Mother Breaks Her Daughter's Phone During 'Phone Check' Because She Wouldn't Give Up Her Password
This is no way to handle your daughter's privacy.
fizkes / Shutterstock As society grows increasingly accustomed to “smart” technology and the convenience of information, communication, and entertainment, every parent will struggle with the nagging question of: when should you give your child a smartphone?
Opening your child up to the wonders of technology and the modern world may also open them up to the horrors of this day and age, and for parents who might not want their children to experience that, they may put some sort of parental control in place — either through filters on phone itself or by checking it themselves from time to time.
One mother, who instituted a “phone check” time for her daughter Jada, received backlash online for the post she made to Facebook after Jada refused to let her mom check her phone.
When Jada didn’t give her mom her phone password, she destroyed it.
The mother’s post was originally made on Facebook but was quickly reposted to Reddit on the “r/ParentsAreF--kingDumb” subreddit, where people gave her a world of backlash.
“This is what you do when your child refuses to give you her password when it’s time for phone check, then pretends like [she doesn’t know] the password,” the mother wrote in the post.
Image Credit: Reddit
Attached to the post were three separate photos showing the destruction she caused to her daughter’s phone — the screen was completely shattered and coming off the device itself.
“Well you won’t need the password anymore Jada, because you can’t use it now,” she continued. “I don’t play with my children I’m not your friend I’m your mama and if anybody gets her another phone I’m going to do the same thing to that one.”
The mother’s name wasn’t revealed in the repost to Reddit, but that didn’t stop people from arguing about what she did.
Many people criticized the mother for destroying her child’s phone.
“Either don’t give kids a phone if it’s a problem, or use the very robust parental controls that are built into iOS and Android these days. This is a waste,” one person wrote, without opining on the controversy of checking your child’s phone.
iPhone’s aren’t cheap these days, so to completely destroy one like this is throwing thousands of dollars into the trash.
The mother paid for it, of course, but it was still considered a waste of money to many.
Many claimed that the mother was being abusive, and said that she shouldn’t be surprised when she’s older and her daughter decides to break contact with her.
“‘I'm not your friend I'm your mama’ that's going to get them to leave the moment they can and never talk to you,” someone said, “and also I love that she threatened to destroy someone else's property because they would try to give the child a phone.”
Some people argued that parents should be allowed to check their children’s phones.
“Personally, I think up to a certain age parents should have access to their kid's phones. It's a safety concern,” one person claimed.
“I've been talking to my wife about this and I think, we're going to use parental applications to track phone usage to ensure responsible use until they can afford to get their own phone,” someone else wrote. “Then they can do whatever they want.”
They claimed that they didn’t even personally care to see what teenagers are up to, but wanted to make sure that they were safe, which is why they would be given their own privacy once they were independent enough to afford their own devices.
Despite these arguments, many people still believe that the way the mother reacted was wrong, toxic, and abusive, and would only result in resentment and fear from her child.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.