4 days ago
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Influencer Kat Clark is standing by her decision to let her 14-year-old daughter fly to another state by herself so the teen could attend a concert with a friend.
Clark, a wellness and lifestyle influencer with more than 7 million TikTok followers, took to her channel on Sunday, August 31, to respond to those who criticized her parenting.
“So a lot of people have made it clear that they don’t like my style of parenting,” she began, before comparing her daughter, Deja, to herself as a teenager.
She continued, “If you guys only knew what I did at 14, 15, 16 — I mean, I was pregnant at 16. I’m just glad that TikTok didn’t exist back then because I would be canceled in five seconds.”
Clark went on to explain that she grew up with “really strict parents,” which led to her acting out. The “last thing” she said she wanted to do was tell her parents how she was feeling because it would “turn into a lecture.”
“When I was a teen, I ran away from home, several times. And my parents had no idea where I was,” she explained. “Deja went away, I knew where she was all the time.”
Still, Clark stressed that she does have rules with her daughter, even if she is “more open.”
“Having a child that feels comfortable enough to ask me to want to go instead of hiding things from me? That’s the kind of relationship I want with my kid,” she concluded.
Though commenters on her video came down on both sides of the argument, most appeared supportive of Clark’s decision, with one follower writing, “strict parents create sneaky kids.”
Another added, “When I’m going to be a mom, your [sic] my inspiration.”
Compare that to the comments on her initial video, where she revealed to her followers that she would allow Deja to leave their family vacation in San Diego early to fly to Dallas to meet her friends. Beneath that video, which she posted on Wednesday, August 27, commenters called her “too trusting” and criticized her for prioritizing her daughter’s happiness over her safety.
Throughout the video, Clark explained how conflicted she was over letting Deja take the trip.
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“Honestly, I don’t know if I made the right decision,” she said over video from their visit to a San Diego bunny cafe.
“At first, I was like ‘girl no way, we are on a family holiday and Dallas is a three hour flight away,’” she recalled. “But if you know anything about Deja, she would not shut up about it. She was like ‘mom, please, I can fly by myself. I promise I’ll text you the whole time.’ She even started negotiating with me.”
Despite still wanting to say no, Clark said, she ultimately relented because she knows “how much her friends mean to her.”
English (US) ·