26-year-old legal guardian steals school-issued laptop from her 15-year-old ward, refuses to give it back: 'She tried to call me and pressure me into giving her partner the password and ID'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Aug 21, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

Teenagers are a marginalized group. That is 100% true, but hopelessly underdiscussed because it sounds sophomoric to say. Adults laugh at teenagers who assert that they should have equal rights to vote and do adult things. I'm not saying a 15-year-old should be allowed to enjoy the full privileges of adult life. I'm saying they are easily taken advantage of by the adults around them because they have less legal rights. A parent can take away their children's belongings, unscrew the bedroom door from their door frame, and rob them from the opportunity to have any social freedom. Imagine someone doing that to an adult? Why is it okay to take basic liberty away from a 17-year-old but not a 19-year-old?

It's even worse when a teen has an unstable family situation to begin with. If they're moving from house to house, it makes it so much easier for the adults in their life to punish them severely for minor infractions. If they have different rules in their mom's house than in their dad's house, they're being raised with split values that are difficult to keep up with. 

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  • Woman in white long sleeved shirt using MacBook Air
    via Annie Spratt

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The teen in this story was staying with a legal guardian who was only 11 years older than her. This person took away an essential school supply from her and refused to give it back until the police were called. This kid deserves so much better, and handled this situation far better than I would've at her age.

  • AITA for calling the police on my guardian and her partner after refusal to return my school Chromebook?

    I (15f) live with my dad now, but I used to live with legal guardian Sam (26) (not a parent) who's about to officially lose guardianship. I moved out a while ago, and all my things were returned in trash bags except for my school-issued Chromebook, which I really need for school. First day is tmmrw.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Back when I lived with her, Sam sent me a file on it (an editor's copy of her book), and now she and her partner are refusing to return the Chromebook unless it's deleted. 5 days ago, I showed up and it was de d, Sam told me
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • she'd charge it and delete the stuff so I'd have it before tomorrow. By today, I never got any update or the Chromebook so I asked for it back when we moved little sisters stuff from there.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Sam's partner (23), in a very hostile tone, told me I "wouldn't have it for the first day of school," and said this was a "boundary" they were setting. I didn't feel comfortable or safe and didn't want to argue, so I called the non-emergency police line to help resolve it calmly and legally after another warning that I needed it by tomorrow that was
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • A police officer sitting at a desk in an office
    via Ahmet Kurt (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • ignored. Keep in mind, Sam wasn't there for whatever reason. After I'd called the police, she tried to call me and pressure me into giving her partner the password and ID. I said I'd delete in front of them, wait for the police, or for her to get home but that partner couldn't have unprecedented control over my Chromebook.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • The officer was calm and kind, and I left with the Chromebook without issue after Sam deleted the document in front of me and the officer. I didn't even care about the book or give them any reason to think I did.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • During the ordeal they tried saying I was wrong for not calling Sam directly. (She later claimed she was in the middle of a surgery when it happened that I forced her out of, so I'm not sure what good calling her would've done anyway.)
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Woman in black knit cap using MacBook
    via Dushawn Jovic

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Now they're making vague posts online about karma and consequences, trying to make me look like the bad guy for handling it the way I did. I just didn't want her hostile partner to have control over a device that isn't theirs.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • So, AITA for getting the police involved to make sure I got my school Chromebook back?
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Traditional-Swan-130 NTA. It's school property. You need it for school. They had zero right to hold it hostage over some doc. You handled it maturely, more than they did
    via u/Traditional-Swan-130
  • WallLucky3219 They also had no right to store the book on it. You may want to have your school's IT look it over to make sure they didn't put any kind of controls on it.
    via u/WallLucky3219
  • kimba-the-tabby-lion That's very smart. I would be inclined to do a factory reset, after confirming all important files are backed up. Or restore from a backup from before they had custody of it. & NTA
    via u/kimba-the-tabby-lion
  • Immediate_Rain5205 NTA. Story doesn't even matter. They're adults. That's it. However, they did something wrong then tried to lord some power over a 15 year old. They backed you into the corner where you felt your only option was to call the police and now they're bu ying you for it. At every corner, it seems like you've just been reacting, trying to get what you need for your first day of school and they used manipulative language like "setting a boundary" to try stop you from getting it. Pleas
    via u/Immediate_Rain5205
  • TipElectronic535 I tell you OP, you've shown remarkable intelligence and maturity. You behaved very impressively, and I'm sorry you have to go through this with the "adults" in your life. Have a GREAT year at school. You are totally NTA.
    via u/TipElectronic535
  • Broken-Collagen Let them go "set a boundary" about taking a laptop from Best Buy, and see how far they get. Honestly, this misuse of therapy jargon has gotten so out of control, people are growing ridiculously dysfunctional over it.
    via u/Broken-Collagen
  • Trouble_Walkin It's stupider than that. Their "boundary" was OP couldn't take it to school. They weren't allowing a student to take school property to school. "We're very sorry, but we can't let you learn because it'll mess with our mental health."
    via u/Trouble_Walkin
  • hayleybeth7 NTA but I have some questions. Why didn't your dad get involved? Why did your dad let you handle it on your own? How did Sam become your guardian and how did she lose guardianship?
    via u/hayleybeth7
  • Witty-Anxiety5684 OP My dad isn't very conflict oriented and I haven't lived with him since I was very young. I lived with my mom until age 13, at this point she'd been into dr__s for about 3ish years, and my grandfather who we lived with had just passed away. My mom and stepdad hit rock bottom, and my stepbrother (23) and his wife, Sam, offered to take us in.
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Sam and stepbrother had a rocky relationship, and they divorced, I ended up staying with Sam. I left in June legit the day before July, after a huge conflict. But there had been issues since may, as I had made it clear I wanted to move back in with my mom (who is now a year sober!) or my dad. She tried to imply my dad would touch my younger sister, and that my mom wouldn't be stable enough, etc. it never worked. I believe that's what caused the longterm issues, but the conflict that actually mad
    via u/Witty-Anxiety5684
  • Better-Road9029 You have no reason to associate with her any longer, and since she pulled all this - and way more, it seems - you should block her on social media and go NC.
    via u/Better-Road9029
  • LeviathanLorb44 NTA - you really didn't choose to involve the police, they made that choice for you.
    via u/LeviathanLorb44
  • kozak65 NTA. Probably a poor choice of guardianship if she and her partner are being vindictive toward a 15-year-old on Facebook.
    via u/kozak65

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