“Am I The Jerk For Taking My Daughter And Leaving The Wedding After Her Stepbrother Pulled Her Wig?”

There’s no excuse for bullying others, no matter how you try to spin it. While some gentle teasing is almost always unavoidable when kids interact with each other, it’s usually very clear when someone has crossed the line and is doing something malicious.

A mom asked the AITA community on Reddit for their opinion, on whether or not she did the right thing by taking her daughter and leaving a wedding they were attending because her stepbrother pulled off her wig in front of everyone.

It was humiliating. It was mean. And it destroyed what remained of the teenager’s self-esteem. She has beaten cancer, which is why she wore the wig, and now she had a room full of people (her relatives no less!) laughing at her. Scroll down for the full story, Pandas. But a gentle note of warning: this will likely make you really mad, especially if you have kids.

A teenager who beat cancer wore a wig when she went a wedding ceremony

Image credits: Scott Webb (not the actual photo)

Her mom shared how her stepbrother bullied her in front of everyone, and what happened next

Image credits: Samantha Gades (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Mike Monaghan (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Devine4636

This is one of those situations where it’s perfectly clear that the mom did absolutely nothing wrong. And the AITA community agrees, for the most part. The redditor stepped in to protect her daughter from some truly malicious behavior. However, some redditors thought that the mom was in the wrong for having stayed in a toxic relationship for so long.

Nobody enjoys being made fun of, even if they’re incredibly emotionally resilient. However, it’s a truly low-blow to kick someone while they’re down, with very low self-esteem, and who didn’t even want to go to the wedding in the first place.

Would it be fair to say that the OP’s stepson is out of control? We try not to judge people without seeing all sides of the story, but in this case, it’s obvious that something needs to change parenting-wise to make sure everyone feels safe at home. The stepson needs to learn that there are consequences to bad behavior. What the situation in this family will be like in the future is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, everything will change for the better.

Previously, Bored Panda spoke about bullying with Lauren Seager-Smith, the CEO of Kidscape, a charity based in the United Kingdom that aims to protect kids from harm and abuse.

She said it loud and clear: “Bullying is never acceptable.”

There’s never a good reason for someone to bully someone else. However, bullying itself can happen for practically any reason. If a child has a difficult family situation, has a ‘weird’ name, wears glasses, or is slightly overweight, they can be more likely to become targets. But bullies can (and will) use absolutely any reason to victimize others.

“Never underestimate the impact of bullying, understand what your child needs to feel safe and if the bullying is in school—make sure you let the school know the impact of the situation,” Lauren told Bored Panda.

“You may also want to seek out opportunities to build your child’s confidence and assertiveness skills so they can feel proud of who they are,” she said that parents can help their kids improve their emotional resilience to prepare them for what might come.

Meanwhile, relationship coach Alex Scot explained to us during an earlier interview that it’s important to have boundaries in all relationships, including with your romantic partners and family members. The closer you are to someone, the more flexible these boundaries have to be. However, as a rule of thumb, they need to exist and be enforced for the sake of healthy relationships.

“Without them [boundaries], we live our lives at the expense of ourselves. The mindset for many when it comes to setting boundaries is that they feel selfish, or that they aren’t being a good partner when they implement them, so they avoid doing it altogether.”

She continued: “This only causes resentment to build and overwhelm to set in both within the individual and the relationship as a whole. Boundaries are there for us to be able to take care of and to protect ourselves so that we can show up and operate within our lives as successfully as possible.”