In today’s world, even good intentions can backfire.

When a teen walking home from school saw a younger kid fall off his bike, she paused, unsure if stepping in would be “helpful” or “weird.”

Her decision to keep her distance led to a dad blowing the situation way out of proportion.

Read on for the full dilemma.

AITA: for not helping a kid who fell off their bike?

I (f, 17) was walking to school with my sister (f, 15), and there was this kid (around 5–8 years old) riding a bike towards us.

His dad (I assume) was walking behind him with a buggy, maybe about 25 steps away.

The teens hesitated to help, but for good reason.

The kid fell off his bike and cried for a moment.

I asked my sister if we should help, but we weren’t sure because we didn’t want to touch someone else’s child or cross any boundaries.

So we walked past and didn’t intervene.

This proved to be the wrong move in the dad’s eyes.

Then the parent said angrily, “Did it not cross your mind to help him?”

I just responded by saying, “Sorry.”

AITA???

Talk about a lose-lose situation.

What did Reddit think?

This guy, being the actual parent of this kid, could have done a lot more to help his kid than some random stranger could.

Even if they had gotten involved, this father still could have taken it the wrong way.

Many people just defer to the parents for the correct course of action, and rightfully so.

Ultimately, this dad needs to own up and take responsibility.

Being cautious doesn’t automatically make you careless.

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.