Mom Removes Teen Daughter's Bedroom Door Because 'Privacy Is A Privilege'
Instead of taking away her daughter's phone, or not allowing her to watch TV, this mom decided she was going to remove her daughter's door.
TikTok A mother has sparked a debate after revealing the punishment tactic she used on her teenage daughter that would prevent her from having any privacy.
In a TikTok video, a mom explained that she was "tired of talking to [her] daughter," and decided to take action instead. The action in question left many viewers feeling she had gone too far and might've even jeopardized her relationship with her daughter.
She removed her teen daughter's bedroom door as an act of discipline.
In her video from February 2023, the mom filmed herself taking apart her daughter's bedroom door, writing in the caption, "Don't take the phone, take the door. Thank me later."
Equipped with an electric hand drill, she gets to work removing the nails and freeing her daughter's door from its hinges. While she doesn't elaborate on what caused her to resort to removing her daughter's door, the entire incident seemed urgent, as she pointed out that she'd only just gotten home from work and was still in her work uniform while she did it.
As she removes the door, the teen girl's mother seems to be having fun, smiling and laughing as she throws the nails onto the chair after removing each one. Once she removes the door, she places it in another room and shows off the empty doorframe of her daughter's now doorless room.
"Children don't realize that the little things are a privilege, like privacy," she explained, adding that in her house, being able to close a door is a privilege that she was now taking away from her daughter.
"Word of advice for anybody that has a teenage daughter that has a lot of growing pains, don't take the phone, take the door."
She shared her daughter's reaction to no longer having a door.
In a follow-up video, the mom filmed her teenage daughter's genuine reaction after she came home to find that her bedroom door was gone. As the young girl approaches her room, she stops in her tracks, noticing that something is off.
"Why you took my door off?" she asked, to which her mom replied, "You don't need a door."
The teen girl appears to be in disbelief, asking if her mom is being serious. When it's confirmed by her mom that her bedroom door is gone, she walks sullenly into her room. "You don't need that door, you good, right?" her mom calls out after her.
"How does it feel to not have a door?" she asked her daughter after a full night sleeping in her room without it. Her daughter smiles shyly, answering, "Open."
As a solution, the teenage girl tried to use her closet door as a makeshift door, opening it fully so it partially blocked her from being seen. "She's trying to play it cool, but I know she's pissed inside," the mom wrote in overlay text.
However, it seems whatever happened that caused the teenager to have her door taken away was fixed, as the mother eventually installed her daughter's door back in place, which she filmed in another TikTok video from March 2023.
A month later, she allowed her daughter to have a door again, writing in the caption of the video, "Her door is back! It was well deserved [and the] door tactic worked. We both grew."
In the comments section, viewers had mixed reactions to the mom's decision
Some TikTok users pointed out that taking away a child's door isn't a type of punishment they will be able to learn from. "The bigger the punishment, the sneakier she becomes."
Another user added, "My mom did this to me while I was growing up. We don't talk anymore."
"This is traumatizing, some people need to be alone to recharge," a third user remarked.
However, other TikTok users were on the mom's side, praising her for doing what she needed to discipline her daughter.
"So many negative comments!!" a fourth user chimed in. "She's doing what she feels is necessary for her kids. Her kids, her business."
Another TikTok commenter wrote, "I don’t think she will hide anything from her mom but I do know she will think twice about what she does and say now [because] she knows [her] mom ain’t playing."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.