I Spoke Up for a Teen Girl No One Else Would and It Actually Made a Difference

r/

Last weekend, I learned just how far I’m willing to go for what I believe in.

My longtime friend group friends since high school planned a getaway at a cabin. One of our friends, Jake (25), brought someone new. She looked young. Really young.

I asked casually, “How old is she?” and Jake got all awkward before mumbling, “She’s 16 but she’ll graduate in May.”

Everything in me froze.

I asked him straight up why someone pushing 26 was dating a child. He deflected. Everyone else just sat there quietly. But when Jake stepped outside, the opinions came out: “Yeah, that’s not okay.” “Feels off.” “Makes me uncomfortable.”

So why the silence earlier?

My boyfriend and I left the next morning. I couldn’t shake it. I couldn’t just ignore it.

Later, Jake blew up on me in the group chat, called me jealous and bitter. I told him the truth: “The only reason you’re dating a 16-year-old is because women your age wouldn’t tolerate you.”

No one defended me. So I said what they wouldn’t: You all felt uncomfortable, but I’m the only one who said it to his face. If that makes me the bad guy, so be it.

But here’s the part that made me smile the next day, one of the girls from our group messaged me. She said, “You were right. I should’ve said something too.” Then another. Then another. A few of them started distancing themselves from Jake and offered to help me find the girl’s parents.

And we did.

We found out the girl’s family had no idea he was that much older. They thought he was 19. They were shocked, upset, and grateful someone spoke up.

Jake’s no longer dating her. And my friend group? Smaller now, but stronger and clearer.

I lost some silence. I gained some courage. And a teenage girl is now out of a situation she never should’ve been in.

That made me smile.

Comments

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    Backup of the post’s body: Last weekend, I learned just how far I’m willing to go for what I believe in.

    My longtime friend group friends since high school planned a getaway at a cabin. One of our friends, Jake (25), brought someone new. She looked young. Really young.

    I asked casually, “How old is she?” and Jake got all awkward before mumbling, “She’s 16 but she’ll graduate in May.”

    Everything in me froze.

    I asked him straight up why someone pushing 26 was dating a child. He deflected. Everyone else just sat there quietly. But when Jake stepped outside, the opinions came out: “Yeah, that’s not okay.” “Feels off.” “Makes me uncomfortable.”

    So why the silence earlier?

    My boyfriend and I left the next morning. I couldn’t shake it. I couldn’t just ignore it.

    Later, Jake blew up on me in the group chat, called me jealous and bitter. I told him the truth: “The only reason you’re dating a 16-year-old is because women your age wouldn’t tolerate you.”

    No one defended me. So I said what they wouldn’t: You all felt uncomfortable, but I’m the only one who said it to his face. If that makes me the bad guy, so be it.

    But here’s the part that made me smile the next day, one of the girls from our group messaged me. She said, “You were right. I should’ve said something too.” Then another. Then another. A few of them started distancing themselves from Jake and offered to help me find the girl’s parents.

    And we did.

    We found out the girl’s family had no idea he was that much older. They thought he was 19. They were shocked, upset, and grateful someone spoke up.

    Jake’s no longer dating her. And my friend group? Smaller now, but stronger and clearer.

    I lost some silence. I gained some courage. And a teenage girl is now out of a situation she never should’ve been in.

    That made me smile.

    I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

  3. Aylauria Avatar

    Good for you! That’s what we all need to do.

  4. spicykurry23 Avatar

    You are an amazing human! I hope you know that what you did, was bigger than you probably realize. If there were intimate relations, I hope the parents press charges.

  5. Time-Improvement6653 Avatar

    It’d be SUCH a great story, were it true. Fuck you, bot.

  6. abibip Avatar

    Are the replies also bots? What in the dead internet theory is going on here?

  7. bbqduck-sf Avatar

    Came here to say, good for you. Thank you for standing up for her.

    Also, not AI.

    Ran it through an AI detector, https://www.zerogpt.com/

    Result: Your Text is Human written 0% AI GPT*

  8. AboveGroundPoolQueen Avatar

    THANK YOU!!!😊🙏🏽

    You rock! Not only did you change her life, but all your friends that finally supported in the end are now stronger for it as well. You demonstrated to everyone how to deal with this situation and I bet in the future people will make better decisions! You are my new hero and I applaud you! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

  9. Viperbunny Avatar

    Thank you for speaking up. You have no idea the amount of abuse you potentially saved her from. He is disgusting.