When you are in school, and the principal is trying to find out who did something wrong, the last thing you want to do is rat out one of your friends.

What would you do if you and three of your friends were the prime suspects and you accidentally gave the principal the information they needed to figure out who it was?

That is what happened to the young man in this story, so he feels really bad for getting his friend into trouble, even though it was unintentional.

While it was just an accident, I do think that he owes his friend an apology. Read through the full story below and see if you think he did anything wrong.

AITA for unintentionally “narrowing down” my friend during a school investigation?

This happened a little bit ago, but I still think about it. I do not want to get into super detail for personal reasons and to stay anonymous.

I wonder what they did.

Something went down at school, and my friend group got pulled into an investigation.

Eventually, it was narrowed down to four of us, me, my best friend, and two other close friends.

Never give them any information to work with if you want to protect your friends.

Some administrator was questioning us separately but in the same space, trying to figure out who did it. I wasnt nervous.

I was bored though and I didn’t want to be asked about something I didnt do. I said something like, “I couldn’t have done it because I was getting water, he was over there, and he was there”

He basically turned his friend in, even if it was unintentional.

I didn’t really think about it in the moment, but what I said basically eliminated everyone except one friend as the only possible person left.

Right after that, the admin said, “You three can leave,” and kept the remaining friend back for further questioning.

At least his friend doesn’t hold a grudge.

Now I keep thinking about it because I feel like I accidentally singled them out or made it worse for them, even though I wasn’t trying to blame anyone.

He ended up with a 2 day suspension. We are still cool with each other and I explained what I meant.

It wasn’t on purpose, but he should still apologize to his friend.

He seems like he understands, BUT is understandably kinda upset. I was just answering fast trying to leave but it was messed up because I pointed him out.

At the moment, I had actually had no idea who did it, but after I said what I said I kinda knew.

AITA?

He didn’t mean to rat on his friend, but that is what happened anyway. At least it wasn’t that big of a deal, and his friend doesn’t seem to hold a grudge.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who was rudely confronted by a teenager, only to have the teen’s father step up in an unexpected way.

Let’s take a look at what the people in the comments have to say about it.

I’m wondering what they did as well.

His friend did the crime, now he can do the time.

I don’t think his friend got in all that much trouble, anyway.

His intentions were good. Sometimes people just get caught.

He was going to get caught regardless.

He didn’t mean to get his friend into trouble. Sometimes people just get caught and need to face the consequences of their own actions.

It doesn’t seem like this kid did anything wrong, and even his friend doesn’t seem too upset with him. I’d say to just put it in the past and not worry about it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a high school student whose manager insists on scheduling them during school hours.