There is a very fine line between wanting your child to succeed academically and completely crushing their entrepreneurial spirit. We all know that teenagers need structure, but when a parent becomes so obsessed with traditional rules that they actively sabotage their kid’s blossoming career, they have completely lost the plot. One accountant on Reddit recently took to the internet to complain about their teenage daughter, and the comment section is absolutely tearing this parent apart for being a controlling nightmare.
The Original Poster is the parent of a 16-year-old girl who is a wonderfully talented artist. Back in March 2018, the teenager used her own Christmas money to buy herself an iPad. Buying your own expensive tech as a high schooler shows a lot of responsibility, but the parent immediately viewed the device as a negative distraction. Instead of being proud of her creative skills, the parent is convinced the daughter is somehow limiting her potential.
The teenager is not just aimlessly doodling on her screen. She has built a massive online following for her artwork. She has over 10,000 followers on Instagram and recently started taking on paid commissions. She made just under £100 in her first month. But the parent is actively complaining because the art style is not to their specific, personal taste, even though they openly admit the drawings are not explicit or inappropriate in any way.
The core of this parent’s argument is rooted in pure projection. The parent constantly brags about getting good grades 30 years ago by doing homework the exact second they got home from school. Because the parent was a star student who grew up to be an accountant, they expect their highly creative daughter to fit into that exact same rigid mold. They simply cannot comprehend a career path that does not involve a calculator and a cubicle.
The household rules are incredibly suffocating. The parent enforces a strict ban on all technology until after dinner. They eat dinner between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m., and the teen is forced to go to bed at 9:30 p.m. Factoring in time for a shower, this leaves the girl with barely an hour to actually work on the art commissions that people are paying her real money to complete. It is a schedule designed to make her fail.
The tension finally boiled over on a Friday afternoon. The parent had to work overtime and left a list of chores for the teenager to complete. When the parent walked through the door, the chores were ignored. But the daughter was absolutely glowing with joy because she had just booked another commission for £50. Instead of matching her excitement and gently reminding her about the chores, the parent completely flipped out.
They got into a massive screaming match. The daughter rightfully accused her parent of not supporting her dreams. The parent fired back that education comes first, calling her flourishing small business poisonous. The parent literally believes social media is poisoning the teenager, completely ignoring the fact that Instagram is a highly effective, necessary marketing tool for any modern freelance artist.
The teenager tried to plead her case with pure logic. She pointed out that she is making far more money from her digital art than she ever did on her traditional paper route. She even responsibly offered to put the earnings straight into her college fund. It is a completely brilliant plan from a 16-year-old kid who clearly understands the value of hard work. But the accountant parent was not having it.
In the ultimate act of controlling sabotage, the parent confiscated the iPad that the daughter bought with her very own money. The parent threatened to sell the device, demanded the teen completely delete her successful Instagram account, and ordered her to refund the paying customer. It is an absolute masterclass in how to destroy your child’s trust and crush their spirit in one single afternoon.
The teenager was left sobbing and wailing, and the extended family is completely appalled. The internet did not hold back in the comments, crowning this parent a massive a**hole. You do not foster a healthy relationship by nuking your kid’s passions just because they do not fit into your outdated, corporate worldview. If this parent does not apologize and hand that iPad back immediately, they are going to have a very lonely retirement.