For many parents, getting their kids to study is a neverending task that requires constant nagging. But, one father has sparked controversy after revealing he banned his daughter from studying as a form of punishment.
The anonymous father made the revelation in a post on Reddit’s Am I The A**hole community, where he explained that he was having difficulty disciplining his 16-year-old daughter.
He explained: “I have a daughter(16) who is unlike any teenager I've ever seen. The problem is she is extremely rude. I've tried many things to fix this but nothing works.
“I never had these problems with my other kids. With them I could just say no electronics for a week or ground them or something like that and it would be enough but not for her.
“She doesn't care if I take away her electronics she just picks up a few novels and starts reading them. She will actually be glad if I ground her and use it as an excuse to avoid all our family gatherings like ‘oh we are going to aunties home tonight? I wish I could come but I'm grounded’ and then happily goes to her room.”
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
The man revealed that the one thing his daughter loves to do is study, so when she was rude to her mother, the man banned her from studying as a punishment.
The post continued: “The only thing that she likes is studying. Like she will spend hours studying. Last night when she was talking to her mom she was being rude and very sarcastic and as my last option I told her that she is not allowed to study until I decide she has learned how to talk to her mom.
“She started to yell at us and called me an asshole and said it's not fair. Then she called my brother who called us and told us we are assholes for not allowing her to study but she gave us no other choice.”
In the comments, other Redditors gave their view, with many criticising the father for restricting her education and suggesting that perhaps there is more than meets the eye going on with his daughter.
One person suggested: “YTA (you’re the a**hole). It sounds like she misbehaves to get grounded, which could be a social or anxiety issue. She needs therapy, not punishment.”
Another said: “YTA. Taking growth and information away from a developing brain isn't a good move.
“Make her mow the lawn, or do her siblings chores on top of her own, or deep clean the fridge, or whatever creative thing you can give her to do that isn't taking away from her intellectual development.”
Someone else agreed, writing: “YTA. Intentionally messing with a child’s education to punish them is fucked up on multiple levels.
“There are probably good reasons that she avoids spending time with the family.”
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.