Teen Backed for Making Half-Siblings Cry: 'Heartless Brat'

Commenters backed a teenager for hurting her half-siblings' feelings after they went into her room and discovered that her scrapbooks did not include any pictures of them or their mom.

The Original Poster (OP), known as u/Comfortable_Emu_6000, posted about the situation in Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole" forum where it received more than 8,200 upvotes and 1,000 comments. The post can be found here.

Blended Families in America

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 40 percent of families in America live in blended households that include children from current and previous relationships.

It is estimated that about 10.5 million children in America live in stepfamilies, with nearly 50 percent of Americans having at least one step relative.

Among parents, about six in 10 adults felt an obligation to help their grown stepchild. Among respondents, 85 percent said they felt an obligation to help out their parents, while 56 percent felt a similar obligation toward their stepparent.

'AITA?'

In the post titled "AITA for saying everyone deserved to have their feelings hurt since they decided to snoop?" the 16-year-old teen said she has a lock on her bedroom door.

"One of the conditions of getting the lock put on my door was that I must have two keys and keep one with my dad and his wife Sandra," the post read.

The teen explained that she wanted the lock because Sandra's kids and her half-siblings were going into her room with their two cats. She said the cats often peed in her room and that her step and half-siblings would rummage through her belongings.

Recently, the teen got home to find Sandra's kids crying and Sandra on the phone with her dad in the kitchen.

She said that while she was gone, Sandra let her kids in her bedroom and they found her scrapbooks.

"It's a hobby, I have loads of them," the post read. "A lot are either me and my friends or they're my family. None include Sandra, her kids or her and my dad's kids. Lately they haven't featured my dad either. Just my mom (who died when I was 7), my siblings (who are both over 18 and don't live with us anymore) and my extended family."

The teen said her step siblings' feelings were hurt because they noticed there weren't any photos of them or mention of them in her notes.

"Sandra and my dad were telling me how badly I had treated them and how I should be ashamed of myself for doing that kind of stuff," the post read. "I said they never should have been in my room in the first place."

'Heartless Brat'

But Sandra told the teen that it is common for kids to want to be in their older sibling's rooms.

"I made a face which she realized was me thinking they're not really my siblings," the post read. "She told me I broke their hearts, and hers, because they have tried everything to be my family and they have taken me into their hearts and I have shown clearly with those scrapbooks that I have not taken them into theirs."

After Sandra told the teen she should "feel bad," she told Sandra and her dad that the kids "deserved to have their feelings hurt" since they snooped through her room. She also said Sandra deserved it "worst of all" since she unlocked the door for her kids.

"Sandra sent me straight to my room," the post read. "Her and dad both yelled at me and called me a heartless brat for saying that. Dad told me the kids did nothing wrong. I said he should blame Sandra for opening the door for them to snoop in the first place."

The teen's dad told her her "feelings were wrong" and it was her fault that Sandra and the kids "feel hurt."

"Sandra told me nobody should say someone deserves to have their feelings hurt. AITA?" the post read.

Redditor Reactions

More than 1,000 users commented on the post, many criticizing the OP's dad and stepmom for not respecting her privacy

"NTA. You have a lock on your door to keep your belongings safe and your privacy," one user commented. "Sandra straight up abused your trust by allowing her kids to get into your room without your permission...The sooner you get away from them, the better. Too bad you can't move in with one of your older siblings."

"Maybe they need to ask themselves why you don't scrapbook about them," another user commented. "It's not because you're a brat—it's because of their behavior."

"Sandra is enabling bad behavior in the children and refusing to respect your privacy," another user commented. "And from the looks of it, you are respectful of Sandra and her kids even if you don't see them as family the way you do your extended family. Which is totally okay. As long as you're respectful, you are not obligated to welcome them with open arms and include them closely in your life, not at all."

"The scrapbooks are basically like a diary to you," another commented. "EVERYONE knows that by reading someone's private diary/notes/emails/etc you are taking a risk of seeing something you won't like. They f**ked around and found out."

Newsweek reached out to u/Comfortable_Emu_6000 for comment.

Other Viral Posts

In another viral Reddit post, a woman was criticized for attempting to kick her stepdaughter out of her bedroom so her 13-year-old daughter could move in.

Another woman was backed for refusing to raise her younger half-sister after both her parents died, and another left users were divided after revealing her idea to not tell her children about their half-sibling.