Let me out of this mess

By Anonymous - 31/07/2023 22:00

Today, I realized I have helicopter parents. They monitor my phone and don't let me have social media or get apps without their permission, give me a screen time limit, and snoop through my texts whenever they want. Then they expect me to trust them. I feel like my house is a prison. FML
I agree, your life sucks 849
You deserved it 322

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Nikki 16

Yeah join the army and have someone else helicopter parent you, except this time they’ll even be able to send you to your death for no good reason

You don’t say how old you are, but your parents are obviously paying for your phone and I’m going to assume you’re under 18. It’s is a parent’s actual JOB to give their kids rules and limits. Be thankful that you have parents who care about you and are willing to do what they think is best for you instead of what would be easiest for them.

Comments

I can’t understand this type of parent. Making all the decisions for your child means that they will not be able to make them themselves later, directly causing the exact behavior the parents are afraid of. Anyway. If you want to try and mend bridges, maybe talk to a school councilor about therapy or parenting classes. If you don’t, I promise you that one day, you will be able to tell them to go sit on a cactus. Keep holding on until then.

You don’t say how old you are, but your parents are obviously paying for your phone and I’m going to assume you’re under 18. It’s is a parent’s actual JOB to give their kids rules and limits. Be thankful that you have parents who care about you and are willing to do what they think is best for you instead of what would be easiest for them.

Exactly. It depends on age. At 12 with his first social media and phone my kid had us monitoring his messages, mostly to ensure he didn’t have some creeper predator DMing him. He’s had all these things and I’m relaxing him as I can trust him. He just downloaded a massive virus to his PC trying to get skins for a game from sketchy sites, so he’s not there yet. Age, maturity and trust are all huge factors for being able to have independence. Parents have to trust you can make decent decisions and give you boundaries that expand with responsibility and trust and contract when you **** up bad enough your parents have to rein you in.

Rules and limits should not mean invasion of privacy. Discussion before downloading apps? Okay. Screen time limit? Absolutely. Snooping through texts? Hell no.

I’m in my 30s. Congrats on being off by just over a decade. EDIT: unless you meant this as a reply to OP and accidentally replied to my post, in which case agree to disagree. I will say though that “rules and boundaries” does not need to equal “control absolutely every app my child uses and invade their privacy”.

Social media is a plague. You'll either get scammed or bullied, or in the best case scenario, you'll waste a tremendous amount of time with scant tangible results. Wait until you get out into the "real world." You'll be grateful your parents shielded you from all of the garbage.

Especially things like Instagram that are all about fake appearances and making people feel bad about themselves. I (a dude) travelled with a male friend of mine who was super into his Instagram and man that was both toxic and annoying. Every photo perfectly cultivated, detracting from any enjoyment.

jagran08 1

join the Army and get away from them. Free place to live

Nikki 16

Yeah join the army and have someone else helicopter parent you, except this time they’ll even be able to send you to your death for no good reason

perhaps the stupidest thing ever said. join slavery to escape prison

you'll figure out how to avoid them, everyone does eventually. then they'll never see you again.

In this day and age, you might not think so right now, but you'll look back thanking your parents that they were there to protect you and your innocence and also self image, and the ability to detach from social media and your phone and instead work on other hobbies or be in the present moment. trust me. the internet and people using it aren't all that it's cracked up to be -26 year old big sis

The amount of people on here that think being under eighteen means that you should be allowed zero autonomy or privacy is so depressing. If you want your kids to have a healthy relationship in regards to social media, you should be having honest nonjudgemental conversations with them. Trying to exercise this level of control over your kids and not allowing them a modicum of privacy won't protect them, it'll just make them feel resentful and like they need to hide important information from you. You've almost guaranteed that when they get old enough to move out they're going to want to have very little to do with you.