AITA for deleting my son’s Minecraft world?

A parent enforced a consequence on their 9-year-old son for repeatedly oversleeping by deleting his beloved Minecraft world — a digital creation he had spent a year building. The boy was devastated, crying all day and refusing to eat. The parent wonders if their approach was too harsh or a necessary lesson in responsibility. Were they too strict, or was it fair discipline? Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for deleting my son’s Minecraft world?’

I have 2 children, a 9 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. My son had a Minecraft world where he built quite an impressive castle on an island, which he was very proud to show to me.

Since school was canceled, he has had issues with waking up on time. He is supposed to wake up at 7 each morning, but for the past month he has been sleeping in until about 9 or 10. I always set an alarm for him, but he sleeps right through it.

I don’t wake him up because waking himself up is a skill that he needs to learn. I told him about 2 weeks ago that there are going to be consequences for him if he continues to sleep in every morning. At first, he understood and was waking up on time every morning. But for the past week or so, he has fallen back into old habits.

I told him yesterday that this is his final warning. Today, he slept in until 11. So I followed through with my warning, and went on the computer and deleted his favorite Minecraft world. I also took away computer privileges for the next month.

When I told him, he started screaming and crying. He told me that he spent a whole year working on that world, and he’s very distraught that he’s never going to see it again. He has been crying and sobbing throughout the day, and has refused to eat any of his meals.

Check out how the community responded:

YCtpe −  YTA – parenting is more about finding ways to get your child to succeed than negative punishment. Not only will your goal of having him wake up not be met.. you’ve created additional hardship on your child during these unprecedented times. He’s 9. The punishment did not fit the crime. Edit: thanks for pointing out my incorrect use of negative reinforcement

[Reddit User] −  YTA. The appropriate solution is to make sure your kid goes to bed earlier. If he can’t wake up it’s because you aren’t getting him to bed early enough. It takes a few nights to adjust to an earlier bedtime too. Turn off the computer on school nights. No screen time two hours before bed. Sheesh. You don’t punish the kid for a failure to parent. You parent better instead.

badb-crow −  YTA. He is NINE. Yes, waking up is a skill that one needs to learn, but children don’t learn it this way. Ten isn’t even that late! You destroyed something your son worked hard on, you violated his trust, and you’ve severly damaged your relationship with him.

Pickardie −  YTA. have fun being a case study on /r/raisedbynarcissists in a few years.

gendouk −  Good for you! You’ve just taught your son an important lesson: Never share anything you’re excited or happy about with your parents, because it can and will be weaponized when they’re unhappy with you.

This is an important life lesson that will serve him well as he learns to keep every aspect of himself a secret from you, up until he turns 18 and cuts you out of his life entirely.. Congratulations. YTA.

*Edit: Thanks for the awards, everyone! I honestly didn’t think this comment would get noticed!*

edgyusername123 −  YTA that’s some intense authoritarian parenting. He was proud of it, and you ruined it. You can punish him by keeping him off the video games for a while. Did you have to destroy what he created too? It sounds like a decision made in anger. This is going to give your kid some serious trust issues. You should definitely apologize.

[Reddit User] −  YTA. wtf is wrong with you? why would you delete something he worked hard on?

potatobooi1 −  Pure unfathomable a**hole levels. Yta. Where do i even begin, you think that destroying something he loves and worked hard on will motivate him to get up in the morning? Its just extremely excessive. You said it yourself that he was extremely proud of it aswell

niccagetheelephant8 −  YTA taking away the computer temporarily is a reasonable punishment. Destroying something hes been working on for a year is not. Have you ever been working on something for a whole year? Put a year of time into making something and perfecting it?

How would you feel if someone just destroyed it? People tend to think that video game saves dont matter. But hes put in a year into creating stuff in minecraft. Maybe he built an elaborate house. Maybe even a whole computer. You destroyed his hard work. It was not at all an appropriate punishment.

kitticatmeow1 −  YTA. I hope you have some savings built up, you’re gonna need it for his therapy in a few years. And say goodbye to being put in a nice old folks home.. He’s 9. Jesus.

Disciplining kids is never easy, and enforcing consequences can have emotional repercussions. Was deleting the Minecraft world a harsh punishment that crossed the line, or was it a valuable life lesson in accountability? Share your thoughts below!