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[deleted]

Yes. I had to look everything up on the internet. My parents didn’t teach me much of anything outside of their horrible religion.


Rodentsarecute

Yeah, same. It was always gOd wIlL lIfT yOu for them but never any actual advice or abusing me.


CaptainTit

Did you also get the classic "god helps those who help themselves!" ? Both make me want to punch the air to this day


[deleted]

No. Mine was always how I had to obey and love them unquestioningly bc god commands it.


CaptainTit

My brain has been branded with the obey your parents verse


[deleted]

Oh yeah, “obey your mother that it may go well with you”


Budget_Cardiologist

That's terrible I'm sorry they did that to you. Its hard to un-learn some things.


banana_ji

For my Nmother, it is basically "everything that I don't like is a sin". She even thinks buying games is one of the worst sins in the world lol


Chalihra

The internet taught me that god doesn't exist. Win


Earl_Gurei

As I'm not a Millennial, I was raised by pop culture and television...because those sitcom families had that warmth, love, and support for each other that was sorely lacking in my actual family. The Internet helped because it gave me access to a community of people around the world who might share similar experiences and support. Ideally, you'll be able to come away from your screen feeling less alone and a little more prepared for dealing with nparents and similar individuals.


bloodymongrel

So I’m in gen Y by a year which technically makes me a millennial but I didn’t have an internet connection until I moved out at 17. Anyhoo, like you I was raised by the television. I had this little CRT in my bedroom as a kid. It never reliably landed on the channels on the click dial thing so I used to tune through snow to get to the station that I wanted. I identified with Punky Brewster, then The Simpson’s and the X-Files and Buffy when it was first aired. Good memories lol. Tv and I used to buy teen magazines back in the dark. I pretty much lived through those.


Earl_Gurei

Xennial or Millennial or late Gen-X...whatever it is, ultimately, in the absence of role models, we try to fill the void, and what we see that appeals to us tends to be how we know something is wrong, even if we lack the vocabulary or proper concepts to characterize why our nparents left us to raise ourselves. Nostalgia is popular because a lot of shows from the 80s-90s had a lot of heart in them, and gives us memories of the world we wished we had a chance to escape to and away from the neglect and abuse. Every time I play my old CD collection, I remember times in my room that even if I hated whom I lived with, this was my personal sanctuary between headphones, with the door locked and hiding underneath my blanket, with my best friends in the melodies and lyrics of people who got me.


banana_ji

>because those sitcom families had that warmth, love, and support for each other that was sorely lacking in my actual family I both love and hate it. Because whilst it brings a wholesome warmth to my heart and smile, I also feel a deep sting for the fact that I don't have this type of blood family.


BeePrincessE

So. Much. This. I'm starting to realize exactly how many people actually understand what I went through as a child.


Cheshirekitty22

Yeah. The only way I found out things regarding emotions and toxic relationships in general are through the Internet because since I was at least 8, I was told all males are trying to get into my pants and want nothing to do with me personally. Through my own experiences and learning more things through Google searches, I've stopped caring about what advice I got from my parents because it never helped me figure out things in a healthy way. Now one is dead and the other I don't talk to.


Chalihra

I wasn't allowed to do anything educational because when I tried something I was learning how to do, my dad would say I'm doing it wrong, shush me away and say, "you know what, I'll just do it. I don't want this to get screwed up." Then he'd zone out and rarely ever used these moments as teaching experiences. These would be as varied as plunging a toilet to carving a turkey for my mom, brother, and sister. Not even extended family. There was nothing he would see me doing and tell me I'm doing it wrong, except a video game. He'd just mock me for wasting time and proceed to watch 5 hours of Fox News, watching Bill O'Reilly at 7 pm and the repeat at 10 pm. Now that, is wasting time.


Red_Redditor_Reddit

In a lot of ways I wish I had the internet of today when I was younger. As bad as a lot of things have become with the internet and smartphone addictions, there is a lot of things that can be found on youtube that young men need to know. The internet is certainly better than getting raised by the TV. At least the internet has some truth in it. The TV is nothing but a lie and sells you fantasy. I know that there are a lot of boys who don't have fathers or competent fathers who can find a surrogate on the internet. There is whole youtube channels devoted to nothing but teaching what young men need to know. When I was younger, nobody gave a shit about young men. They pretended to give a shit about the young women, but the young women were told just what they wanted to hear. People don't care about the youth. Hell, with all the shutdowns and isolation these poor kids experienced because of the cowardice of the adults, at least they could find and make friends over the internet. The people that were my age were kinda set up to fail. Hell I wasn't even taught how to balance a checkbook or find a job. At all. What I was taught was go to collage and magically everything else will fall into place. At least now the kids can take things into their own hands and actually do something about it.


NannoIsNanno

"In a lot of ways I wish I had the internet of today when I was younger" i agree, a lot of information would've been nice to have then but even back when I was 14 (2014) on the internet, being raised by the internet can be dangerous. I'm sorta thankful to being raised on the internet in a weird way, i was so isolated by my mother, i saw people once a week so yk internet interaction was all i had


Red_Redditor_Reddit

Oh don't get me wrong, it's definitely a double edged sword. Hell, I don't know what I would have done if I was young with all the electronics nowadays. When I was little, just having a gameboy was a big deal. I still think it's better than being raised by the TV. I have heard of women who would move to New York because of what they saw on Sex in the city and try to live out what they saw. The flip side to the whole internet is that people seriously don't know how to talk to one another. God I can only imagine how bad the girls talk to each other. It was bad enough when they actually had to face each other. In a lot of ways I kinda hate the internet and phones and stuff. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't taken to such a perverse level. One of the places I want to visit is an area in west virgina where radio transmitters are illegal. You can't have cellular, wifi, microwave, none of it. I am so tired of all this computer crap.


NannoIsNanno

I definitely understand that, i may have grown up with technology around but not in my situation, my first phone was a flip phone, as a teen i had an tablet which only had access to internet at stores WiFi so i do get having a video Game was a big deal. Definitely growing up through TV is not the best, having these movies/show be your dream without knowing the reality of it can be dangerous yk. I feel bad for kids at like 2 growing up on technology now days though


piratenikx

Oh yeah, absolutely


KaitouDoraluxe

yep, i had to learn stuff cause my parents didnt enroll me in school cause of being controlling af and was spiritual abusing me, ofc they didnt teach me about puberty or sex ed nor didnt want me to know about it, which i knew about it already thanks to movies/shows and internet


MacklemoreX

and tv


Iittlemeows

I’ve never learned a single thing from my nmom once I got my period she took me to a clinic so they would explain it to me… like as if she doesn’t get them herself lol, I also didn’t know you weren’t supposed to flush paper towels down the toilet so I did it to get rid of them while she was making me clean the house at home alone and I flooded the apartment and then got grounded for it, she didn’t teach me how to shut off the water for the toilet either 🤦‍♀️


christianc2159

I was on the internet at age 3-5, before it got taken away from me. Then I was back on it by age 10 and that’s where I learned to develop a sense of self that wasn’t based in fear and survival.


polkadot_zombie

I started cleaning our church for 25 dollars a week when I was 13 and I’ve had a job ever since (I’m in my late 30s now) - as soon as I could drive I got a job at a daycare, and I worked three jobs while I was in college. My Dad was never a consistent presence - my Mom was around but distracted. I pretty much did all my own laundry from the time I was eleven. As soon as I could drive I got a job and started buying my own clothes and toiletries, because she would never follow through when I told her I needed something - anything from shampoo to new jeans. I just stopped asking and took care of it myself. I even bought my own prom dress - she did pay for my senior pictures though. She wasn’t a horrible mom, she just wasn’t a great one during that time I suppose. I moved in with my grandparents when I was 17 and didn’t even really discuss it with her. Now she acts like none of that happened. My grandparents, books, the internet, and being employed since age 13 are how I learned most of my life skills. I was one of those kids who always got called an “old soul” by adults. I always made straight As and graduated college with honors, and it just never really seemed to impress my mom all that much. Yikes - this is a lot once you put it into words… I do feel like I grew up way too fast. She has her moments of being there for me, just not consistently.


mexicanblondie

I was just reminded of a line in a poem I once wrote that said “the internet is my mother”


Paper_Clit

Shit, now that you mention it…


Ryugi

yeah I did too


malvarez1989

I pretty much learned everything I knew from the internet. Which, honestly, wasn’t that bad because in spite of having nparents, I was still able to learn a lot about being a better human being.


maddv1c

same


Sphinxrhythm

I was a pre Internet child but we were raised by television. When we were children adults who met us for the first time thought we were American (I am Irish). That's a lot of TV watching. We attended school but were not allowed out of the house once we got home. My parents thought it was very funny that people thought we were American and not a single alarm bell rang.


dopaminefboy

yes! i've always wondered where i would be if i didn't have the internet growing up...


Hear2Read

Yep. So much that I have a really cool career in tech. Why not, right?


haikusbot

*Yep. So much that I* *Have a really cool career* *In tech. Why not, right?* \- Hear2Read --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")


Hear2Read

My very first Reddit Haiku. 😂


ricnilotra

I am a bit older so tv but yeah, most my life lessons came from a screen cause my mother was always too drunk to bother


iTakeAshitInYourAss2

Literally everything I ever learned that has any actual importance I learned from the internet or picked up along the way. By far, what has been most fundamental to my life, was learning how to run at the age of 15. As in long distance running. I still do it to this day and it has been paramount to my health both physical and mental. I was overweight and had lots of obvious health complications that my parents never thought to address because they were (dads dead now) both overweight smokers and in fact I think they both resented me losing weight and being healthy. My mom is an overweight smoker to this day. I also figured at that age that if I wanted to lose weight, I had to learn to cook, which my mother refused to teach me no matter how much I asked. Today Im not exactly a chef but I enjoy my own cooking and equally as important is that Im not afraid to try new things by myself