Siblings can be a contentious bunch, especially when the age gap is big.

When one starts with serious infractions, like stealing, parents usually step in and put a stop to things.

This brother took matters into his own hands and was surprised his parents were not on his side.

Check it out.

AITA for making my stepbrother cry after I caught him stealing?

So, I (19M) have a 9 year old stepbrother, who loves to push boundaries.

I constantly complain to my parents and other family members do too, but they shrug it off saying he’s just curious and use the “he’s just bored” excuse.

A whole decade and a step between them, what could go wrong?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed little things going missing in my room, and then things like my headphones, a couple of video games, and money started to disappear.

I started to get suspicious and yesterday when I got home from work, I found him in my room, going through my stuff.

When I asked him what he was doing, he tried to play it off like he was just looking for something.

But then I saw a $10 in his knuckle that was left in my drawer.

Come on kid, at least stash it in your pocket.

I lost it and yelled at him, asked why he was stealing from me, and how long this had been going on.

He started crying and begged me not to tell my parents, but I just kept going.

I told him I couldn’t trust him and he needed to give me my things back.

My parents heard all the commotion and came in, and immediately took his side.

They told me I was being too harsh, that he’s just a kid, and I should’ve been more patient with him.

They said I made him feel awful and I shouldn’t have yelled like that.

I feel like I had every right to be angry, but now I’m feeling bad because my parents think I overreacted.

Let’s see what the comments make of all this:

There’s no way this doesn’t get out of hand:

How negative is negative enough?

Might be time to get out, bud.

It’s a volume issue?

Punishment for the sake of anger is never a good plan.

But protecting your kid from all consequences does them a huge disservice in the long run.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.