20-year-old son ruins dad's car during street racing, dad demands son pay for the car, family calls him heartless: ‘Parents don't treat kids like debtors’

Parenting requires setting boundaries and rules for your children, no matter how uncomfortable they might be because of them.

That is a lesson every parent must learn at some point, if they want their kids to grow up and become independent adults. We can't coddle our children for their entire lives without consequences, and the father and son in the story below are currently in the process of learning this lesson the hard way.

This 49-year-old father helped his 20-year-old son buy a car by co-signing and putting down $12k so his son could buy it. From the start, Dad made it clear that the money was not a gift, but a loan that he expected his son to return once he had a job. Fast forward two years, and the son still has not repaid his dad for the car, and not only that, but he is also taking the car completely for granted and driving it like a reckless kid.

This led to the car being completely totaled after the young adult took it to street racing with his friends. And here is where the dad's parenting had to step it up, this is where he had to set a boundary to ensure his son would learn from his mistake and become a more responsible adult: The son still owed his father $12k for the loan of the now-lost car, but he thought that since the car no longer existed, his father would not make him pay for it. The dad, however, disagreed. He still had to pay the insurance, and he saw no reason to let his son get away with his actions without paying for it.

Dad told his son he had to start making monthly payments to pay back the car, and even informed him that he would take him to small claims if he refused. Son claimed Dad was being heartless, and told the rest of the family what he was making him do. The family, surprisingly, took the son's side. While the father insists on teaching his son a lesson, the rest of the family is telling him to let it go. Should he? Keep scrolling to read the rest of the story…

via Martin Wyall

Inside view of a young man driving a car.
^{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
AITA for demanding my son repay the car I bought him after he totaled it street racing?

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Night Street Car Racing with Bystanders.
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