How to Be a Terrible Parent

...and make sure your kid will never trust you.

My daughter is 16 and as most 16 year olds, she has her own phone with less parental control. But I still have sensible rules like no turning off iphone tracking, always answer my texts or calls immediately or within a reasonable time frame when not in school or practice, no dead battery excuses. But I know teenagers can be sneaky, so I have a backup tracking plan that I keep secret from her. I have an extra older version iphone on my family plan that I use as an emergency phone. I hide this phone somewhere in the car that I let my daughter drive, kept on silent. It’s always charged so I can track it when my daughter is out.

(break) 

Before Brett’s dad got there, I walked around asking the bouncers at the bars if they had seen my daughter or her friend (I showed them photos). I finally talked to one who remembered turning away my daughter and Brett earlier in the night for trying to use fake IDs. I was livid. I wandered the area and eventually found my daughter and Brett hanging out at a coffee house. I waited for Brett’s dad to park before going in. I asked him what his understanding of the situation was, and he told me as far as his ex told him, the kids were supposed to be at home doing prep work for a oratory competition.

I told Brett’s dad where I was and he and I walked into the cafe together to retrieve our kids. After we returned home, my daughter confessed to trying to sneak into a gay club with Brett, who apparently is closeted to his parents and school. She was most upset that I outed Brett to his parents this way. But she has not given me any reason to trust her or her friend Brett given their behavior this weekend. 

Seriously, this loser has just guaranteed that his kid will never, ever come to him with anything that's happening in her life. He's shown her that he will betray her trust and treat her like a thief and a liar.

"Oh, but she told lies."

Right. Because she knew she couldn't trust her parents.

Dad may think he's won, but by "winning" this skirmish, he's lost the entire war.

Source is here.