For months, my 14-year-old daughter, Zoey, came home with tears in her eyes after her cousins moved in with us. She said they teased her drawings, borrowed her things without asking, and laughed when she tried to stand up for herself. When I brought it up to my wife’s brother, he dismissed it as “normal teenage drama.” Even my wife thought Zoey was just struggling to adjust to having more people in the house. But as her father, I could see something deeper — the spark in her eyes was fading, replaced by quiet withdrawal. I knew I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
Instead of confronting anyone, I chose to observe. I set up small cameras in shared spaces, hoping to better understand what was happening when no one was watching. What I saw in those recordings shattered me. The teasing wasn’t harmless — it was constant, cruel, and isolating. They mocked her artwork, called her names, and excluded her from even the simplest conversations. Every frame confirmed what Zoey had been trying to tell us. It wasn’t just sibling tension — it was bullying in her own home.