Parents kick 16-year-old son out of their home, wait 4 days to find him and bring him back: 'They abandoned me when I needed them the most'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Oct 14, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

He didn't do anything to deserve this

Not all people are fit to be parents. They see typical teenage behavior, and instead of taking it for what it is, they act like their kid is irreparably evil. Some kids are genuinely juvenile delinquents who need to be set straight, but a lot of teens who receive cruel punishments from their parents do so for such minor transgressions as getting into arguments or not cleaning their room. Kids who are punished unfairly are in a permanent state of punishment: it doesn't really matter what they did or didn't do. Their existence enrages their parents, and therefore, they deserve punishment.

It's tough to function in a household where you can do no right. It's especially hard when you're a teenager who doesn't have real agency over where you live. You have to do what your parents tell you, or face their wrath. Even in functional families, teenagers don't have much choice about their lives. When you have stable, reasonable parents, it's not so oppressive to be a kid, but when your parents are out of control, you are forced to operate within a family system that harms you, and there's very little you can do about that. 

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  • 01
    Man wearing blue hooded jacket standing on forest
    via Anthony Fomin

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

  • The grown-up in this story shared a harrowing experience from when he was a kid that haunts hime to this day, and it's devastating to read.

  • 02

    My parents kicked me out when I was 16 years old. After 4 days and 3 nights, my dad found me and took me back home. AITAH for not really caring about them as they get older?

    Hi everyone Im having a hard time wrestling with this. When I was a kid I was a handful always arguing and talking back to them, nothing major. My parents kicked me out of the house when I was 16. (Im not sure why now after all these years, maybe to teach me a lesson or as a punishment?)
    via u/DookieDanny
  • 03
    My dad gave me a $20 bill and drove me to the nearest public transportation hub, and then kicked me out of the car and said see ya.
    via u/DookieDanny
  • 04
    New York Subway sign
    via Esteban Chinchilla

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

  • 05
    I was scared and ended up living on the streets for 1 night and 2 days before my childhood friend let me stay at his house for another 2 nights and 2 days until my dad knocked at the door and found me. He said my mom made him come get me and lets go back home.
    via u/DookieDanny
  • 06
    This all happened in the mid 90's and no cellphones or security cameras anywhere. My parents are aging and Ive always wanted a connection with them but its never happened.
    via u/DookieDanny
  • 07
    A man and woman standing in front of a wall with graffiti
    via Sasha Matveeva

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

  • 08
    Ive never healed from this and feel they abandoned me when I needed them the most. AITAH for not really caring about them as they get older?
    via u/DookieDanny
  • 09
    Brooke Baranoff My mom kicked me out. She had decided to home school me, just came to class and pulled me out while school was at field trip. (As a C student I wasn't eligible.) So in my diary I wrote “my mom os such a bitch. She took me out of school without letting me get anyones phone numbers and said friends are a waste of time." She found and read my diary a few months later and threw it at me.
    via u/BrookeBaranoff
  • 10
    "You think I am a bitch?! Fine! Get the fuck out of my house!" I was 14. She called the cops and reported me as a runaway. She said she didn't want to get in trouble. Nowadays she says that never happened. She would never ever do that.
    via u/BrookeBaranoff
  • 11
    Ivioletsnow And then you wander into estranged parent spaces and they have no idea why their adult child doesn't want anything to do with them because they 'did the best they could'.
    via u/Ivioletsnow
  • 12
    Icky-Tree-Branch It's kind of funny... I did do the best that I could, but I know exactly why my eldest and I are kind of estranged, or at least low contact. Self-reflection allowed me to do better with the kids I had when I was an actual adult. :/
    via u/Icky-Tree-Branch
  • 13
    Kip_Schtum NTA My parents did that to my oldest sister when she was 12. Dropped her at the greyhound station (this was in the seventies.) Can you imagine dropping off your 12 year-old at a greyhound station and telling them to leave and never come back? She went right to a pay phone and called the police! Cop brought her home and spoke to my dad and I hope he made him feel like an asshole and a shitty dad, because that's what he was.
    via u/Kip_Schtum
  • 14
    Anyway, of course, my parents are both gone now, and they barely saw their kids at all in their later years because none of us wanted to see them. My kids only met my parents twice and I definitely never left them alone in a room with my parents that's for sure. Anyhow, take from that what you will but it's certainly understandable if you don't want to spend time with your parents because they made it so there's no connection there.
    via u/Kip_Schtum
  • 15
    tfcocs It is satisfying to know that your sister called the cops on your parents, albeit as a social worker today I know the outcome would have been very different.
    via u/tfcocs
  • 16
    Lucky_Creme_3977 I'd lean towards NTA. That was pretty messed up of them, your dad in particular. It's gonna be awkward after all this time but you could talk to them about it. See if they both felt bad or regret it now. If they don't feel bad then neither should you. The vindictive petty part of me wants to say drive them to an old folks home and give them $20 and a crisp thumbs up.
    via u/Lucky_Creme_3977
  • 17
    nasagi This. And he said OPs mother "made him come fetch" the OP. Clearly he didn't care
    via u/nasagi
  • 18
    Trving_Drew Same sort of thing happened to me, same age, I was an asshole etc. when they came looking for me I hid and kept moving, they panicked but I managed to evade them. I did finish school and when into the army and college etc. I didn't see them for years, but my sister brokered a meeting and we started seeing each other again. They both apologised and thought it would never go so far it was just meant to shock me into behaving and I'd be home in a couple days.
    via u/Trvlng_Drew
  • 19
    It took time but we got along and when they aged I was overseas again and came home for their last day and funerals. Did I ever forgive them? Maybe, but never trusted them again, my birth parents abandoned me when I was 2, so I have one or two trust issues for the rest of my life.
    via u/Trvlng_Drew
  • 20
    Am I at peace over it, yeah can't keep dragging a big stone around your neck over the past. Should you get involved again, can't say, I feel better about the mess after I did and long term I'm ok. Good luck with your decision, but generally I do the hard thing. NTA
    via u/Trvlng_Drew
  • 21
    leaveluck2heaven jfc, pulling that shit on any kid is terrible, but pulling it on an adopted(? foster?) kid who already had abandonment issues from their bio parents is just.... so heinous and disgusting, wow. I am so sorry that happened to you
    via u/leaveluck2heaven
  • 22
    OJSimpsons Lol just give them $20 and drop them at the nearest transportation hub when they need help. Seems fair.
    via u/OJSimpsons
  • 23
    Neither_Mention2424 Nta at all. I haven't spoken to my dad for almost 30 years now. Some people just dont belong in our lives, even if they're family. He's approaching 90 now and for the last few years, he has been ramping up the effort to contact me, but im holding firm. Im not giving him closure when he refused to give me a father. I know he was capable because he was a decent father to my siblings.
    via u/Neither_Mention2424
  • 24
    You owe these people nothing. They couldn't keep their child safe when they had the resources to do so. I won't go off on one but believe me, theres a rant there. That being said, try and imagine how you would feel if they died tomorrow. Would you feel regret you didnt do more? If you wanted to help them for your own peace in the future then do it for you, not for them.
    via u/Neither_Mention2424
  • 25
    CarliBoBarli NTA. You don't kick your child out of the home. Especially the way they did this. I'm a parent. My oldest child is 16 and when she was in Jr high, this happened to one of her peers and she was very worried because nobody could locate him for days. His dad should have been arrested. Now she's a jr in highschool and my middle daughter in Jr high and I've heard a couple more stories like yours. You were just a kid and this makes my heart hurt for your teenage self. Like legit you're ol
    via u/CarliBoBarli

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