I am 17 years old an bisexual. I came out to my parents last year, and they were totally fine with it. At the time I was attending a stressful magnet school, and I eventually decided to drop out for a range of reasons. Upon dropping out, my best friend at the time and I started dating. After about 2 weeks, I told my parents. They were upset and upapproving, but they did not make me stop seeing her as they had met her and known her for several years. Long story short, that relationship ended and I met I guy, this time on ******. I know that's always scary, but I did have my real age on there, which meant I could only be paired with other people under the age of 18, and I was very careful to read bios before swiping. In the end, I only gave out my number to one guy - one very sweet guy. I know for a fact that he's real...mainly because he provided so much detail about his life that I couldn't question it. About a week later, he met up and had our first date, and it went absolutely amazing. The thing is, I lied to my parents and told them I was going out with friends. Which, I admit, was wrong, but I didn't want to freak them out about me dating someone if it wasn't even going to work out. The next day I felt awful about it and told my mom - not just that I went on a date, but that I met him online. She made me delete my ****** profile and the ****** app from my phone and basically said, in no uncertain terms that I was to cut off all communication with him. She didn't care that I had actually met him and knew he was real...she said you should only date after you've known someone for years and you should never date online. She said I am not allowed to dare until I go to college because I'm too young. I think she only allowed the first girlfriend because they personally knew year and I was really depressed at the time. But she grew up in a different generation in a much different and more conservative country. How can I convince her to let me make my own mistakes? I mean, if I don't date now, I'm only going to date later, and then if anything goes wrong they won't be there to protect me. I just want the dating experience...not necessarily the physical part of it, but the emotional part of it. I want just experience my life and have fun when I'm young, because who knows if I'll get the chance later? I told her all this but it's not working, and she's currently giving me the silent treatment. I am a responsible person. I have straight As in school, I'm in junior year and am graduating early so I can do cosmetology and computer science courses next year before I go to college. I have never snuck out before, and this is the only thing I've lied about in years...and I even fessed up to it within a day! I get my work done, I spend more than enough time with my family...as a responsible 17 year old, why can't I have a boyfriend?
I'm not allowed to date yet either. I don't see anything wrong with waiting till later. Well, maybe it depends on how long you're expected to wait. I don't think your mom can tell you what to do when you're 18.
It sounds like your parents' objection to you dating him is how you met, not dating in general. You dating (or even talking to) someone you met online is something your mother is reasonable to be afraid of. You might want to explain to her the precautions that you took and that while there are predators online, you know the warning signs and there are really great people too. I hope they understand how important this is to you, and good luck!
I believe eventually, your parents will see that you need your own space and you need to make your own decisions. They can't babysit you forever, and once they realize that, they'll let you make the calls. In terms of meeting people through online or through apps, there's obviously a stigma to it. Many people think it's JUST for hookups, but there are true genuine people on their that look for a relationship as well (took me a while to get that). It's true that as you get older, you'll want to make your own decisions, but your parents just don't want you to mess up, because they've made their fair share of mistakes, and bugging you about it is them showing that they care. Chances are, when you're 25 for example, they aren't going to make you do this or that. Regardless of your age, if you're still living with your parents, you gotta at least give them that basic level of respect because they're the ones who are giving you a roof over your head.
