[gareim]

I learned a different way. My parents were neither super open nor super repressive. Instead, I had a good system where my cousins would guide me by sitting down with me and talking through whatever was going on at the time. It taught me the right ways to behave but more importantly, I reached these conclusions through my own reasoning with guidance when I felt I needed it.

These rules are pretty silly and disrespectful. It is a message from the mom to her child letting the child know that she does not trust him enough to think on his own.

[m_myers]

Which is pretty justified, in my experience. There's a reason 13-year-olds are called "minors"; most of them are not yet mature enough to make good decisions on their own, so guidance is necessary.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but the mother certainly knows her child better than you or I do.

[jdechko]

Oddly enough, or not, 13 is also around the time where kids start puberty. It's not just a physical change, but also a time where kids are most impressionable. The "kids toys" get put away and they stop behaving like a child, because they are old enough to understand certain things. In short, they are becoming little adults.