Parenting is different in our generation than it was for our parents. With the internet andsocial media, and the new careers of “bloggers” and “social influencers” coming to fruition, our kids have way more accessible information that just about anyone could look up. Along with that is years of documented photos following their lives from babyhood into teen years. One teen was fed up with being the subject of their mom’s famous Instagram account and took matters into their own hands and put their mom on blast.
Reddit user FinallyAnonymous6took to the popular Reddit thread “Am I the A-hole”to put their mom on blast but to also ask if they were too hard on their mom.“I am a teenager, and my mom is kinda famous on Instagram and blogging,” the teen writes. “She had a mommy blog all when I was growing up, and of course, me and my sister were always involved. It sucks because there’s so much [out] there about us, and it’s what’s gonna come up when I’m looking for a job, when I’m dating, when anyone looks up my name.”
The teen decided to take measures to protect their privacy, totally being over their mom not respecting their boundaries.“I found a website that will print custom jackets, print all over the front and back and arms,” the teen shares. “And I ordered some hoodies that say a bunch of phrases all over them.
The phrases the teen order on the hoodies read:“No photos” “no videos,” “I do not consent to be photographed,” “no means no,” “respect my privacy,” “no cameras,” and “no profiting off my image.”
“It sounds silly, but it looks pretty sick, actually. I got one for me and one for my nine-year-old sister who’s started to not always want photos,” the teen shares.
The teenager told the Reddit community thatwhen the shirts and hoodies arrived, their Instagram mom got upset and was “really mad” when the shirts were worn.“She says she just wants pictures to remember my young years by, she won’t post ones without asking.”
The teen asks the community if they’re an a-hole for wearing the shirts, adding they’re kind of at their wits-ends. “I am just so fed up and upset that my mom is mad at me for wearing my new hoodie every day,” the teen writes. “She’s mad I won’t take it off for any event. I know it’s really weird looking, but it feels like my only option.”
The community responded to the teen with the overwhelming majority saying they agree with the teen and that mom should respect their wishes.And the community isn’t wrong here either; we really need to be mindful of how we’re putting our kid’s digital footprints together. It’s a new territory we didn’t have to worry about growing up. And things are awkward enough without our classmate getting to read about how long we wet the bed or pulling up a photo of us covered in peanut butter.