Man blasts son for calling him by name – as he thinks teen’s behaviour is disrespectful

One parent has been left disappointed by his son’s behaviour after the teenager started calling him by his name – despite being told he should refer to his father as ‘dad’

Teenagers often have a mind of their own, and quite right, after all, it is important for growing children to be independent. But this does not mean teens can always act as they please, or not if their parents have anything to say about it.

One man who would likely agree has been left outraged after his son stopped calling him “dad” – even after he was told he should. The father believes he deserves the “respect” of the title and wants his son to do as he is instructed. But his stance divided opinion when he took to Reddit in search of parenting advice.

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Posting to the website’s ” Am I the A*****e? ” forum, he wrote: “My son is 15M, I am his father. He has started calling me by my name instead of Dad.

“When he first did it I asked him why and his answer was simply that it’s my name and what everyone else calls me so he should too. I tried to dig deeper but that’s really all it is. I told him I’m his father and I deserve the respect of being called Dad by him.

“He has not changed. So I decided I would ignore him when he said my name. Last night at dinner I was talking to my wife and he asked if I could pass some pasta to him and I just kept talking to my wife. He kept trying to talk to me using my name and I just ignored him the whole dinner.”

His post continued: “Later my wife said I was being childish and I should just indulge him until his “phase” is over. I told her she might be OK being called by her name (he does that too) but I’m not. He can call me Dad or he gets ignored.

“AITA? I feel like maybe I’m descending down to his level but at the same time I think it’s a relatively harmless way to set a boundary and teach a lesson.”

But not everyone agreed with the father’s comments.

One person asked: “What the hell does one thing have to do with the other? I call my parents by their names &I still respect them.” And they claimed the real problem was about a “power struggle”.

A second person said: “Parents don’t get respect because they are parents – you aren’t special because you are a parent.

“If you want respect as a parent, respect your children as well. This isn’t what this man is doing.”

However, most commenters took the dad’s side, reassuring him his request and response was reasonable.

“A key part of parenting is teaching your kids boundaries. What you want to be called and how you want to be addressed is one of them,” read one comment.

Another added: “You’ve stated your preference for how you’d like to be called. People do this all the time in and out of the home, and others respect those wishes, whether it’s nicknames, pronouns, etc. Ignoring your request to be called ‘dad’ is disrespectful.”

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