Man Punishes His Son For Calling His Stepdad The N-Word, But The Teen Has Some Supporters In The Family
In today’s world, divorce is no longer quite as scandalous and rare as it used to be.
Research shows that 41 percent of all first marriages end in divorce. In the U.S. alone, almost 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce or separation.
When there are kids involved, divorce undoubtedly becomes a more complicated process, as couples will need to navigate how to parent their kids under different roofs. This parenting may also affect other people the divorced parents get involved with romantically in the future.
Yet, co-parenting happens quite often and can be done successfully too.
Unfortunately, like with divorce and any relationship, co-parenting has unique problems, and navigating these problems takes quite a lot of skill.
We found one of similar problems highlighted in a story posted on the AITA subreddit.
A Redditor shared that his son had gotten into an argument with his stepdad over chores, and his stepdad had banned him from video games until he did the chores.
Instead of doing the chores, his son resorted to calling his stepfather the N-word. When OP heard the whole story and confirmed it from his son, he decided to punish the teen by grounding him for a month.
His decision, however, didn’t go down well with his mother and brother, who felt the punishment was too grave for the crime. This led OP to bring the issue to the Reddit court for judgment
Check out the full story below!
Details of the story
OP explained that he shares a son with his ex wife, who is currently remarried
On a certain weekend, OP's 16-year-old son called upset, asking to get picked up from his mom's house
Apparently, OP's son got into a fight with his stepdad, Johnathan, who is black. And unfortunately the teen used the N-word during their altercation
OP proceeded to ground his son for a month as punishment
However, OP's mom and brother feel that he's overreacting and that the punishment doesn't fit the crime
We gathered a few reactions from the Reddit community:
"NTA and I’m sure your ex and Jonathan appreciate this more than you know."
"They should also look at what games he is playing."
"NTA but mom and brother agreeing with him should tell you all you need to know about where he got the idea in the first place."
"NTA and this ladies and gents is how you parent after a divorce."
"NTA your son needs to learn that calling someone the n-word or any slur is unacceptable."
"Your son called someone a violent slur and is showing no remorse. Please check his Internet history."
"NTA. Not even close. In fact, you would be a HUGE a**hole if you let that slide in any way."
"NTA, I applaud your parenting."
"NTA - good for you. The actual issue aside, this shows great solidarity."
"He needs to understand why that word and other slurs (race, faith, country, gender, etc.) are cruel and disrespectful."
"Consider looking into what podcasts, youtube channels, forums etc. your son is looking at. there's a lot of alarming stuff out there that target young men."
"You definitely need to have an in depth discussion about WHY that word is so bad as well."
"NTA...He uses that word in the wrong place in life and he could end up dead."
"Shame on your brother and mother for condoning this."
"NTA but you and his mom both need to seek out resources to counter his racism."
Navigating the relationship between a stepchild and a stepparent is never easy. This is why the commenters couldn’t stop themselves from applauding OP’s reaction to the situation.
According to the comments section, OP is NTA, and the N-word is far more than just a word like his mother and brother claim it is.
What are your thoughts on OP’s decision to ground his son for a month? Was it the right move, or do you think he overreacted? Let us know in the comments below!
