Parents removing their children’s bedroom doors as a punishment violates their privacy, which is supposed to be one of the fundamental human rights not even people who take care of you can take away.
But what if the child keeps slamming it and waking up family members in the middle of the night even after being asked to stop? Then taking away the door would be a direct punishment, so this mom did, but believing in privacy, she set up a heavy curtain, although her daughter wasn’t thrilled.
More info: Reddit
Being woken up in the middle of a night by a loud bang makes you annoyed, but when it keeps happening constantly, you have to do something
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)
The bang this mom was hearing was her daughter slamming her bedroom door and what she did to stop it was to remove the door
Image credits: Monique Prater (not the actual photo)
Thankfully, the mom realized the importance of privacy and installed a light-proof and sound-proof curtain
Image credits: verkeorg (not the actual photo)
Image credits: The-Compliment-Fairy
However, the teenager was not amused and thought it was emotional abuse
Maggie is the Original Poster’s (OP) oldest child and is 14 years old. As the mom described her, the teen is a great kid who stays out of trouble, does well at school, helps around the house and has a normal relationship with her siblings, which includes bugging each other, as you do.
The only reproach she has for her daughter is that she keeps slamming her bedroom door, which shakes the walls and makes a loud noise that can wake up the whole family in the middle of the night.
At first the parents tried talking to the teen, but nothing changed, so one day, they took the door off the frame and because they still wanted their daughter to have privacy, they hung up a curtain. The mom explained that it was an industrial curtain that blocked out light and even sound, but the best part was that you couldn’t slam it.
When the teen saw it, she was not having it and still thought that it was an invasion of privacy. She didn’t talk to her parents the whole weekend and the mom wanted to make sure that she did everything right and came to the internet for help.
People in the comments were confused as to why the daughter would not stop slamming the door, but when it came to the parents’ reaction, they approved of it because they still considered that a 14-year-old needs her own separate space.
They also weren’t worried about the teen because the parents would bring back the door once the daughter agreed to not slam it anymore. Readers agreed that sleep is as important as privacy, so the family can’t keep sacrificing it for the sake of the teen’s right to block the world from her with a door.
Image credits: Porter Hall (not the actual photo)
It is a complete mystery why the teen can’t stop slamming the door and in the comments, the mom explained that the door definitely doesn’t slam on itself because you need force to close it as it rubs against the carpet.
In general, such behavior is associated with negative emotions. Psychology Spot explains that slamming the door is “an unequivocal sign that the situation has overwhelmed us. A slam – real or psychological – implies that we’re victims of an emotional hijacking, that anger and frustration have taken over. And each time that happens, our ability to think rationally is ‘turned off.’”
Slamming the door is the result of not being able to find a more mature way of dealing with your emotions or the situation that is bothering you.
Slamming doors is in the same category as throwing or breaking things, screaming and punching walls. Evolve Treatment Centers point out that these acts of aggression when we are angry about something are believed to be stress-relieving but in reality it is not a great way to deal with overwhelming emotions.
It would be very concerning if the 14-year-old keeps slamming the door because she is angry or overwhelmed all the time, especially knowing that she has ADHD. But the mom is convinced that her medications are working because there are no other signs of a tolerance break.
The mom’s only theory is that the daughter wants to annoy her little brothers and doesn’t actually realize how loud the bang is and that you can hear it all over the house. Also, someone in the comments suggested that because you need a bit of force as the door rubs to the carpet, maybe the teen can’t calculate how much strength to use.
Do you have any idea why OP’s daughter still slammed the door when the family asked not to because that would wake them up? Also, what do you think about the parents’ solution to the problem? Do you think there was a better way? Let us know in the comments.
Redditors didn't agree, because that would put her right to privacy above other people's right to rest and sleep
