Teen daughter refuses to let mother confiscate her phone, after ignoring repeated requests to stop blasting YouTube at 2 a.m., so her mother uses parental controls to lock the phone, daughter claims she has no right: 'I bought it with my Xmas money'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Nov 5, 2025 1:00 PM EST

Wow, to be fifteen again…I can almost feel the grip around my iPhone 8 as I'm told 'it's time to study', a grip so stern it was almost as if I was grabbing onto Oxygen for the last time. Being a teenager sort of feels like the beginning and end of the world all at once. We're experiencing all these new things for the first time, yet the minute something feels scary or wrong, it feels as though we may never recover, but then we do. The rollercoaster of emotions that people claim we grow out of with age, but what I actually think are just expressed in different ways! 

So this mother-daughter relationship represents cases we are very familiar with! This frustrated mother is fed up with her daughter, if she wanted to be ignored, she'd go talk to a brick wall. Which she would probably have a more constructive conversation with anyway…After repeatedly telling her daughter to stop spending so much time on her phone, especially when she blasts YouTube on full volume at 2 in the morning, her daughter refuses to cooperate with her mom's rules. So her mother decided to try a new technique that leaves her no choice. She used parental control to lock her daughter out of her phone. 

Now we want to do a short exercise with you all. Close your eyes, re-access the information that we've just shared, take a deep breath, and imagine what happens next! 

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  • The problem with the mother-daughter teenage duo is that 100% of the time, both women believe they are in the right, making it almost impossible to find the middle ground! This daughter claims that her mother has absolutely no right to touch he phone without permission, as she bought it for herself as a Christmas gift…Whilst that may be true, she is living at home and in honor of every parent's favorite phrase: 'My house, my rules!’‘

  • 01
    "It got to the point I could hear her phone blasting Youtube at 2am despite asking her to quieten down"
    via gettysignature

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    Aita for taking my daughters phone

    Last night my daughter (15f) was inconsiderate, despite me asking calmly a few times for her to be considerate of people sleeping and to keep noise.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 03
    levels down, she was slamming doors. Putting lights on etc. It got to the point i could hear her phone blasting youtube at 2am despite asking her to quieten down.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 04
    I have parental locks so i lockd the phone and took it from her when she refused to turn it down. She immediately screamed and screamed at me saying I have no right
    via East-Grab-616
  • 05
    to take her phone. That because she bought it with her own Xmas money (true but I pay the bill) I cant touch it without her consent and she doesn't consent.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 06
    Then she started to take my things and asked me how I like it when i wouldn't return it and told her to go to bed. She says im a complete AH but im actually just exhausted by her. Aita?
    via East-Grab-616
  • 07
    ****** Edit: im grateful for all of your replies and perspectives. Ill add some more context because people have asked questions.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 08
    I have thought about my parenting and im going to tighten things up. When shes at school im going to limit her devices, not block them completely but limit the content.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10571186688
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  • 10
    She wanted to stay up late because its the last non school night of half term where we are. She does have a boyfriend who i am concerned about, he isnt a good influence on her but again when I mention it im told to stop nagging.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 11
    I did speak to her this morning and she said she feels I am nagging her and just wont get off her back about exams and post16 options.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 12
    Her phone is on a rolling contract. Once she finishes her exams I am going to cancel the contract and it can be her first "bill" she takes on. She does have ear buds but chooses not to wear them because she "shouldn't have to"
    via East-Grab-616
  • 13
    Beneficial_Test_5917 NTA. However common a phone is today, children do not have a right to have one, it is an earned privilege.
    via Beneficial_Test_5917
  • 14
    OP East-Grab-616 That's what I said to her but because she paid for the device herself she feels entitled to it all the time.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 15
    OkGazelle5400 NTA but it sounds like there isn't a lot of other parenting. Why is she up at 2am?
    via OkGazelle5400
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    Cheezburger Image 10571187200
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  • 17
    OP East-Grab-616 Where we are its the last weekend of half term break so she wanted to have one last late night before getting back into the school routine.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 18
    CookiesAndCachel You're not the AH at all, boundaries and respect go both ways, and she'll understand that better with time.
    via CookiesAndCachel
  • 19
    OP East-Grab-616 I really hope so thank you for your reply.
    via East-Grab-616
  • 20
    urfavlatinalolo NTA. You're the parent. Setting boundaries and enforcing reasonable consequences (like taking a phone being used disruptively at 2 AM) is your job, not an invasion of her rights. Her purchasing the device doesn't override household rules or your responsibility to ensure she gets rest and respects others.
    via urfavlatinalolo
  • 21
    cantthinkofausermb as a 15f - NTA!!!
    via cantthinkofausermb
  • 22
    Due Jellyfish8941 Nta, but it deffo seems like the phone isn't really the issue.
    via Jellyfish8941
  • 23
    live-fast-eat-trash NTA but who is actually running the house if she's acting like that?
    via live-fast-eat-trash
  • 24
    escapefromelba I mean between family sharing and your router it's pretty easy to restrict them without physically taking the phone away. Just set her downtime to a reasonable hour.
    via escapefromelba

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disagreement iPhones youtube teenagers mother-daughter technology distracted turned off late nights daughters connection wifi parenting volume bills phone bills loud Video
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