AITA for Telling My Parents They Don’t Celebrate My Achievements? Maybe, Maybe Not, But I’m Sure As Hell Not Sorry!
Gather ’round, my dear readers, for today’s tale of teenage daring and parental indifference is based on a real confessional from Reddit. Our protagonist, a bright-eyed 15-year-old female debater, recently experienced a triumph worthy of fanfare—sorry, make that debate-fare—in her school’s debating team. Spoiler alert: the parents didn’t quite put up the banner that says ‘You Go, Girl!’
Let’s break it down, shall we? Our heroine has been doing debating for her school, and within a measly six months, this intellectual gladiator and her team sent 50—let’s pause for 50—teams packing, making it to the semi-finals. They aced that too, and now, her next verbal smackdown will be held at Parliament’s Debate Chamber. Yes, you read that correctly, the same hallowed hall where prime ministers are decided and political dreams go to either soar or crumble.
Now, you’d think this news would have her parents applying for fireworks permits to celebrate her success, right? Wrong! This young lady marches home, practically radiating achievement-induced gamma rays, to proudly declare her astounding news. And her parents? They managed a nonchalant “cool” before diverting their full, undivided, overflowingly proud attention to… drum-roll… her brother’s PE assignment. Yep, a compulsory assignment he had to do unless he fancied a failing grade in gym class.
Can we pause for a moment? Because the brother did a PE assignment and practically got a standing ovation, but our girl is about to spar in Parliament and all she gets is a lukewarm “cool.” This, darlings, is what we call the peak of parental tone-deafness.
Now, our brave young heroine did what any self-respecting future parliamentary contender would: she called them out. She laid it out for her parents, laying bare her feelings that they don’t seem to value her achievements while her brother gets praised for literally just showing up and sweating it out for PE.
But rather than a sudden epiphany hitting the parents—cue the dramatic ‘we-are-so-proud-of-you moment’ and cheesy background music—they got mad. Yep, folks, they got mad at her for voicing her feelings and accused her of ‘disrespecting’ them. And because good communication is clearly their forte, they’ve taken the mature route of giving her the silent treatment. Nothing says parental guidance like a good old-fashioned shunning, I always say!
Now, Who the Heck is the A**hole Here?
Alright, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty AITA business here. Is our young heroine indeed the villain for daring to ask for a modicum of recognition? I think not! I mean, let’s look at some facts here:
So, here’s my two cents, glittered up with sass and sprinkled with a touch of queendom: If your parents are too blind to see the dazzling star that you are, then maybe, just maybe, they need a swift reality check. It’s not about beating down your brother’s achievements—although, let’s be real, it’s hardly comparable—it’s about getting the acknowledgment you truly deserve.
Your parents might be navigating their own issues, or maybe they just don’t get it. Either way, my daring debater, don’t you dare let this diminish your glow. Wield your words like your swords, and let them get slayed by your brilliance in the Debate Chamber. Because when you conquer that final, and I know you will, the applause you’ll hear will drown out even the tepid “cool” they tossed your way.
In a world full of silence, make some noise. And when your parents finally realize the megastar under their own roof, they’ll know they missed a chance to celebrate a legend in the making.
Original story
I (15f) have been doing debating for my school this year. We beat out 50 teams and managed to get into quarter finals, and then the semi finals.
Today we had the semi finals. It went for 1.
5 hours and it was a really good debate. Fortunately, my team managed to come out on top.
Now, we are in the finals, and we’ve been told it is going to be held at Parliament. We’re going to be debating in the Debate Chamber, where elections are held and decisions are made.
This is one of, if not my greatest, achievement.
I came home to tell my parents, and they said “cool.” And then started talking to my older brother about how he did his PE assignment, and how proud they are of him.
He did a compulsory assignment and he gets all the praise in the world. I get to debate in the same place our prime minister is decided, and I get a “cool.
” I’ve only been debating for 6 months, as has my whole team. We’ve beat 50 teams and have accomplished a huge thing and my parents don’t care.
So I said so. I told them they don’t value my achievements and my brother is always praised for things that don’t need praising.
They got mad at me for ‘disrespecting’ them and now won’t talk to me. I feel like I just want to be appreciated and no matter how many times I’ve told them that, they just don’t care.
AITA?