Teen Slammed for Throwing Stepsister's Belongings in Oil and Burning Them

Commenters criticized a teenager after his stepmom said he burned his disabled sister's favorite belongings as a form of "punishment."

The teen's stepparent, known as u/Differentkind565, posted about the incident in Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole" forum where it received nearly 9,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments.

Step Relatives by the Numbers

Just under half of all Americans have at least one step relative, with four in 10 American adults having a stepsibling, Pew Research reported.

Research also found that 70 percent of adults who have a step relative are "very satisfied" with their family life, compared to 78 percent of individuals without any step relatives.

Among these respondents, 85 percent said they felt an obligation to help out their parents, while 56 percent felt a similar obligation toward their stepparent.

Among parents, about six in 10 adults felt an obligation to help their grown stepchild if they needed help.

'AITA?'

In the post titled "AITA for taking back the money I contributed towards my stepson's camp after he took my daughter's sticker collections?" the original poster (OP) said their daughter, 12, is disabled which limits many of her activities and interests, except for her love of stickers.

"She loves collecting stickers and spends most of her time doing it. If there's one thing she enjoys doing this is it," the post read. "It also helps her get rid of stress and anxiety."

The OP said they've been saving for their stepson's,16, summer camp and had contributed about 80 percent of the funds while his dad contributed about 20 percent.

"It's a huge deal for him and last week he was begging my daughter to give him her camera and she refused," the post read. "He begged and she kept refusing."

'I Was in Disbelief'

The OP said their stepson turned to his dad who then asked the OP to "do something." Instead, the OP told their stepson that if he was told no that's the answer.

"Obviously, this upset my stepson. Later I found out that he 'punished' my daughter by throwing away all of her sticker collections," the post read. "He admitted that he and 2 of his friends dumped them in car oil then burned them. I was in disbelief but very angry."

After "scolding" him and banning his friends from the house, the OP pulled back all the money they'd paid toward the camp.

"He started crying and begging and apologizing then called my husband," the post read. "My husband told me that pulling the money was an overreaction and a step too far, he said I was trying to hurt his son rather than just 'let him learn from this experience' (I don't know what this supposed to mean)."

The OP's husband offered to punish his son by taking all his electronics away for three days, but the OP said no. The OP said their stepson caused significant damage to their daughter's valuable, childhood sticker collections, including hard-to-find stickers.

"My husband disagreed and said that I promised and can't pull back now cause it'll make my stepson resent me for good," the post read. "He kept saying 'don't make that mistake' and guilting me about my decision. I might be going too far but my daughter is devastated and is still crying over her collections and refusing to talk to anyone."

Redditor Reactions

Nearly 1,400 users commented on the post, many supporting the OP's decision to take back the money they put toward their stepson's camp.

"Your husband is an AH Your stepson is also an AH," one user commented. "He should have to get a job for the summer to buy back every sticker. Do not reward him for destroying your daughter's stickers. And your husband is making him into an entitled jerk."

"NTA but you really do need to look at the bigger picture here because there is a lot of red flags sprinkled all over," another user wrote.

"[Three] day electronic ban? That's it? Everyone else around you is an AH," another user wrote. "Take the money, go out with your daughter, find new stickers, have lunch, browse the internet for new ones."

The user continued, saying the OP's stepson exhibited "extremely disturbing behavior" by destroying their daughter's property.

"The fact that his actual bio parents are downplaying this and making you the bad guy is also extremely disturbing," the user continued.

Stepparenting Tips

As Chief Medical Officer at Medscape Education Hansa Bhargava wrote for WebMD, it is essential for couples to discuss their parenting methods—such as punishments, rewards, chores or allowances.

It is important to be on the same page on parenting with a partner to ensure parenting boundaries are not crossed with the children.

Other stepparenting tips Bhargava suggested include:

• Do not try too hard to form an instant bond
• Discuss discipline techniques with biological parents/partner
• Encourage stepchildren to spend time with both biological parents
• Have weekly family meetings to discuss issues
• Do not overstep boundaries
• Plan bonding activities with stepchildren

Newsweek reached out to u/Differentkind565 for comment.

In another viral Reddit post from the popular "Am I The A**hole" forum, a dad was slammed for excluding his stepson from "bonding" trips with his biological children.

Another man was criticized for gifting his stepson a cell phone that only unlocked using the man's face. But one man was praised by users online after he punished his stepson for saying a racial slur to his son.