As an observer and student of human behavior, I am constantly noting the way people are now compared to how they were in their conduct and character when I was a child.  I am especially interested and at times angered and disgusted by the attitude and behavior of children whose parents have allowed them to get out of control.  To be honest, it irks me to be in a place and see little children acting out like spoiled brats in the presence of their parents.  It takes all of the strength I can muster up to hold my peace and stay out of the business and responsibility of these incompetent individuals.  These beguiled parents do not have the faintest idea that they are rearing monsters—future trouble makers, who will have little or no respect for authority and other adults when they go to school or any place where discipline and order must be maintained.  From my disgust and disdain out of observing these “Bébé kids” has sprung the idea and focus of my column today.  When I was growing up, there were things that we dared not do and if we did them, we knew that our behinds would bear the painful consequences of such defiant behavior.  I will list some of these no-nos with brief comments.

Dared Not to Sass or Talk Back to Our Parents or Grown-ups
In our family, among my sibling clan of two sisters and eight brothers, at the very top of the list of no-nos was being rude or talking back to adults.  From an early age, my parents established and firmly instilled this law and principle of honoring and showing respect to grown-ups.  It started with them and extended out to other adults.  This golden rule and no-no was held in high regard whether we were at school, church, a neighbor’s house, or wherever.  There were times when I felt like talking back and even acting out, especially at school, but I dared not to because I feared what my parents would do to me when I went home.  Just the prospect of mama’s scolding rebuke and daddy’s stinging belt would keep me in check and out of trouble, even when they were not present to correct me or minister corporal punishment.  Regrettably, far too many sassy and defiant children desperately need parents who will bring them up with a firm hand, not sparring the rod.  Those days are over and the schools, communities, and society as a whole are reaping the grave consequences.  The only winners are the penal system and prisons.

Meddle in Grown-ups’ Conversations
On the list of things we dared not do as children was to butt in on adults’ conversation.  There were times when we knew it was time to leave the room or area when grown-ups were talking about very sensitive or grown-up things that our ears were not supposed to hear.  If we did not leave voluntarily or on our own accord, one of the adults would verbally tell us to leave or literally escort us out of the room or away from the area.  This was an act that was commonly practiced by almost every responsible adult.  Of course, there were some exceptions to the rule; you could tell who they were through their children, who would know too much about adult things and talk too much grown-up talk.  However, for the most part, children during my upbringing were spared from having to hear and deal with information and issues on an adult level.  By enforcing this rule, they kept us innocent and free of the weight of trying to worry about or exercise ourselves in matters too high for us.

Wasting Food
One of the things we learned in my family and neighborhood growing up was that under no circumstances were we to waste food.  Due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of the African-American families in Dillon were living under the poverty line and often had to scrounge and struggle to survive, and in many instances, rob Peter to pay Paul in order to put food on the table, wasting food was definitely a no-no in most of the families that I knew.  
If you wanted to be fussed at by your parents back then, wasting food was one of the quickest and surest ways to incur their displeasure and rebuke.

Going Places Where We
Were Forbidden to Go
There were some places that were off limits to us when we were growing up in the fifties and sixties.  Examples of these places were businesses that were of bad repute, like certain joints, hole-in-the-wall hang-outs that sold illegal corn whiskey, or houses that were infamous for various activities that went on inside.  Then there were places that posed great danger and even death, like irrigation ponds and certain communities that we were forbidden to hang-out in, especially after dark, unlike today when children have few restrictions concerning where they can go.  Our roaming and rambling space was restricted in communities with boundaries and village elders and watchers who kept us safe from molesters and predators.  Back then, if we were caught somewhere we were not supposed to be, any adult who we were familiar with had the authority from our parents to tell us to leave that forbidden place and we would obey their command.  To disrespect or defy them was the same as disrespecting or defying our parents and it came with grave consequences.

Violate Our Curfew
As a sibling in a clan of ten, I had parents who set some rules and no-nos in our family that my older brothers helped to establish as a part of our upbringing before I arrived on the scene.  One of those rules was that we were forbidden to break our curfew or come home late.
If we came home late, we had better have a good and legitimate reason for breaking our curfew.  
This was especially the case when we called ourselves courting and was either at our girlfriend’s house or have been allowed by her parents to take her out somewhere.  First, I dared not bring my girlfriend home late when we were allowed to go out to the drive-in theater, prom, or some other place.  
My future in-laws, especially my future father-in-law, did not tolerate that when it came to his daughter.  
Many of the fellows who were old enough to court and keep company with their girlfriends in my day will tell you that either the mother or the father would give you a sign that it was time to leave if you were over the curfew hour.  Curfew was usually between the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. during the week days and 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings, depending on the parents.

Lie to Your Parents
The final no-no that we are going to consider that children of my generation had to adhere to was never to lie to your parents.  
I was taught from an early age that if I was ever caught telling them a lie, I would suffer the grave consequences of a whipping or temporary loss of privileges.  Furthermore, it was instilled in us that if you lie, you would also steal.  
Unlike the now fabled saying of young George Washington, who would become our first President, I cannot boast in not ever lying to my parents about something I was trying to get away with; however, I will declare dogmatically that although I was able to slip a few lies by them, I dared not make it a habit to tell them a lie.