A TikTok creator’s account of strict household rules has sparked debate online after she described phone restrictions, limits on friendships and a punishment she called the “most traumatic experience of my life.”
The video by @_heywhatsupyall had received more than 780,000 views and over 8,300 comments at the time of writing. In it, the creator listed rules she said her parents enforced throughout her childhood and adolescence.
The video opens with her filming while grounded and noting that some of the rules remain in place.
She said she did not receive a phone until eighth grade and had to leave it in her parents’ room overnight until partway through her junior year of high school. Her parents initially checked the phone every night before reducing the checks to once every few days.
The TikToker said she had to answer her parents’ calls on the first ring or risk losing her phone altogether. She was also prohibited from using it before school or bringing it into her bedroom or bathroom. Her parents installed an app that allowed them to hide or delete apps from her phone without her permission.
@_heywhatsupyall we love strict parents #mom #dad #strictparents #rules #foryoupage #hopefullyrelatable ♬ original sound – _heywhatsupyall
She said she was not allowed to have TikTok or Snapchat and still did not have TikTok when she recorded the video. She was first allowed to create an Instagram account the summer before her sophomore year of high school, making it the only social media platform she could use at the time.
Sleepovers were prohibited until she was nearly a teenager and were then limited to friends her parents had known for years. She said spending time with friends was restricted to one day each weekend, while the other day was reserved for family time or chores, including watering plants for hours and deep-cleaning the house.
She was also not permitted to talk to or text boys. She recalled getting in trouble in middle school after texting a boy she said was only a friend. Plans with friends had to receive her parents’ approval several days in advance.
According to the creator, her parents discovered that she had a Snapchat account containing messages with boys and took her to the desert, where they questioned her for two days. She described the incident as the most traumatic experience of her life. She said she then lost access to her phone for eight months and could not communicate with her friends during that period.
Later, she said her parents required her to write multi-page apology letters and personal improvement plans after breaking household rules. She added that they remain reluctant to let her stay overnight at friends’ homes, preferring instead for friends to stay at her house.
Viewers Question the TikTok While Others Share Strict Upbringings
Some commenters questioned whether the video was serious, while others shared stories about growing up in strict households. One commenter suggested that the video was intended as a joke, writing, “Guys its a joke she literally says she still doenst have tiktok” [sic].
Another commenter compared the rules with those in their own childhood home, writing, “grounded w a phone??? my parents would’ve taken EVERYTHING.”
A third commenter asked the creator to make a follow-up video about the opposite experience, writing, “You should do a ‘things my parents let me do’ version.”
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the claims described in the video, including the alleged two-day trip to the desert. The identities of the creator’s parents have not been disclosed.
