Hi I am freshman in college. I wanted to hear the perspective of other Asian parents and parents in general about my dilemma. For context my dad was raised in a very conservative Indian family; my mom’s parents were slightly less conservative but she was also raised in India. I had a few girlfriends through out high school(behind my parents back) and was even forbidden from having a prom date. My parents eventually found out I did take a girl to prom (through photos shared between parents) and I was harshly reprimanded. I received a long lecture from my dad on how girls are only a distraction and how everyone with a girlfriend will ruin their lives and their future. I had been dating throughout high school but also graduated in the top 5% of my class, did multiple clubs and am now attending an ivy league school. I believe I have the time management and prioritization skills to successfully manage a relationship and my work.
My parents strongly disagree. They threaten that if there is any evidence that I am involved with girls in college they will stop paying and they say that I am too young for romantic relationships and that should only be a concern after I have a stable job. I think claiming that college is too early to be dating is extremely unreasonable but they have such an aversion to dating I don’t think their threat to stop paying is an empty threat. They constantly check my phone whenever I am back home in order to attempt to ensure I am not dating. I am single at the moment but don’t know how I am going to tolerate this restriction moving forward. What are your thoughts? What should I do?