“Every family is different,” is what I tell my kids. They want to do what everyone else is doing.

I get that. I don’t have a problem with setting the rules in our house and sticking by them. That’s Parenting 101 stuff. It’s good for them to learn now: Our family does things our own way.

I’m just curious how other parents handle the pressure of making and enforcing rules. The latest subject is PG-13 movies. I don’t let my kids watch them – they are 9 and 12 years old, and they’ve never seen a PG-13 movie. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only parent who has a strict rule about movies.

A quick survey on my Facebook page confirmed my suspicion: I’m clearly in the minority among the parents who responded. Most said they do let their underage children watch them if they are with them, depending on the reason the movie is rated PG-13, and also depending on the child’s temperament.

Out of the 60 comments I received, only seven parents said they don’t let their kids watch PG-13 movies. That’s pretty much how it feels out there in the parenting world.

Some time ago, when I was driving my daughter and one of her friends on a field trip, her friend asked me, “Have you seen ‘The Notebook’?” Of course I have, and I loved it. She had seen it, too, and proudly proclaimed it her favorite movie.

“I’m so glad Allie chose Noah, aren’t you?”

(Awkward silence.)

“Um, yeah. He’s a real keeper,” I answered.

My daughter’s friend was 7.

As we drove home, my daughter and I loudly sang the soundtrack to the movie “Annie” (the Albert Finney/Carol Burnett version, naturally). The same little girl sat silently in the back seat.

“Haven’t you seen ‘Annie’?” I asked her.

No, she hadn’t. It’s one of the best little girl movies of all time, right up there with “The Black Stallion,” “Eloise at the Plaza,” “The Parent Trap” and the newest addition to the list, “The Princess Diaries.” Yet she had never seen it!

The next weekend we had her over to spend the night, and the girls watched “Annie.” They spent the better part of the evening running around the house singing and playing out the parts of “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” The girls called me Mrs. Hannigan until her mom picked her up the next morning.

I think my son is the only one of his friends who hasn’t seen “The Avengers.” It gets tiring explaining to the kids why they are not allowed. To make my stand on PG-13 even more difficult, these superhero movies – “Spider-Man,” “Iron Man” and I’m sure the much-talked-about new “Batman” will get the mature rating – are marketed to young kids. When the movie is released, it’s splashed on PJs and T-shirts and made into games and Lego sets, yet the movie is not recommended for a size 4 child. This gives the appearance of approval to young children, yet the movie’s content is rated too violent or sexual for them to watch. It’s frustrating for parents who have set a strict rule in their home forbidding PG-13 until their kids are of age.

Now, do I think third-graders who watched “The Avengers” are going to act out real violence on the playground because they saw it? No. Do I think the little girl who took in “The Notebook” on DVD will be caught making out with a fifth-grader in the janitorial closet? No. Do I like to pose preposterous questions and then answer them myself? Obviously.

My reasoning is simply this: Kids only have a short time to be kids, and I want to let mine have the innocence of childhood as long as possible. What’s the hurry? If I want to raise kids who are extraordinary, who don’t give in to peer pressure, who make wise choices, then as a parent, I believe I have to hold on to those qualities myself.

Yes, they will hear bad words on the playground and see things at friends’ houses or on the street, but not on my watch. I want them to feel I am protecting them from these things. Once a kid sees and experiences violence or sexual content, it can’t be unseen.

I believe parenting kids in today’s world is both an offensive (pouring-in) and defensive (keeping-out) endeavor. I follow all the parental guidelines on movie, TV and video ratings. I’m the first one to acknowledge that I fall far to the side of conservative in my parenting decisions.

“Most of your life will be lived after age 13 and you can do all of these things if you choose,” is what I tell my 12-year-old daughter. Which is always met with an eye roll, but no argument. She knows. Once she turns 13 we can start to watch some PG-13 movies together and chat about their content.

Still, I don’t think it’s wrong for parents to let their kids watch PG-13 movies. Many of the parents on my Facebook page who said they did let their kids watch these movies are some of the best parents I know. One of my friends, and one of the best moms I know, hash-tagged herself #badmom when she answered “yes” to letting her son (who is my son’s age) watch PG-13 films.

It’s just not for my kids and me. (I’m grateful my ex-husband follows the same rule.) In the end, isn’t that the bigger lesson we want to teach our kids, to think to make the best decisions for themselves?

Contact the writer: sbroughton@ocregister.com