To survive growing up in a strict household, siblings often band together to look out for one another.

But in this story, that sibling bond was tested when one teen grew increasingly suspicious of his younger sibling’s behavior with a new cell phone.

He knew how strict their parents were when it came to technology, and honestly, his brother hadn’t always proven he could use it responsibly. So as he watched his brother misbehave just out of sight from his parents, he was faced with a tough decision.

Should he do right by his parents by exposing his brother’s behavior? Or should he do right by his sibling and keep the whole thing quiet?

Keep reading for the full dilemma.

WIBTA if I snitched about my brother’s new phone?

My (19) brother (15) usually plays games on my parents’ phone, but secretly, because they hate gaming.

They only give him the phone for classes or a movie once in a while. He’s gotten caught many times playing games, watching inappropriate things and stuff, and he gets punished too. I know for a fact he hates both of my mom and dad by now.

The two have an understanding that they’re in this together.

If I see him playing games or whatever, he doesn’t hide it from me because he knows I’d mind my own business. I’m not the type to snitch.

I feel like it’s just teenage stuff, man. It’s not like I haven’t done the same.

So when his sibling starts getting secretive, he grows concerned.

Lately, he’s been sneaky even with me. We’re not that close, barely talk, but I noticed him hiding something that looks like a phone whenever I pass by.

That’s when I got sus, and I had a feeling it might be a phone, because long story short — last month we went to a family friend’s house, and their kid is the same age and goes to the same school as my brother.

This started to make everyone suspicious.

His parents told us he got a phone secretly after saving up money by himself, and they are afraid to take his phone away because of news about teens getting hurt, and the phone is technically his because he bought it himself.

When I heard it that day, I told my mom, “hope my brother don’t take ideas from this,” and guess what.

Soon, he learns the truth of what his brother has been doing.

Today’s the day I confirmed it, because he asked me to connect WiFi to “dad’s phone,” because “dad asked for it because his package is over.”

Even though this is a family WiFi, it’s mostly used by me for my work because my parents have separate packages for their phones. But if my parents asked me to connect their phones, I do so.

But a few things were amiss.

The interesting thing about this “dad’s phone” is it looks brand new. My dad’s phone had scratches on the display. But also, this is the same brand, same model, same cover, even the same theme and wallpaper. I saw there’s no SIM in it.

I knew it wasn’t my dad’s phone. I was thinking in my head like, “do you think I’m that dumb? Who are you taking me for?” — but I didn’t show that I knew, I just connected it to the WiFi.

I mean, lying is one thing, but going to this extreme? Hello!?

He has a few more thoughts about his brother’s dishonesty.

I don’t think he saved money either — he probably stole money to buy it.

The only thing that guilt-trips me into not snitching is when I got my drawing tablet in secret (because my parents don’t like me doing art), he didn’t tell our parents when I told him not to.

It seems his brother’s dishonesty is what bothers him the most.

If he bought a phone for something good, I couldn’t care less about this. But he just plays games all day from it and is also lying to me.

Also, I’m afraid that if I snitch, he would end up hating me, and even though we’re not close, I’m afraid I would lose whatever bond we have now.

AITA?

Snitching is most definitely a one-way ticket to trouble.

What did Reddit think about this story?

This commenter seemed to think this teen betrayed the cardinal rule as sibling.

Keeping his head down and minding his business would have been a much better move.

His sibling needs to know that he can be trusted, and right now, he clearly can’t.

This commenter wonders what this teen stands to gain by needless tattling.

At the end of the day, this teen actually had very little to gain by exposing his younger brother.

Telling the truth wouldn’t magically change the dynamic of the household, and in fact, he stands to lose the single-most strategic alliance he has in the house.

Sure, what the brother did might be wrong, but he’s no saint either, and ultimately, he doesn’t have the right to police a behavior he would likely behave in if given the chance.

Siblings are supposed to stick together, even when things get tough.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about siblings who treat every social outing like a weird competition.