Academic expectations can divide families faster than anyone expects.

So after his nephew’s birthday turned into a punishment for having B’s and C’s, one uncle decided to cheer him up, but his methods ended up angering the rest of his family.

Did this uncle overstep his boundaries, or was he only showing his nephew some much-needed compassion?

Read on to decide for yourself.

AITA for buying my nephew a PS5 despite him having “low” grades?

My nephew (14M) just got his report card back and his grades were alright for my standards. Majority of his grades are B’s and he has some C’s.

But B’s and C’s weren’t good enough for the boy’s parents.

Despite this, his parents are disappointed in him, so they decided to lecture him on “failing” and not get him anything for his birthday as a “punishment.”

They even sent an email to family not to send him anything.

However, this uncle decided he wasn’t going to reply.

When I heard this, I felt sorry for the kid, so I decided to get him a PS5 with a few games.

When I went to his birthday party, they were actually serious. There was not a single present that could be seen and my nephew was on the verge of crying.

The messed up thing was that his parents even made a speech on how he could have had something if he had better grades.

He decided it was the perfect time to tell his nephew the good news.

After the party, if you could even call it that, I talked to my nephew in private and I told him that I bought him a PS5 and that he has to come over to my house to play with it because I don’t think his parents would even allow it in their house.

After hearing this, he had a big smile on his face and he hugged me. Let’s just say that that moment was one of my happiest.

But the rest of his family disapproved of his actions.

When I told this to my other sister, she called me an AH who undermined parents who disciplined their children. She also told me that what I did was disrespectful to them because they only wanted “what was best” for him.

So Reddit, AITA?

It’s clear everyone involved here could have handled things with a bit more thought and care.

Reddit is sure to have some strong opinions on this one.

This user seems stumped on a judgment, which doesn’t happen often.

Maybe he should use his position as an uncle to influence the parents to parent their kid better.

I mean, what kind of way is this to throw a party?

A PS5 is just about the worst thing he could have bought in this commenter’s eyes.

The parents’ punishment may have been a little too extreme, but this uncle’s rebellion wasn’t exactly constructive either.

In the end, everyone let their emotions take the lead instead of finding a middle ground.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.