Troubled Teen Turns Down An iPhone 12 His Parents Got Him For Christmas, And Now He Asks The Internet If That’s Okay
The phone had several parental control apps.
Christmas is a time for family to get together, share laughs, enjoy each other’s company, and – exchange gifts! Yes, Christmas is the best.
Except when it is not. It’s heartbreaking to see that so many people don’t enjoy Christmas because it causes them anxiety and depression.
Unfortunately, that’s very common among people who don’t have families or are separated from them, and they are usually adults.
But how could teens who have their families around hate Christmas? Especially when they receive an expensive gift like an iPhone?
One Reddit user shared his experience, and it is heartbreaking. His parents got him a gift, but he didn’t like it.
OP is a non-binary person and bisexual. This teen is young, scared, and confused, still searching for himself, and the parents are not making it any easier for him.
They got him an iPhone for Christmas, but it came loaded with parental control apps. This was unacceptable for a teen who values his privacy very much.
So, he refused this gift because there were too many strings attached. This, of course, made his parents furious.
Now he asks the Reddit community to help him figure things out, and his problems turned out to be much bigger than an iPhone.
OP asks:
RedditThis teen got an iPhone for Christmas, and even though many teens would love to receive such a gift, OP didn’t.
RedditParents don't trust OP, so they've loaded it with all kinds of control apps. OP refused the "gift."
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Most of the young Redditors agree that it is a leash in disguise.
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Some of them were a bit extreme.
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Many of us do...
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Gifts should come without strings...
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Not a gift; it is a tracking chip.
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OP listed the tracking apps installed.
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Parents are still pushing OP.
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Some parents shared their point of view.
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People were wondering if OP was emotionally abused.
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And maybe this was just a game of give and take.
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OP clarified some things, and it is not easy to read...
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OP is considering some extreme actions.
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One Redditor found OP’s posts in different subreddits.
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And OP seems like a really confused teen.
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How can we tell if the parents are overbearing or simply worried?
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Redditor also advised OP to be brave.
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One parent explained their point of view:
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And if you look at things from that perspective...
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It is clear that this teen has many problems, some of which include drug abuse and depression. In a way, it is easy to understand the parents.
They are scared for their child. You can clearly distinguish comments made by a younger crowd from replies sent by people with children.
And that's it. Young people want their freedom, while their parents are sometimes scared to give it.
It is hard to judge here because there is not enough information, and teens sometimes tend to interpret their parents' attempts to keep them safe as suffocation of their freedom. A good family talk is the best thing they could do.
