AITA for slapping a teenager?

A woman (32F) recounts an intense incident at a water park where a teenage boy untied her swimsuit top, prompting her to slap him in response. The altercation led to a heated dispute involving park staff, the boy’s parents, and her husband, who believes she may have overreacted.

While she felt justified in defending herself against what she considered a violation, the situation spiraled into threats of legal action from both sides. Now, she’s left wondering if her reaction was appropriate or if she overstepped.

‘ AITA for slapping a teenager?’

I (32f) was at a water park this last weekend with my husband (32m) and my daughter. We were in one of the pools practicing swimming and keeping to our self. There was a group of teen boys there and while I was working with my daughter on swimming one of them came up behind me and I felt a tug on the strings of my top untying it.

I spun around saw this 15 to 17 yo with a smirk and slapped him. This quickly caused a scene. The park staff got involved as well the boys parents who were livid at me. My husband and another lady saw it happen and confirmed that he really did grab my top. There was also camera around the pool that kind of show it,

wasn’t the best angle. The boys parents threaten a**ault charges and I threaten s**ual a**ault charges if they decided to go that way. Eventually we were both asked to leave and haven’t heard anything since. My husband though still thinks I over reacted a bit which I don’t. AITA?

Here’s what people had to say to OP:

Shot_Western_2755 −  NTA- and I would talk to the manager of the park. You were assaulted and used self defense. YOU should not have been asked to leave

Cherry_Lunatic −  Nta I teach my daughters to react the same way. No one has a right to attempt to take your clothes off and you should of course do whatever you need to do to stop them from doing so. I can’t believe his parents defended him.

forgetregret1day −  It’s so frustrating to me that these parents are defending the little perv, I mean perpetrator. It’s cause and effect. If he hadn’t placed his hands on a woman and attempted to undress her in public, he wouldn’t have deservedly had his face slapped.

Their acting like he’s the victim is outrageous and only encourages him to think that behavior is acceptable. You reacted out of natural instinct and would not have hit him had he not attacked you.

This isn’t a joke and his parents downplaying his actions makes me furious. I’d personally file a complaint but that’s me. His parents obviously aren’t going to hold him accountable. I just hope there’s not another victim in his future. NTA.

Own_Owl_7568 −  NTA.. that’s a natural reaction. I’d prob do the same by natural reflex.

IvanNemoy −  Should have called the cops. F**k that punk, f**k his family, and f**k the water park for “oh no, both sides are bad!”. NTA.

AlwaysHelpful22 −  NTA. You probably taught him a valuable lesson – he cannot touch any woman he wants, just because he wants to.

AceyAceyAcey −  NTA He was clearly s**ually assaulting you. You used proportionate force in self-defense.

[Reddit User] −  So you were s**ually assaulted and used self-defense…… hun, no matter what age, you defended yourself. You did nothing wrong. I’d even applaud if your husband stepped in with a second swing! I applaud you for actually stepping up to these people.

NotObviouslyARobot −  You reacted correctly. NTA. Pressing charges would not be an over-reaction.

Efficient_Bother_162 −  you should press charges anyway, he must be accountable for what he did, which IS s**ual a**ault, and his parents are probably going to give him a pat on the back and that’s it, probably how he got so arrogant thinking he can do anything.