A 16-year-old student preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) recently shared her distress on the Reddit platform about her parents installing a CCTV camera in her room to monitor her study habits, as reported by Free Press Journal.
The post, made on the subreddit r/IndianTeenagers, reveals her frustration and sense of helplessness. Seven months ago, the camera was installed, and although she was angry about the invasion of her privacy, she felt powerless to change the situation.
In the post, the teenager also mentions relocating to a new room, only to find another CCTV camera installed there. Her frustration is palpable as she expresses her desire to leave home, feeling trapped by her parents' decision. The post, titled "Camera installed in my room," quickly gained traction, receiving 3.5 thousand likes and over a thousand comments before being deleted.
The post reads:
"So I'm 16f, preparing for jee, my parents decided to install a camera in my room 7 months earlier and I was so pissed off with this decision but couldn't do anything about it. They installed the camera and used it to monitor me 24/7. I recently shifted my room, hoping that they wouldn't install a camera here, but guess what? Today, they've installed it and the worst part is I can't even argue about it. I just wanna leave my house asap, I'm so done with my parents."
This isn't an isolated case. Another post made four months ago on the subreddit r/AmIOverthinking, also shared concerns over parents installing cameras in their children's dorm rooms. The user, who is studying abroad, expressed discomfort over their parents' insistence on placing a camera facing the door. The parents also tracked their live location and monitored their movements, creating a sense of constant surveillance. The post, which has garnered over 8,000 likes and 2,000 comments, reflects a growing concern about privacy violations and the mental strain of being constantly watched.
The post goes on to read:
"Am I overreacting about my parents putting a camera in my sister's and my dorm room?
So I'm studying abroad and my parents are putting a camera in our room. They're insisting that if it's facing the door it's not a problem, but I think that they just want to monitor everyone of our moves. They already have our live locations, they already know when we go out, where we go out, everything. I'm just asking to not have a camera in the room. They say I'll understand if I had kids. And we got in an argument about it and I've been crying for two days and they act like I'm fucking crazy for being so mad about it. They tell me that I'm being immature for not wanting that. Is it really that hard to understand that I don't want it because I don't want to feel monitored every second of my life??
Edit: thanks to everyone for your answers I definitely did not expect that many so thank you also to add more details:
We both are adults yes but we completely depend on them for everything material and they keep using the excuse that they've done everything for us so I should accept this "little" thing and my studies are quite long so I'll have to put up with it for a lonnng time
Also, the camera is facing the front door with the kitchen next to it, so not the room in itself but it still bothers me and it can hear everything we say too
I've tried unplugging it once and my dad called me in the middle of the night screaming at me to plug it back in."
A growing number of such posts are appearing on Reddit and other platforms, as more children and young adults share their struggles with their parents' surveillance practices. The issue has sparked heated debate regarding the balance between parental protectiveness and the potential harm caused by constant monitoring.
While many people on the internet back the students' concerns, advocating for their right to privacy and the mental toll such surveillance takes, others defend the parents' actions. They argue that these actions stem from a protective instinct, especially in today's climate of rising crime rates. Some believe that parents, particularly of young daughters, are simply trying to safeguard their children, even if it comes at the cost of invading their privacy.
The debate continues, highlighting the fine line between safety and autonomy, as well as the complex dynamics of parent-child relationships in a digitally connected world.
