I feel like my parents treat my brother with more respect than me. Whenever I do anything wrong my parents blame me and say I’m spoiled even though I’m not. They always get mad at me for staying in my room but they never get mad at my brother for always playing his video games. I just feel like they have something against me and I don’t know how to get them to notice me again. (I’m am 13 and my brother is 7)
HELP YOURSELF:
- Thank you so much for sharing your story with TeenCentral. It can be difficult to discuss and cope with concerns about your family life so great job having the courage to reach out for support.
- It’s important to understand you are not alone in your experience. This type of situation where a child feels not treated the same as a sibling can be pretty common. We encourage you to read the stories of others and some of the feedback they have received. You will quickly see that you are not alone in this type of struggle.
- You did an awesome job reaching out to TeenCentral for support but it’s also very important to find in person support within your own world from someone who may know you and your family better. Do you have any positive trusted adults or other family members that you could talk to about your concerns? This could be an older sibling or cousin, aunt or uncle?
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE:
- Have you tried talking to your parents about your feelings? This could be a great first step in helping work through these concerns. If you are nervous or worried about talking to them, we have options! First, we have a Social Skills resource under our TOOLS page that can help have these tough talks. If you don’t feel ready to talk to them, you could try writing them a letter expressing how you feel.
- Feeling like you aren’t respected and noticed can sometimes lead to negative feelings about yourself so it’s important to take steps to help cope with these times. Do you have some positive coping skills you can use if you start to feel upset? I would also check out the ANGER section on the LEARN tab, because I can only imagine how angry this situation in making you feel!
- What are the things in your world that you enjoy doing? When going through struggles, it’s important to take time for self- care. We encourage everyone to take at least 10 minutes per day to do something for yourself that you love. It doesn’t have to be anything big – it could be listening to a favorite song, watching a funny movie or TV show, or going outside. You could even try to do something that everyone in your family could do together.
