(Okay so I’m in middle school but there isn’t a group to post this so I’m just gonna post it here.)

Here’s the rant/story: It’s not uncommon for people- adults and kids alike- to tell me that I’m really mature for my age. I’m a straight-A student, an active part of my church, and I’ve never gotten in trouble at school (besides a teacher telling me to be quiet). Almost all my friends have phones and are allowed to have Instagram and/or Snapchat. My parents let me have Instagram but I’m not allowed to post anything and I can’t have Snapchat. They also check my phone saying that I’m in middle school and people can be really mean and they just wanna protect me. Even though I’ve made countless arguments- that have solid evidence- my parents justify it because “people are mean” and “a lot of inappropriate people are on Snapchat”. I’ve told my parents that you can make a private account and that my friends would never do that but they won’t listen! What makes it worse is that they hold me to adult standards but treat me like a child. For instance, my mom yelled at me because I forgot my math textbook three times in a row for homework even though I had access to online pages. They also talk about consent and how you should never post/take pictures of someone without their consent. Well last Friday I went to a fall dance and my dad posted my photo on Facebook. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW UNTIL SOMEONE AT CHURCH TOLD ME I LOOKED REALLY PRETTY AT THE DANCE!!! When I asked my dad to please not post pictures like that again- at least not without my consent- he replied with “well I’m your dad so I don’t need your consent and I can do anything I want”. No, you cannot! Am I wrong in thinking that my parents are way too strict or should they ease up?

Tl;DR

My parents hold me to really high standards, won’t let me have a social life, and don’t let me have a private life just because they want to “protect me” and I’m too young. I think they’re too strict but wanted to get outside opinions.