There is a big difference between teaching responsibility and making your teenager feel like nothing they do will ever be enough for you.

When a teenage boy kept getting told he never contributed, despite working around his family’s ranch and struggling to find a job no one would hire him for, the tension at home kept building.

You’ll want to keep reading for the full story.

AITAH For not getting a job

Me (15M), my birthday is June 16th, and my mom (37F).

My mom has always wanted me to get a job from the age of 14.

Lately, she’s started to accuse him of being lazy.

She says, “All I do is consume and I don’t contribute.”

I have gotten into many heated arguments with her about this, and she always has that same answer: that “I don’t contribute, I just consume.”

He doesn’t agree with this assessment at all.

Which I think is completely wrong. I do contribute, and I do help out around the house, do my chores, etc., but I feel like it is just not good enough for her.

He thinks it’s starting to cross the line from typical teenager-parent squabbling into something truly unproductive.

People say, “You guys are just fighting because you’re a teenager,” but I don’t think that is the case. We fight a lot, like more than most teenagers and their parents.

I have applied to jobs, but nobody will hire under 16. She gets mad at me and says that I am not trying hard enough.

The two previously had an agreement for their ranch work, but now his mom is trying to squeeze him even tighter.

We live on a ranch. We have animals and stuff, and I do work for her, and she pays me, but recently she has stopped paying me because she thinks that I should be doing all of this for free since she pays for my clothes, meals, and etc.

This teen doesn’t think his mom is totally wrong, but he thinks her methods are getting cruel.

I agree that I should participate and do work around the ranch since I live here, but at a certain point, I feel like I am working like it is a job.

She does not give me money for things, which is her right, but I feel like if I am going to be doing a ton of work on her ranch, I should get money.

It sounds like this mom needs to be a little more patient with her son.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user encourages the teen to try and negotiate a better deal with the ranch work he’s already doing.

Working as a teenager should be more about learning the value of a dollar than “earning their keep” around the house.

This user seems to think this mom is taking this way too far.

No matter her financial situation, her 15-year-old son is not her equal — and she shouldn’t be treating him as such.

He was already putting in more work than many other kids his age.

It’s time for this mother to recognize the enormous contributions this teen is already making.

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.