it when their children swear, however this mother says that as long as they use it in the right context and aren’t disrespectful about it, it should be fine.

“Why not just teach them more words instead of limiting their vocabulary to sound ignorant?” wrote one of the comments on her post.

However, people can use swear words and still expand their vocabulary.

Since the kids are still in school and still learning, it’s likely that they won’t be trapped by swear words and will instead encourage growth since they aren’t being restricted from using them.

She also adds that to be respectful to adults, her kids were made to say “sir” and “ma’am,” which some people thought was a little much.

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“Nobody can ever explain how saying ‘yes sir’ is any more respectful than saying ‘yes,’” said someone else.

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Next, she talked about her rule regarding her mornings and how her kids aren’t allowed to bother her until she had her coffee, which most people didn’t seem to have a problem with and were more impressed if anything.

After that, she talked about what happens when they turn 16, saying “they’re required to get a job, a driver’s license, and then they have to start ‘paying rent.’”

This is where people start to have a bigger problem with what she’s saying, although she explains herself before letting people get ahead of themselves.

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The rent isn’t something that she pockets, but instead, she holds onto the money until the children decide to move out, and that’s when she will give back all of the money that she held onto over the months/years.

While some people liked the idea, others didn’t appreciate the forcefulness behind it.

“I [disagree] with the rent thing, only because I think you should teach your kids how to save their own money,” said one of the comments which echoed a lot of the sentiment surrounding the idea.

Forcing the children to give up their money to their mother is a different form of saving than teaching them how to be financially responsible on their own.

This teaches them that their money is not actually theirs, even if she was going to give it back.

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But in a follow-up video, she explains that her intentions are only to prepare them for life and that she wouldn’t kick them out for not paying rent.

She also emphasizes that school and their extracurricular activities would always take priority over the rent or their work.

Despite the controversy, she got a lot of support for her rules from parents and children who wish their parents had done the same for them.

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Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.