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Would you classify this as overprotective and/or abusive?

Is this overprotective and/or abusive?

  • yes, it is

    Votes: 8 80.0%
  • no, it isn't

    Votes: 2 20.0%

  • Total voters
    10

Tyrannosaur

Banned
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Messages
156
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Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Conservative
This girl is an adult now, but her mother still treats her like she's 12 and under, abuses her, and is completely overprotective. She prevents her from socializing and integrating into society like a normal human being and wants to force her to stay at home with her mother all day long and probably lock her up.

FACTS:
-She's forcing her to be homeschooled against her will. And now that she's 18, she won't even let her go back and finish her senior year.
-She's an adult and she won't let her buy her own cell phone with her own money.
-She got mad when she found she has a Facebook, even though she's an adult and anyone 13 or older is allowed to create a Facebook.
-She won't ever let her hang out with any of her friends.
-She doesn't allow her to leave the house unless her mom accompanies her the entire time.

So what do you think? Is her mother an overprotective and/or abusive bitch?

I would say that it's abusive, since not all abuse is physical. I would definitely say that effectively locking a child, teenager, or adult up and preventing them from socializing with human beings as abuse.
 
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Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

It's crazy controlling, but I don't think it qualifies as abuse. The mother has some screws loose, but nothing she is doing is causing emotional or physical harm to the daughter (unless information has been omitted).

That said, I'll say this: If the girl is 18, she is a legal adult. Therefore, at this point, she is not being "forced" into doing anything. She can legally apply for an apartment, work full-time in every state, and get away from her mother if she chooses to do so. So maybe she needs to do it.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

I would say that she's 18, and can simply leave. If the mother refuses to let her... forcibly detaining here, the police should be involved.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

It's crazy controlling, but I don't think it qualifies as abuse. The mother has some screws loose, but nothing she is doing is causing emotional or physical harm to the daughter (unless information has been omitted).

That said, I'll say this: If the girl is 18, she is a legal adult. Therefore, at this point, she is not being "forced" into doing anything. She can legally apply for an apartment, work full-time in every state, and get away from her mother if she chooses to do so. So maybe she needs to do it.

Just because someone is 18, doesn't mean they can automatically get a job and save up a few thousand dollars, especially if someone lives in a household where you aren't allowed to leave under almost any circumstance. I imagine there is a certain level of fear that she has of her mother and until she overcomes that fear, her mother will always control her.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

I would say that she's 18, and can simply leave. If the mother refuses to let her... forcibly detaining here, the police should be involved.

can you imagine her state of mind? she needs some help to get away.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

can you imagine her state of mind? she needs some help to get away.

Indeed. I have no idea what it's like to be emotionally/psychologically/socially abused, but if I was treated like the girl in the situation and locked up from age 12 or 13 or whatever age the abuse started, I can guarantee you that I would be an entirely different person and would probably lack any means or ability to be self-sufficient in life.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Just because someone is 18, doesn't mean they can automatically get a job and save up a few thousand dollars, especially if someone lives in a household where you aren't allowed to leave under almost any circumstance. I imagine there is a certain level of fear that she has of her mother and until she overcomes that fear, her mother will always control her.

Her battle.

My mother was an abusive, drug addicted witch who put me through hell. I had been guilt tripped and manipulated into thinking I was needed or she would die, so I stuck it out. I watched her sell herself for drugs, I watched her whore herself out for rent money, I saw her shoot up in front of me. I listened to her call me a slut and a whore and a worthless human being. I was abused.

I left at 15. I stayed with whoever would keep me until my dad was able to pursue the legal avenues to take me out of the state (I lived in Michigan, he lived in Texas...any efforts by him to remove me from Michigan w/o legal authorization would have been kidnapping).

If she's that miserable and she dislikes her situation then she needs to come up with a plan and an option and take action.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Super-overprotective. I guess "abusive" is a matter of perpsective. Tess's description of her mom would certainly qualify as abusive in my eyes. If I were in the same situation, I would just get the hell out.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Her battle.

My mother was an abusive, drug addicted witch who put me through hell. I had been guilt tripped and manipulated into thinking I was needed or she would die, so I stuck it out. I watched her sell herself for drugs, I watched her whore herself out for rent money, I saw her shoot up in front of me. I listened to her call me a slut and a whore and a worthless human being. I was abused.

I left at 15. I stayed with whoever would keep me until my dad was able to pursue the legal avenues to take me out of the state (I lived in Michigan, he lived in Texas...any efforts by him to remove me from Michigan w/o legal authorization would have been kidnapping).

If she's that miserable and she dislikes her situation then she needs to come up with a plan and an option and take action.

wow........seems there is more to you than i guessed. my apologies.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

I'd say that the owner of a home can restrict what the person does in the house. But they can't control someone elses' social life by preventing them from going outside or having a Facebook or going out with their friends.

Anyway, after talking to the woman even more, she said she's going to try to sneak out and talk to her friend's parents, and see if they'll let her stay with them temporarily.
 
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Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

wow........seems there is more to you than i guessed. my apologies.

No worries.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or abusive?

This girl is an adult now, but her mother still treats her like she's 12 and under, abuses her, and is completely overprotective. She prevents her from socializing and integrating into society like a normal human being and wants to force her to stay at home with her mother all day long and probably lock her up.

FACTS:
-She's forcing her to be homeschooled against her will. And now that she's 18, she won't even let her go back and finish her senior year.
-She's an adult and she won't let her buy her own cell phone with her own money.
-She got mad when she found she has a Facebook, even though she's an adult and anyone 13 or older is allowed to create a Facebook.
-She won't ever let her hang out with any of her friends.
-She doesn't allow her to leave the house unless her mom accompanies her the entire time.

So what do you think? Is her mother an overprotective and/or abusive bitch?

I would say that it's abusive, since not all abuse is physical. I would definitely say that effectively locking a child, teenager, or adult up and preventing them from socializing with human beings as abuse.

From just what you've said here, I wouldn't say that's child abuse. Very strict and unwise parenting? Yes. But don't denigrate real child abuse by putting that label on this.

She's 18 now, so, though she's likely too emotionally immature to make the decision, she's certainly free to do all of the things you've mentioned above -- including leaving her home and going to live with another relative.

As long as she's living in her parents' home, I'd say she's stuck. The only one that really sticks out as ridiculous in your list is that she's not allowed to go out by herself...though, what culture is this young woman? If she's Muslim, there'd be good reason.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Sounds like my mother
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

The whole no high school, no friends, no Facebook, no cell phone, no dating, and no going outside is definitely flat out abuse. Social interaction is a need of all human beings. Forcibly removing social interaction from someone's life, especially a teenager's, is abuse. Even criminals are allowed to socially interact in prison.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

The whole no high school, no friends, no Facebook, no cell phone, no dating, and no going outside is definitely flat out abuse. Social interaction is a need of all human beings. Forcibly removing social interaction from someone's life, especially a teenager's, is abuse. Even criminals are allowed to socially interact in prison.

Why did you ask the question if you already had your mind made up? And where are you getting your information? From the teenager herself? Ya' shoulda' heard what I said about my mom when I was a teen.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Last I checked, false imprisonment is a felony. One phone call and mommy's off in cuffs.

She could be free if she truly wanted to. Would it be easy? Nope, but life usually isn't.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

The world relies on socializing. A highly intelligent person with no social skills will get nowhere in life, even if they are intelligent. A moron with good social skills on the other hand can get somewhere, albeit not very far. And an intelligent person with great social skills will become a very important individual.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

I personally would just consider it overprotective and bad parenting. The mother needs to loosen the strings.

It could be considered abuse, though. I am sure that there are at least some places that would consider such overprotectiveness of a teenager, especially one who is legally an adult, abuse, since if this were a spouse doing this to another spouse, it would be abuse. I know this because the Navy is quite thorough in going into great detail about anything that would be classified as spouse abuse under the law, and what you described is one of the situations that was considered abuse because it makes a person completely dependent on another person. There really is no means for the other person to get out of the situation without a lot of help from the government. Which, in the government's eyes, is not a good thing.

Now, I hope this girl is able to get out of there as soon as she graduates and find a way to make it on her own. I'm sure there is some help out there for her, and if you know her personally, maybe you could help her when she is ready or convince her to get away from her parents/mother (I am not necessarily saying completely cut them from her life, but the mother is much too controlling for the relationship to be healthy). I was trying to find some websites that might help her.
 
Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

As even more abuse comes out. Her mom found her Facebook last August and as punishment she forced her to not go back to high school. So she's ruining her education and social life as "punishment" for something she was legally allowed to do to begin with. Even though the law clearly states that once you turn 13 you no longer need parent's permission to join social networks and forums. She said that she had to make a new one and is afraid of putting up pictures of herself and she even had to use a fake name to avoid her mom finding her.
 
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Re: Would you classify this as being overprotective and/or child abuse?

Based on hearing only one side of the equation, it certainly looks like control-freak overprotectivism of some sort. However, I've only heard one side of the story...

For all I know, the girl may suffer from mental illness, or have a history of doing self-destructive things when not closely supervised.

If this is someone you know and you are considering taking action to intervene, I would advise caution. The situation may be more complex than you realize.

I also found out a long time ago that playing Knight In Shining Armor (KISA) and rescuing Damsels In Distress (DID's) is ultimately unrewarding. DID's tend to be in distress because, on some level, they LIKE being in distress. Rescue them from one distress, and they might be grateful for a week or a month... until they get bored and leave to find some trouble to get into.

I keep my Shining Armor locked away in the closet these days... it isn't worth the hassle...

300100_medieval_armor.jpg
 
This girl is an adult now, but her mother still treats her like she's 12 and under, abuses her, and is completely overprotective. She prevents her from socializing and integrating into society like a normal human being and wants to force her to stay at home with her mother all day long and probably lock her up.

FACTS:
-She's forcing her to be homeschooled against her will. And now that she's 18, she won't even let her go back and finish her senior year.
-She's an adult and she won't let her buy her own cell phone with her own money.
-She got mad when she found she has a Facebook, even though she's an adult and anyone 13 or older is allowed to create a Facebook.
-She won't ever let her hang out with any of her friends.
-She doesn't allow her to leave the house unless her mom accompanies her the entire time.

So what do you think? Is her mother an overprotective and/or abusive bitch?

I would say that it's abusive, since not all abuse is physical. I would definitely say that effectively locking a child, teenager, or adult up and preventing them from socializing with human beings as abuse.

where is a link for this? or is this a presonal situation?
 
I'm not so sure it's abusive, but definitely overprotective.
 
I would say this is abusive. She's 18 now, she needs to leave, she doesn't have to do it on her own, but she needs to reach out, and be proactive in finding someone to help her get away from that horrible situation. She needs to start the process though, nothing is going to happen if she doesn't.
 
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where is a link for this? or is this a presonal situation?

It was on a private forum that doesn't allow public browsing, I can screenshot it though if you'd like?
 
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