Teenagers do dumb things while growing up, and nothing inspires bad decisions better than a beautiful woman.

What would you do if you found out that your young teenage son and his friend had built an ‘observation post’ that they were using to spy on your neighbor, who was sunbathing topless next door?

That is what happened to the Dad in this story, so he told his son that it was wrong and made sure he didn’t do it any longer. His ex-wife and the neighbor, however, came over and demanded that he punish his son much more harshly since he violated her privacy.

He thinks he handled it well as a teaching opportunity and doesn’t want to escalate things further unless the boys do it again. I agree with the dad, but lots of people in the comments think that this is a terrible decision. Read through the details below and see what you think.

AITA for not punishing my son after he came up with a pretty elaborate plan to “peep” on the neighbor girl topless in her back yard?

Lots and lots of ugly background here but I’ll try not to wander.

Ok, good background information.

My wife I have been separated for 2 years, ink to paper on an ugly and contentious divorce in May.

I have primary custody of our two kids (daughter 17 and son 14) and live in the home which we’ve owned for 20 years.

Nothing wrong with this. Playing outside like this is good.

On Monday I came home to find my son and two of his friends up on the roof to our little sun deck. I asked him what he was doing and if he was being safe.

They said they were playing army and since I’ve coached the other two kids in mountain biking for almost 6 years now, I knew their parents wouldn’t mind either.

 

So, I told him to put the ladder away when he was done and to keep his phone on in case I needed him to come down.

I was actually most perturbed because he didn’t put the ladder away. So, they did this every day this week until Thursday when my daughter came home from her CIT job.

Oh, wow.  Why am I not surprised?

In her every so sweet and acerbic tone asked me if I was really so stupid to think my son and friends were playing Army and let me know that the real reason is that our 22 year old neighbor was in her back yard topless and Aiden had set up a perch on the sun deck to get a better view.

I climbed up thinking that she was just trying to get him in trouble but sure enough, the deck had perfect view of the chaise lounge where I assume the girl had usually sat. I told my son to knock it off and he said he would.

Ok, this is going to be awkward.

This morning I got an angry knock on the door and it was my ex wife and the neighbor (they have been friends for many years).

Apparently the neighbor called my wife sometime mid week and they had agreed they would “confront” me and my son Saturday morning.

He addressed the situation as soon as he learned of it.

We sat down and it went from a calm “this is something we’re concerned about” to accusations of me being an irresponsible absentee parent and my son leading an “adolescent sex ring” in a matter of seconds.

I tried to remain calm and explain that they are just acting like 14 year old boys and I’ve gotten them to stop.

What? Medication? This neighbor is a little crazy.

My wife asked if I planned on punishing him, I said that I don’t feel like he did anything punishment worthy and rather this was a learning experience about respecting peoples privacy.

My neighbor said that if he were her son he’d be in intensive psycho therapy and medicated.

Yeah, what she is asking for is ridiculous.

I told her that was really overkill. My wife told me not to talk to her friend like that and I asked them to leave before it got any more nuts.

My wife has texted me that I am being incredibly irresponsible and if I don’t do “something” she’s going to her lawyer to revisit the custody arrangement.

She is really going overboard on this.

In all of that she called me a jerk several times and said it was more miserable being divorced from me than it was to be married to me.

I guess that’s about it…but am I wrong for how I’m handling the issue with my son?

AITA?

While what the boys did was obviously inappropriate, to suggest intensive therapy and medication is just nuts. Dad dealt with the issue as soon as he learned about it, and unless the boys do it again, that should be enough.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a teen who is being called ungrateful because he’s not overjoyed his parents bought him a gift they did not discuss.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this story.

It is kind of funny how the daughter knew exactly what was going on.

Nobody disagrees that what they were doing was inappropriate.

What punishment does this commenter want, exactly.

He learned that he can’t get away with these types of bad choices.

He didn’t let it slide. Dad put a stop to the problem.

He made sure that his son knew that what he was doing was wrong, and that is the end of it. If it happens again, of course, he should get in trouble. Sometimes, however, overreacting to things like this can make it worse for everyone.

I think Mom and the neighbor are overreacting. The Dad handled the problem, and unless something else happens, that should be all there is to it.