Mom forces bully son to give up his designer things after he mocked peers for being less wealthy
Mom punishes teen son by making him give up his fancy clothes for making fun of his less fortunate peers at school.
- After finding out her son was mocking his peers for having less, a mother decided to punish him by switching his designer clothes with thrifted ones.
- The mother admits she was ‘appalled’ by her son’s behavior at school.
- She took her story to the Internet to ask users whether her approach was right for the tense situation.
A mother who acknowledges she is ‘pretty well off’ as she works in tech was saddened to find out that her son was bullying his classmates ‘for being less wealthy’. In a Reddit post, the mom goes on to reveal the whole story:
“AITA* for making my son give up the signifiers of wealth at school (designer clothes and sneakers, being driven in nice cars) because he was making fun of kids for being less wealthy than us?”
As Perco Lately notes, the frustrated mom took the disciplinary action after being contacted by the administration of the private school her son is attending. However, she later questioned her choice of approach for dealing with the delicate situation.
In the story, the woman gives some background about her family and their financial status:
“The father is hardly in the picture, he pays child support and that’s about it, he is very absent otherwise. Another relevant thing, I’m pretty well off, I work in tech. my son’s father is extremely wealthy and the court order for child support is enough to pay for the best for my son. He goes to a fairly competitive private school, is in a lot of extracurriculars that cost a decent bit, etc…”
She then goes on to explain that the school administration informed her that her teenage son had been bullying several students for being less affluent.
The disappointed mother admits: “I was appalled by his behaviors.”
Trying to figure out a way to deal with her son’s behavior, the woman first decided to talk to him. She tried to explain why his attitude was wrong, and that money is not something he should be personally proud of. She says:
“He has no job, no savings, no investments, no wealth of his own. By totally random chance he happened to be born into good circumstances. And that’s it.”
The distressed mother then arranged an apology meeting between her son and the classmates he had been bullying. Moreover, she made it clear that the family will no longer buy designer clothes and shoes. Instead, they would invest only in thrift shopping.
Another lifestyle change she applied was to drive her son to school with an old Jeep, rather than their brand new Porsche. Furthermore, she claimed that for any activities her kid joins, he would borrow equipment instead of getting a new one.
Understandably, the teenage boy was ‘really upset about it all’.
He hated being seen in his mom’s old car, as this was ruining his reputation at school. The teen felt embarrassed by his mom’s approach to teaching him a lesson. Trying to figure out whether her strategy is suitable for the unpleasant situation, the mother asks again:
“AITA for having this approach to parenting my son who was bullying kids for being “poor”? I don’t buy him new designer things or drive him places in luxury cars anymore, we shop at thrift stores and if I am taking him to school I drive a car from 92.”
Most of the Reddit users that commented on the story agreed with the mother’s approach.
One wrote:
“NTA*
- You are teaching him a valuable lesson for the rest of his life.
- It’s never okay to make fun of someone based on their families level of income
In summary this is a great punishment that might help him see things from other peoples point of view.”
Another added:
“Plus #3. Never judge someone based on their appearances. You never know what someone’s situation is and you can’t draw conclusions based off their appearance.
Big time NTA, this is a brilliant punishment.”
What do you think of the lesson this mother is trying to teach her spoiled son? Leave a comment to let us know!
*AITA – Am I the A**hole
*NTA – Not The A**hole
