Mum removes 16-year-old son's bedroom door as punishment for misbehaving

12 July 2023, 15:16

By Alice Dear

Parents have been defending the mum for her actions after she revealed the door will remain off for two weeks.

A mum has revealed that she has removed her 16-year-old son's door from his bedroom as a punishment for misbehaving.

The woman, who shared her story on Reddit, explained that the decision was made after her son snuck out to a party until the early hours of the morning, leaving his bedroom door locked.

The mum wrote in the post that her family lives in an old house which means that all the doors have locks on them – they are slowly replacing them but this takes money and time.

She explained that her son usually locks his bedroom door, often by accident or because he wants privacy, something she never had a problem with before.

However, one night when she went to check on her children before going to bed, she found that her son's door was locked and she was getting no response from him.

"Last night he had the door locked but was playing music", she wrote: "It was late so I told him to turn it down, [there was] no response so I knock."

After hearing no response, she decided to call him but was sent straight to his voicemail. "I’m panicking at this point and think he hit his head or something", she wrote.

The mum explained that they were extremely worried and so decided to take the door off the frame, however, were surprised to find their son was not in his bedroom at all.

As it turns out, the boy had snuck out to a party and did not return home until 4:00am.

The mum said: "As punishment his door is removed… and it will stay off until he gets a new door in about two weeks.

"That door will have the normal doorknob lock. My husband and I agree with this punishment but he told his friends and one parent keeps blowing up my phone calling me an a**hole."

After more investigating, the mother found out that the 'parent' texting her was actually just one of her son's friends who was angry about the consequences.

The mother informed the parents of her son's friend about his actions and after they apologised they explained that they would deal with it.

The mother's decision to punish her son in this way has received mixed reactions, and while some people say that it is not fair for him to have no privacy, others think he deserves to suffer the consequences.

One person wrote on the post: "You are ultimately responsible for your son’s safety and at 16 I wouldn’t exactly trust his ability to think out long-term consequences for actions right now", adding: "I would offer a curtain to hang in the doorway for two weeks. This would provide some visual privacy."

Another commented: "I think it’s appropriate to take away his ability to lock his door, but not necessarily appropriate to take away his privacy."

A third shared: "Because this is a specific time-limited consequence – your son snuck out away from home and that’s NOT a small thing!"

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