AITA for not sharing a homework assignment with my brother, despite the teacher of the class going over the answers?

A high school student shared a disagreement with his mother and brother over a study guide assignment. Despite their world history teacher providing ample time and reviewing answers in class, the brother procrastinated, earning a zero.

When asked to share his completed guide, the student sent the blank template instead, encouraging his brother to complete it independently. Their mother intervened, accusing him of being unkind and punishing him. Was he wrong for not sharing his completed answers? Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for not sharing a homework assignment with my brother, despite the teacher of the class going over the answers?’

I (16m) and my brother are in the same world history class, and a week ago we got an assignment that doubled as a study guide for our final exam. Our teacher gave us plenty of time to complete it, and went over it and the answers, elaborating or explaining what needed to be clarified the class following.

My brother failed to complete it, and a “missing” (0%) went into the gradebook. Our teacher is very lenient when it comes to missing or late work, so my brother was just going to procrastinate and do it at the cut off for the semester.

Fast forward to two days ago, my brother asked me for the study guide/assignment in front of my mom. I responded with something along the lines of it’s on Canvas (similar to Google Classroom) and all the resources that have the information is on there as well, to which my mom added that I should just send it to him.

I obliged, and sent the assignment, without answers on it, because I thought it would be no use to him if he didn’t know the information on it. My mom went upstairs, and our evening continued, and I was listening to music while studying for my exams, when my brother got my mom, saying that I just sent him a blank document.

She came downstairs and yelled at me, saying I was being an a**hole and unkind person by not sending it to him with the answers, and I was just playing games with him.

She took my phone (it was sitting on the table), and told me I was not allowed to go to my grandparents house, or golf with my grandpa for the foreseeable future. She had him take my computer, and send the version of the document with the answers.

Part of me thinks I should have just sent him the document and let him suffer from the consequences of not knowing the information, but the other part of me thinks that he had every opportunity to complete the assignment in class or at home like myself and other classmates did, and it wasn’t my fault he didn’t.

Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:

fancyandfab −  NTA, but your mom is a giant one. Rest assured that one day you’ll be successful and your brother will be barely employed and living with your mom forever. Who’s he going to copy in college? I remember sheets like this. Finding the answers yourself is studying. It doesn’t help if you just write down the answers and don’t retain the info

ichundmeinHolz_ −  I would go to my teacher and tell on him… That you were forced to give up your work. Then go home, pack a bag with some clothes, and go to your grandparents for Christmas and New Year. Just write her an email from school where you are.

Now that you don’t have a cellphone she can’t reach you. Problem solved. Grey rock your mother and brother as long as you can. NTA… And taking your laptop while you were studying is really the worst thing she could have done to you. Hope you got it back.

Emergency_Exit_4714 −  This was a moment your brother could have learned but your mother decided to emotionally strong-arm the situation. She definitely shouldn’t be punishing you. Your second thought, that it’s on him to do his own work, is correct.. NTA

ProfessionalEven296 −  NTA. Your teacher WILL know that he didn’t do the work, and will already have an inkling of where the correct answers came from. Justice will, eventually, prevail. My wife is a Math teacher.

She can tell the difference between kids who know the work, but get the answers wrong, and the one who don’t know it, copy the answers from somewhere else and get 100%. She has occasionally been known to congratulate these kids, and invite them to the board to show how some of the more complex questions should be answered…

PatchworkGirl82 −  NTA and I would let the teacher know. Your brother needs to do his own work on time or he’s in for one heck of a rude awakening when he gets out into the real world.

ZombiePancreas −  NTA. Based on how your mom is acting about it, I’m shocked that he hasn’t learned to be accountable for his actions. /s

k23_k23 −  NTA. **your mom is an a**sive Ah**.- ANd she is an AH to your brother, too – she is setting hium up to fail, making it eadsy for him to skip studying.

beckstermcw −  In the future, ask your counselor if you could not share a class with him, and with a different teacher.

lemon_charlie −  NTA. This is a result of his bad study habits, refusing to engage with the assignment even when the teacher practically handheld the class through how to do it and procrastinating when on his second chance. He’s more than old enough to take personal responsibility for his own work. Contact your teacher and tell them this before you get caught up in any negative ramifications. Get your grandparents in on this too.

Ancient-Tomato1153 −  Your mom sucks man. Even if what you did isn’t cool, her reaction is absolutely bonkers. Punishing a kid for doing the right thing, nice

Do you think the student was justified in encouraging his brother to complete the work independently, or should he have shared the answers to avoid conflict? How do you balance fairness and personal responsibility in family dynamics? Share your thoughts below!