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Is it wrong to saddle your kids with debt?
That’s the question at the heart of this story from the “Am I the A**hole?” page on Reddit.
And I have a feeling that it’s going to inspire some pretty interesting debate.
Take a look at what happened!
AITA for putting a debt on my daughter?
“My wife and I are in the fortunate position of being wealthy.
We had to work our a**es off to get where we are and we never forget where we came from. Our kids grew up “rich kids” but we never spoiled them even when we could have.
They went to nice schools, had nice things, but they also had summer jobs and after-school jobs to pay for their own extras. We also push philanthropy in our family so our kids recognize they are privileged and that our life isn’t even remotely how regular people live.
I’d say for the most part our kids have grown up to be respectful and good people. Our oldest children are twin boys and their sister, who is 18 months younger than them. All 3 are in college now. Our youngest 2 are in 8th grade.
I got a call from our bank a couple days ago saying that someone had cashed a check that was charged to our bank account in the amount of $61, 347.93, and that the check had been made out to the tuition office of the university my oldest three kids attend.
Naturally I investigated the matter myself with the university and got some answers. I pieced together that one of my kids snagged my checkbook and wrote a tuition check for a friend of theirs (there’s a much bigger story behind why this kid couldn’t pay but that’s private, and my wife and I agreed to fund this young person’s education because of their private struggles).
I grilled my kids and figured out that it was our daughter, “Joanna”. Joanna was apologetic but she was also quite insistent that she stood behind her actions. I respect my daughter for her convictions and she really did have good reasons for why she did it but the fact remains that she stole and then she hid it. Joanna asked what her punishment is and I told her to get a job because she now owes her mother and I $62,000.
Here’s the thing: I don’t expect Joanna to pay us back and if she came to me tomorrow with the money I wouldn’t take it. What I want is to see an effort made. An acknowledgement of her actions and the consequences. If I see that she’s actively trying I’ll tell her that she doesn’t have to pay me back. She’s my kid and I love her so all I want is for her to learn a lesson.
But, Joanna doesn’t know all this, all she thinks is that she owes me $62,000. So, naturally I’m a horrible father and a very mean person.
AITA?”
Take a look at what Reddit users had to say about this.
One person said he’s NTA and that he should actually follow through with this.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Another reader agreed and said otherwise she’ll be learning the wrong lesson.
Photo Credit: Reddit
And this Reddit user said her husband read this story and came up with a good plan about how to deal with this.
Photo Credit: Reddit
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