Parents pause teen's 16th birthday celebration to teach an important lesson on appropriate behavior

Parents must keep track of their children's behavior and teach them the right way to treat others. However, when it comes to raising teenagers, they are difficult to deal with as they are often moody and rebellious. One Reddit user shared an instance when her teenage daughter insulted her friend over getting a cheap gift on her birthday, but the teen was taught an appropriate lesson afterward. u/Numerous-Stock2430 shared a personal story with the Reddit community and asked the community to share their opinion on it. The post is titled: "WIBTA for canceling my daughter's 16th birthday party after warning her about it a year ago?"

The mom started the story by recalling how she and her spouse paid for her 15-year-old daughter to take some of her friends to a restaurant for a dinner party on her 15th birthday and the birthday girl got upset after receiving a cheap gift from her friend, which her friend had bought from a thrift store. "According to her best friend, who told us what happened, my daughter seemed to like the gift at first and asked her friend where she bought it from. When the girl admitted it was from a thrift store, that is when my daughter lost it and called her names like cheap, golddigger and beggar. It is well known that this friend's family is not well off, but I know that she is a sweet girl who did her best to get my daughter a gift with her minimal allowance," she shared.

The mother then confronted their teenage daughter along with her spouse and she admitted to insulting her friend. The teen girl also ridiculed her friend by saying, "This is probably the only way she gets to eat at a restaurant, so she should be grateful and give a decent gift." The narrator of the story had no clue where her daughter learned such entitlement, but she was certain that the teenager did not learn it at home.

"Even her best friend was uncomfortable by her behavior. We immediately took away all her gifts and donated them. We also told her that unless she apologizes to this girl, we will not be sponsoring any more of her birthdays," the mom continued

However, the teen never apologized to her friend. As the teen's 16th birthday approached, the parents reminded her of not funding any more of her birthdays unless she apologized to the girl she insulted. "My daughter is saying it's been a year and the girl is no longer her friend anyway. We told her she still has a month to apologize, but she is not planning to do it because she thinks we'll cave. The daughter and both sets of grandparents are telling us that we are being too harsh and ruining her social life." The mother asked for the community's opinion on whether or not she and her spouse was doing the right thing by not sponsoring her 16th birthday as a punishment.

u/JomolaMomo lauded the parents and commented: "Stick to your guns and teach your daughter this lesson as it is apparent she still hasn't learned it." u/TrainingDearest advised: "If you give her a party then she wins. She got away with the bad behavior and didn't have to follow through with any apologies. Her friend remains hurt and nothing has changed. Your daughter has shown no remorse, has made no effort to change her thinking and giving her any more birthday parties is just encouraging more entitlement."

u/JazzyKnowsBest13 supported the parents and added: "You are not ruining her social life. You are trying to give her an important life lesson. Teenagers can be just miserable. Hold on to the hope that she will work out her angst and turn out to be a decent human being. I believe you're doing the right thing."