Teen's Fury Over Parents' Favoritism of Little Sister Backed: 'I Was Done'

The internet has backed a teen who shared his upset that his 16th birthday was being overshadowed by his younger sister.

Explaining the story, the 15-year-old posted on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA**hole forum where it has received thousands of upvotes and comments.

"I have a little sister Ava and she's 7. She was a baby my parents tried to have for a few years after I was born, but struggled, and then she was born premature and almost died. It meant my parents had to put a lot of time into her when she was little," explained the teen online: "It meant a lot of the time our world revolved around her. Back then I would hear people say once she was a little older that things would return to normal. They never really did."

With his 16th birthday coming up, he shared how he had recently fallen out with his parents over his birthday plans.

"My parents had talked about throwing me a party with my friends and family there to celebrate and I let myself get excited about it, which I am starting to feel was dumb on my part," he said.

The 15-year-old explained that he struggles with how his parents prioritize his younger sister Ava over him. He explained how two years ago he had asked for a PS5 and agreed to save up an amount when his parents said they would pay the rest as a gift—but when the time came the money was spent on a haircut for Ava.

Similarly, earlier this year his high school had an award ceremony where he was given an award for helping others in school. But Ava had a play on the same day and so neither of his parents attended: "They didn't even remember to ask me about it when I got home," said the teen.

Olivia DeLong, senior health editor at parenting advice site BabyCenter, told Newsweek: "Sibling jealousy is very common—and natural. But as a parent, it's important to help all of your children feel secure in their relationships with you. You can do this by letting them know that there's enough love to go around—and that every day is going to be different in terms of attention. If jealousies are unaddressed, they can become sibling rivalries."

"My birthdays have always been more aimed at something Ava will enjoy too. We do Chuck-E-Cheese where I can bring a friend, or they hire a bounce house for [the] family to come over, but always a smaller one which means I don't get to enjoy it," said the Redditor. "The spotlight always goes to her at least once. She's blown out my birthday candles since she was 2."

Hoping this year would be different, the teen was looking forward to his birthday plans. But then he revealed that his parents discovered his younger sister Ava was being bullied in school and having a tough time.

"They told me she wasn't looking forward to anything, including my party, and that they thought it would be nice to do something she could enjoy, and give her some of the spotlight on the day, where we assure her she's loved and wanted," he said: "I told them it was my birthday and I thought they wanted me to enjoy it."

But when his parents told him that he should make the sacrifice as the older brother to make his sister feel special, the teen was extremely upset: "I told them I deserve to feel that way too. Then I told them if they were going to do this to me again, I was done. I told them not everything needs to be about Ava. That she might be their whole world. She might be their whole focus in life. But she is not mine."

After the argument, his parents were furious and the teen took to the internet to ask AITA [Am I the a**hole]?

Online though, thousands of Reddit users offered thoughts in the comments, overwhelmingly siding with the 15-year-old and slamming his parents.

"NTA [not the a**hole]," said one reply: "Unfortunately, you are the black sheep and Ava is the Golden Child. But at least you only have to endure 2 more years of b******* until you got college."

Another Redditor wrote: "They suck and you deserve better. You got that award because you are obviously sending good out into the world and one day you will be surrounded by people who value you."

"As in life, not everything can always be equal, so it's important to remember that there will be some days where one child gets more attention than the other," said DeLong, but she said there are things parents can do to ensure that favoritism doesn't become an issue.

"As a parent, you should try to explain—and set an example—to your children that no rationing is needed because there's more than enough unconditional love for everyone. One solution we can also recommend to parents is to divide the responsibilities of attending events if two occur at once, and alternate on repeat occurrences if that's available."

Newsweek has reached out to the Redditor for comment. We were unable to verify the details of this case.