As a parent, you’re responsible for helping your children to become responsible, well-rounded adults.

But there are right ways and wrong ways for going about this.

For many parents, this can mean the odd chore every now and then, maybe taking responsibility for feeding a family pet or unloading the dishwasher.

But the parents in this story have a more heavy-handed approach – that is benefiting them beyond one or two chores being done for them.

Read on to find out how this sixteen-year-old girl was exploited by her parents, and what she did next.

AITA for refusing to pay rent?

My mother married my stepfather when I was only three. Now I am sixteen.

My biological father was never in the picture, so I have always considered my stepfather to be my biological father.

He always treated me fairly, however I never got the same treatment as his biological children. I understand it though, we never had a blood bound relationship.

He would sometimes take me out for dinner with him and his daughters, but that was the extent of our relationship besides family events.

Let’s see how this family drama played out.

Recently, I got a job, it’s only part time, but – since I am homeschooled – it allows me to get out of the house more.

I’ve been working for over a month now, and my mother and father sat me down today for a conversation. My father started with, ‘We want you to understand the responsibilities of becoming an adult, so we are enforcing a new rule.’

I thought it would be the similar to the ones we already have: I have to pay for everything now that I have a job, which totals up to about 340 dollars a month. That includes paying for my 3 cats (they are SUPER picky with their food), my phone bills, car insurance, any food I want from the store, and monthly supplies.

I don’t mind paying for these items, some of them were my idea in the first place.

Read on to find out what they added to her already huge financial burden.

Anyway, my father stated that he wanted me to begin to pay him 450 dollars a month for rent. He backed up his statement by saying this would help me to become responsible with my spending habits, because in his words, I spend too much money.

My mother agreed with him, stating that if I wanted to continue all the luxury I had in the household I would need to pay rent.

I was appalled to say the least, I never thought I would have to pay rent, especially if it’s over half my paycheck.

For a while I stared at them confused, but then I began to ask questions, to which they repeated the same thing said above.

But this girl had questions.

I told them my sister (18) never had to pay rent, and she still lives here. My father just replied, “Because she never worked.”

At this point, I was getting frustrated, so I went up to my room. My mother followed me up the stairs, trying to comfort me by saying that this will help me grow as a person and become a responsible adult.

My mother is one of those people who can’t tell others no and tries to become the victim in every situation. I told her I won’t be paying rent and that she shouldn’t require me pay anything.

She tried to guilt me into paying, but I told her to leave me alone.

And this guilt tripping didn’t end with her family.

I texted me friend about the whole situation and she told me to suck it up and listen to my father because he is the main provider for the family, and is my father at the end of the day.

I don’t think I was in the wrong, but it seems like others disagree.

AITA?

There’s no other way to see this: these parents are extorting their daughter for a huge proportion of the cash she makes from her first ever job.

First of all, they’re demanding way too much. Second, if she is being forced to pay rent then her older sister should be paying exactly the same.

Let’s see what the folks over on Reddit made of this.

This person agreed that their demands were totally unfair.

And others gave her a gentle taste of reality.

While this Redditor gave her some support for making her case.

It’s clear that her parents are being completely unreasonable, under the guise of setting her up for adult responsibilities.

How about letting her be a kid just a little while longer, not forcing her to work for nothing but to line their pockets – all while she’s still a minor.

Spending the cash earned in a first job should be a joy, not an obligation.

She is being totally exploited.

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.