My god, half these posts are bashing me!
*For goodness sakes, I'm not pretending to be older or younger. I turn 17 on the 28th.
*I have not made up my problems with my parents.
*Bashing all of my projects is not neccissary. I've put a lot of work into all of them.
*I work for my parent's company. This should explain some things.
*I surfed porn *6 years ago*. They can shove it up their @ss and get over it.
Okay, here is most of the story:
When I was eleven, I looked up porn. My parents found out, and cut off my internet access. From that moment on, most of my punishments became computer-based. For the record, I don't look up porn anymore. The next year or so is when I really started to get into programming. I would start to spend a lot of time on the computer, about 6 or 7 hours a day during the summer, and 3 or 4 during the school year. My parents did not like it, and they cut off the computer for a while. I didn't like not having the computer, something I enjoy quite a bit, and found ways around their restrictions. This is where the "cycle" began to get worse. I would stop using the computer for a while, and start to find ways around their restrictions. When they would find out, they would increase the restrictions. On occasion, I would be relieved of these punishments. Eventually, they would block me from using the computer again (as I said before, computer related punishments became their primary method of punishment), and I would begin to resist when the restrictions wouldn't lift, and it would continue the cycle. It eventually became petty problems that would make them want to block websites or other electronic privledges, and I got sick of it. Now, I am almost constantly blocked from using the computer, and have occasional times where I can use it with their permission.
Built on top of this is the fact that my parents have many small things that make me less likely to agree with their rules. For instance, I do not have a door on my room right now, because I was mouthy. I cannot drive right now, even though I have a permit, because they don't think I apply myself at school enough. This last one sounds reasonable, except that their expectations are fickle. They originally required me to pass (a D in Colorado), then it became a C, then it became a B, for a while it was straight As, then it moved down to B, which is where it is at now (supposedly).
Also, when I approach my parents to have a conversation, I have not once felt that they have had a fair outcome. I would appriciate if they considered my proposals, or anything I say, but they ignore what I say and every conversation turns into a one-way lecture without any of my points being addressed. Every conversation has the same result: no result. They only serve to widen the gap.
I also think that my parents specifically target what I care about. These are what I primarily enjoy in life:
-Band
-Programming
-Games
-Hanging out with friends
The only one of these that has yet to be restricted is the first one. However, they have threatened to. I have seen all of these taken away simultaneously, and several times. They also jeporadize my education, becuase I go to a technology school where internet access and computer access is required, and they usually cut it off cold turkey if they cut it off at all.
Important, you tl;dr-ers:
The reason I fight back is simple: they have no justification. They cannot even justify it to themselves. I have sat down with them in a rational setting, without any tempers flaring, and asked what I can do to lift the restrictions. They have spent those "conversations" darting around the question and elaborating on how much I fight back. I ask also why they block so much in the first place. They have no answer, and simply continue the "conversation" as if I never asked. It is rare that I get computer access back for an extended period of time, and most of the time I feel as if I am constrained into not seeing a tangible end to the restrictions. I eventually tire of having all my privledges revoked with no plan in place to reverse the proccess. To this day, I don't know why they choose such large restrictions as punishment for such small offenses.
An example of the small offenses that I mention is this: we were discussing programming in a setting outside of this "cycle," just a casual conversation. During this time, I was restricted from using the computer, but not from actually using my calculator. I mentioned something about my calculator, and my Mom made a snide comment about how I wasn't supposed to do so. I pointed out that I wasn't restricted from the calculator, only the computer. They took the wrong way, and she simply said: "well, now you are grounded from the calculator, so I'm technically right. Go get me your calculator." They do not do so as much anymore, but they routinely used to reset my entire calculator's memory. This was before I heard about usb8x, and they wouldn't allow me to install TI Connect or TiLP on any computers, so I would loose everything.
Another big problem I have with them is that they threaten everything I care about. I have put myself into my projects. I have poured myself into them, and really applied my entire skill set into them, whether they involve calculators or computers. They do not do so as much now that they know I back things up externally, but they used to completely delete my projects folder on the computer, knowing they were there, and wipe my calculator, having seen the work I put into it firsthand. These events would destroy me, and I would become completely disconnected from the world until I overcame the fact that all of the work, the months of commitment, were gone forever.
Making things worse are the fact that my parents are tech savvy. They are some of the most knowledgable technology people I know. Both of my parents are Microsoft MVPs, and very good at what they do. They installed a competent filter (Norton Safety Minder), and I have yet to find a consistently available proxy that is not blocked. They also had the same software installed on my work computer.
I certainly hope this explains the situation a bit better.
