23-year-old uncle smashes his brothers phone after he refuses to pay for the TV his 12-year-old son broke: 'My mom said it was an accident, my dad said I could just replace it myself'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Oct 16, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

Back in the day, breaking a TV was a huge deal. I will never forget the night all the families on our cul-de-sac went to a party, and my neighbor Nile broke our other neighbor's giant flat-screen TV. Nile was about eight and broke the TV screen by throwing a toy at it. This was around 2007 or 2008, so it wasn't a time when TVs were remarkably inexpensive like they are today, nor was it a time in American history when many families wanted to put their disposable incomes into multi-thousand-dollar purchases. I don't exactly remember what was said after the TV broke, but even a kid could tell there was a lot of tension in the air. After that night, we didn't have many more hangouts inside our neighbors' houses.

The cost of TVs has lowered so much that the parents of this 12-year-old don't think it's necessary to pay for a replacement for the TV he broke. The times, they have 'a changed.  

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10416766720
    via Jonathan Castañeda (Unsplash+)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITAH for smashing my brother's phone after my nephew broke my TV and he said he would not replace it.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 03
    Honestly the title says it all. My brother and his family were visiting our folks. I still live at home because I'm in an entry level job after college. I have a few gaming consoles that I keep in my room. My nephew was bored and he asked to play in my room. I said no, I would bring out my switch so he could play in the family room.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 04
    My parents didn't want him making noise around everyone and they told me to let him in my room. He got mad playing and he threw the controller at my tv. It is destroyed. line down one side. I grabbed him and dragged him to my brother. I told him what the little I did. I said I wanted a new tv immediately.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 05
    My mom said it was an accident but that's . My dad said that I could just replace it myself since I basically live at home for free. That's not the point. I didn't break it. My brother and his wife got mad that I manhandled their kid. My brother said he would not replace my TV and that I was lucky he didn't call the cops on me for child abuse. I called him an and said he was going to replace my TV or there would be consequences. He said no.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 06
    I grabbed his phone and much like Andy Samberg I threw it on the ground. It broke and that probably would have been fixable but it took a weird skip and went into the pool. Now everyone is mad at me for ruining the visit with my petty revenge. My brother had to go get a new phone and it cost probably four times what my TV will cost.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 07
    I feel like I'm not the only person to blame. My nephew, brother, sister-in-law, and parents all helped cause the problem. I'm just the one catching for my actions.
    via Academic_Conflict743
  • 08
    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. How no one responded to the nephew throwing the controller at the TV just blows my mind. My kid would be doing chores to pay for that TV
    via Pagelo69
  • 09
    chronicprevaricator Same situation just happened to a friend of mine. He took his 15 year old son to his brothers house, and his son ended up rage smashing the TV. My friend and his brother had a discussion about this, and as my friend was not responsible or capable of paying for the TV, they've got the kid working to pay it off. He's working for the friend's brother and other family members every weekend and I doubt he will be rage smashing anything else in the future. How can you expect your c
    via chronicprevaricator
  • 10
    WiseConfidence8818 This is said so perfectly. Children who don't learn that there are consequences to and for their actions never learn respect for self or for others. Many end up in trouble with the law or have trouble holding down a job once they're old enough to work. They expect the world to bow to their wishes. OP NTAH
    via WiseConfidence8818
  • 11
    PolarAntonym What is it with this generation of kids and rage smashing tvs? We bought our kid a new Samsung TV this past Christmas and within 2 weeks he got mad and smashed it while I was out of town. Maybe it's just me but back in my day we appreciated our tvs and no matter how angry we got we never took it out on them lol.
    via PolarAntonym
  • 12
    Kingsta8 To be fair, you couldn't break the screen of old tvs. They used glass forged from the lava of Mount Doom itself
    via Kingsta8
  • 13
    4-3-4 It's good to do it like that so they learn. rage And anger are all human emotions and understandable, but it's good to learn the consequences if you do t learn how to manage them. And unlimited weekends working for "nothing" to repay something helps I hope.
    via 4-3-4
  • 14
    InvestigatorFar7695 Yeah, it's one way to make them realize actions have consequences. Anger is totally human, but learning to manage it is key. Hopefully, everyone involved learns from this, especially about taking responsibility. Maybe your brother will think twice about leaving you hanging on the TV replacement!
    via InvestigatorFar7695
  • 15
    PawsomeFarms Theirs a reason the kids comfortable with throwing someone else's controller and someone else's TV-
    via PawsomeFarms
  • 16
    Direct-Ad1642 A screen for a screen makes the whole world go outside
    via Direct-Ad1642
  • 17
    aurlyninff You are 23. The next time they try to pressure you into letting the 12 year old destructive brat into your room the correct answer is "No." Also, move out. Your family is disrespectful and it's rubbing off on you.
    via aurlyninff
  • 18
    Hot-Lawfulness-311 NTA When literally everyone around you is a being reasonable will only get you walked all over. Smashing the phone wasn't mature or healthy, but I guarantee it was the only thing OP could do that their family would actually pay attention to. Smashing the phone didn't solve anything but I bet it felt awesome.
    via Hot-Lawfulness-311
  • 19
    Lady_Wolvie82 I'm going with NTA because the nephew in this story is 12 (I looked up some replies, which OP confirmed the nephew being 12) and 12 year olds have an idea of what's right and wrong. What makes people think the nephew isn't capable of doing things outside destroying TV sets, like stealing stuff, as that probably would have happened (not just a destroyed TV, but stuff also goes missing from OP's room)?
    via Lady_Wolvie82
  • 20
    lookingformiles If ESH wasn't an option it would have to be invented for you and your family.
    via lookingformiles

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nephews family drama iPhones brother technology phone reddit story TV uncle broken family reddit thread Reddit nephew parents screen television iphone
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