For many students, social media is a way of life. It’s an outlet for kids to be themselves and to show another part of their life outside of school. But for me, social media always has been prohibited in my house.

Ever since I can remember, our rule has been you can have social media once you graduate high school. It’s a rule that has been hard on me and my sisters. While I understand the reasoning behind my parents’ decision, it doesn’t make life at a public school any easier.

Our technology-driven generation has put parent-child relationships on shaky ground. Many teenagers feel like their parents don’t trust them because of their restrictions, or because their parents monitor them online. I was one of those teenagers, and in some sense, I still am. I’ve felt for a long time the reason I’m not allowed to have social media is because my parents don’t trust me, even though I feel like they should. I have good grades, I’m home by my curfew, I excel in my sports, and I rarely fight with them.

But nonetheless they insist on a blocked and restricted life on my phone. As I’ve opened up with my mom about my feelings about their rules, she has explained to me their feelings towards social media. They say they trust me, but they don’t trust other teenagers on the internet. They also don’t want me to get lost in the likes, comments, and followers like so many other kids have.

While this makes sense to me, and I understand the detrimental components to social media, it also has a lot of great impacts. Students coming together to support their friends, being able to communicate with friends that go further than just sharing a text, and making new friends. You can also put out your work like photography or art, which is a great way to be noticed by employers.

I’ve experienced both positive and negative things while not having social media. On the positive aspect, I don’t have to worry about any drama that’s going on, or have to worry about the wrong people trying to contact me. But I also feel like I have been cut off from many of my friends. My team has a snapchat group text, that of course I am not on. Because of that they have inside jokes and stories that I will never be in on. That’s why I wish I had some form of social media.

So while it can be hard to detach from social media, it is also a great platform to build on and make friends. Although I’m relieved that I don’t have to worry about the clicks, follows and likes, living in a world with restrictions is difficult. And hopefully I won’t have to live with restrictions for much longer.