So, we all knew (and kind of felt sorry for) that one person in school who was never allowed to do anything or go anywhere, because their parent/s simply told them NO. Undoubtedly, every parent wants to protect their child as much they can, but is strict parenting the right way to do that?Some parents, especially in the Asian community, take ‘strict’ parenting to a whole new level. Controlling which friends their child is allowed to engage with, even which hairstyle and items of clothing are appropriate. I know some of you reading this will be thinking “that was so me”. And if so, did you rebel at the first sight of freedom? – Because so many others do and it’s not always a pretty sight!

Moving on, I feel that a lot of these strict parents are in actual fact quite closed minded. Just because your daughter may have a friend who wears makeup and goes out on the weekend, doesn’t mean she is going to corrupt your child. Let your child use their own mind and make their own decisions, and their own mistakes, how else will they learn?

Often you see someone who’s been imprisoned for most of their teen years, and all of a sudden have a newfound freedom when they move away to university aka “the escape route”. All of a sudden you see pictures of them splattered across social media taking tequila body shots off that slightly creepy guy who sat next to you in science. (Gross, I know).

Being controlled by their parents for so long, it’s as if the freedom goes straight to their head and they are making up for lost time, which in a way, is understandable. However, they now have no other choice but to lie about their new wild lifestyle, in order to keep their parents happy and convince them they’re still the little angel they taught them to be.

Being late to the club scene, they of course are going to take longer to get it out of their system. They may even choose a longer course at university to ensure an extra year of jaeger drinking and booty twerking, before they move back home and the pressure of marriage starts to mount.

In my opinion, I don’t think parents should restrict their children from socialising and making their own decisions (within reason), as the child will have to lie whenever they do something they feel their parents won’t approve of, and this can effect the level of closeness between the parent and child. Making mistakes is all part of growing up and becoming wiser, why would you restrict your own child from doing that?

On the other hand, you also get some parents right at the other end of the spectrum, with children just as wild. With no rules or limitations set by parents, the child is free to do whatever they want – and we all know that can’t be a good thing! Take Regina George’s mum for example…