Kids will be kids, but they also need to learn how to behave appropriately for a given situation.

What would you do if some kids were fighting and someone almost got hurt, and then your sister defended her child because he was ‘just a kid?’

That is what the woman in this story experienced and she isn’t sure if she is overreacting.

Read on and see what you think.

AITA for telling my sister ‘he’s just a kid’ isn’t an excuse for a 13-year old?

My (26f) sister, Elle (36f) has a 13-year old son, my nephew, Tyler.

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday.

To get the picture, it was me, Elle, our other sister, our aunt and uncle and our three cousins.

Sounds like a bunch of kids ready to have some fun.

The middle one of the three cousins, Grace (32f) has a daughter Brooklyn (12f).

Tyler and Brooklyn were the only kids there.

Brooklyn recently broke her ankle, and needs crutches for a few weeks.

The kids were mostly in the living room, whereas everyone else was in the kitchen/dining room.

Yeah, at this age they should be pretty independent.

I didn’t think to check on them much because I thought 13 and 12 were old enough to know not to do something super dangerous like break a window, besides, the living room is pretty close to the kitchen.

We heard something crash down the stairs, followed immediately by shouting.

Everyone’s first instinct was the rush into the room, and so we did.

Ok, young boys love to wrestle and fight, no big deal.

We saw Tyler and Brooklyn wrestling over one of the crutches on the couch, well Brooklyn was sitting on the couch and Tyler was standing behind the couch, if you can picture it.

Brooklyn ended up falling backwards off the couch, and she started crying.

Turns out, Tyler had thrown one of the crutches down the stairs into the basement and was trying to also get the other one thrown downstairs.

Yes, kids will fight, but they should also get in trouble when it goes too far.

After we made sure Brooklyn was not seriously hurt (she ended up being fine), Grace started asking Tyler things like “what were you thinking? why would you do that? what’s the matter with you?”

I wouldn’t call it yelling, but her voice was definitely raised.

A few other people joined her, and Elle immediately jumped in front of them like a soldier, saying “no one is hurt and he’s just a kid”.

I mean, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I thought that was ridiculous because 1. Although Brooklyn ended up being alright, she COULD HAVE been hurt, and 2. A 13-year old? Really? A kid?

That’s a teenager who should know better.

So I told her so, just a kid is something used for kids aged 11 and below.

After that, it’s not an excuse.

Elle thought everyone overreacted, and she was mad, especially at me.

My god, really?

And for anyone asking, I don’t know why Tyler did that.

Really, I don’t.

Maybe he thought it’d be funny or something.

But since Elle is so pissed off I’m wondering if maybe that was a line not to be crossed.

Or maybe I’m overthinking, because I don’t know. Well?

AITA?

Some people are just overprotective of their kids.

Take a look at some of these comments to see what others thought about the situation.

Well, I’m not sure I would go this far.

Kids who don’t get punished are rarely well behaved.

Yeah, the mom seems like an enabler.

Yup, this kid crossed a line and needs some discipline.

Yeah, what ‘just a kid’ means should evolve over time.

Kids will be kids, but they also need discipline and guidance.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.