Imagine having a younger sibling who isn’t friends with any of the neighborhood kids, but you notice that there are quite a few kids in the neighborhood who are about his age. Would you encourage him to play with the other kids, or would you mind your own business?

In this story, one teen encourages her younger brother to make friends with the kids who live in their neighborhood; however, the kids ended up being mean to her brother. Now, she feels responsible and isn’t sure if she should ever encourage her brother to try to make friends again.

Keep reading for the whole story.

AITA [14F] for forcing my little brother [7M] to play with the kids in our neighborhood?

My little brother is very shy.

He spends a lot of time in the house watching cartoons or playing video games. He doesn’t socialize with other kids. He’s not active.

I don’t think this is healthy behavior.

She tried to encourage her brother to play with a neighbor.

My family and I moved to a new apartment complex and there are a lot of kids who live in this complex close to his age.

I tried to encourage my brother to go outside and play with them, but he never wanted to do it.

One time a little boy was in front of our house playing and I told my brother I am going to have you meet him, and my brother got VERY upset.

Her brother finally gave in.

We were sitting out on the porch and the same little boy was in front of us riding his bike. I tried to encourage my brother to go and say hello to him.

He still didn’t want to do it.

Two other kids were out and once again I tried to encourage my brother to play with them, and he reluctantly did.

My brother eventually met the other kids in the complex. However, my brother never seems comfortable around them. Every time they come knock on our door asking him if he wants to come outside, he seems to get frustrated.

But the neighbors don’t seem very nice.

Also these kids don’t treat my brother very well.

They boss him around. They have him bring all of his toys to play with, but never offer to bring their own toys. They have him come into our house and make all of them drinks like he’s a maid. They’ve broken a few of his toys.

He also said that they’ve made fun of him for not knowing how to ride a bike.

A few of the boys knocked on our door once asking him to come outside, and he stated that he doesn’t want to because he’s going to go on the internet.

She’s changed her mind about these kids.

As he was closing the door, he overheard one of the boys say, “He is so stupid! He wants to go on the internet!”

Now I don’t want my brother playing with these kids anymore.

What we started doing was every time they come knock on our door asking for my little brother, My older brother [16M] and I have my little brother make excuses on why he can’t play with them like “I can’t come out because I’m getting my haircut.”

This is getting out of hand.

Recently the kids were chanting outside of our house going “WE WANT DYLAN! WE WANT DYLAN!”. Demanding him to come outside.

And most recently which was the last straw.

There was a big older kid in the complex along with the other boys threatening my little brother.

Their dad confronted the kids.

My Dad was downstairs and overheard what was going on. He stepped outside and asked the boys, “Y’all are talking about my son?”

They all looked at him like he was stupid.

My Dad was in disbelief.

My brother got very scared and upset as our Dad was telling us what was going on.

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She’s not sure what to do next time.

We’re going to be moving again soon to get out of this area.

I just want my brother to be a normal kid and go outside to play and build relationships.

However, this completely backfired and he only interacted with these kids because we forced him to and now look at the situation he’s in.

I don’t think OP should blame herself for how this worked out. She meant well. But, next time maybe she shouldn’t push her little brother to hang out with the kids. She isn’t responsible for her brother’s social life.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person thinks she should’ve minded her own business.

Another person defends being an introvert.

I think this person may be overreacting.

Here’s a vote for minding your own business.

She really should’ve just minded her own business, but she meant well. Lesson learned. Next time, she shouldn’t push her brother to make friends. He’ll find people he clicks with on his own terms.