Who wonders if it was okay to confront a ‘childless’ brother who consistently abuses his little cousin

People are mean – you can’t deny that. especially teenagers. Some might say it’s because the prefrontal cortex, which coordinates social behavior, is still developing.

Well, how can I say it, this Redditor passing by u/Spirited_Spare1177 I have a story to tell. Their siblings have always been very mean to their little cousin – and when they finally decided to call him out on it, the 16-year-old boy was called “childless” by calling himself “childless.” justified his actions. To recognize his children, even in his own family.

“AITA, who told me that my younger brother doesn’t have children?– This netizen went to one of the most popular communities on Reddit and asked members if they really hated calling their 16-year-old brother for making their 16-year-old cousin cry. Just because he is childless. The post managed to garner over 10,000 upvotes as well as his 1.5K comments discussing the situation.

There are many reasons why people choose a child-free life. Financial security, a childless lifestyle, the fact that the world is in crisis – whatever the reason, it’s a respectable decision. But the original poster brother really needed that reality check .

The problem is that teenagers don’t really like their four-year-old cousins. The family eats dinner at their grandparents’ house every other week with their aunts, uncles and children, but “Brandon” never admits small children. Since he had decided not to have children, he figured this could get away with being blatantly disrespectful to his cousin.

Unsurprisingly, the teen didn’t seem to accept the fact that he was being mean, so he blamed his own actions on not having children. The creator of the post reached their boiling point and told the man that he couldn’t be childless when he was a child himself. It means he ignores his choice not to want children.

then we asked Emma Tell me more about spontaneous childlessness. An area of ​​life that was hardly discussed at the time. In those days, there was not even a distinction between being childless by choice, circumstance, etc., so things have changed a lot. There is a gray area between childless and childless people, and they are not always as polarized a group of people as some might think. (e.g., regarding the effects of living with the society-wide stigma of not being a parent). It feels especially important and respected to recognize the very big difference between choosing to have children and not choosing to have them.

BP wondered next Emma Palmer’s Confronting our society, which tends to “look down” on childless people, the woman responded: Society is still fairly pronatal in expecting women to be mothers, which is an expected and important part of a woman’s identity. This has changed markedly in my lifetime, but thankfully, gender and identity. ”

We also wondered if we were too young to decide if we wanted children. I know several people who decided early in life not to have children and that always remained true. I always thought I would have kids, but in my late 20s I decided I didn’t want them. I realized how conditioned I was by the expectations around me that I would one day become a mother. ”

Last but not least, Emma Added: “I think it’s important that childless people aren’t automatically typecast as disliking children! It’s not my experience, but the minority of childless people who speak up and aren’t interested in children I’ve run into people, which is not the case in most childless communities I’m in. Personally, I love being an aunt and enjoy being with children as much as adults. Being childless doesn’t automatically make you dislike or unkind to children, in fact it might be quite the opposite. Part of my decision was that I wanted to do more to care for the children who were already here and the planet we shared!”