And this is also a golden opportunity to say over the phone...while they're in earshot...that you heard every word and how your parents are such disappointments because they're passive-aggressive douches who don't have the backbone to talk to you about it to your face, and who don't give the love and support you need. A dose of their own medicine will be good for them. Still, prove them wrong by doing your best...but at the same time, make it clear to them that this is for YOURSELF, and their hateful little stunt has permanently damaged your relationship with them. Or...maybe this can open the door for some real communication? Ideally, maybe this can be used to get things moving toward some family counseling. Maybe seek some counseling yourself on how to deal with this issue. At any rate, still do your best and be the best person you can be...if nothing else, it can get you away from them.

They got up early to complete their physics homework... That is something to be proud of your child for, even if it isn't EVERYTHING, it's something. Physics in high school is normal an advanced class, and getting up early to do homework shows initiative. And even if OP has an attitude sometimes 1.) everybody, no matter how old does sometimes, 2.) isn't this like fighting fire with fire?

No matter the mistakes a child makes, parents should never ever ever have their child believe that they are a burden or stupid. That's called bad parenting. Kinda like telling a child they were an accident. It never ends well, and no child (or adult) ever wants to (or needs to) hear those things from their parents.

exactly. plus, how can you just ASSUME that the kid was such a bad kid? geez

There's also a difference between telling your child that they're being a brat, and telling your child that they're a disappointment. Telling your child to stop acting like a brat is one thing, most kids get told that at some point in their lives, and for the most part it gets the child to behave a little better for a while. But for a parent to tell a child that they're a disappointment and stupid and a burden is just wrong. A child should never have to hear that they're a burden, regardless of the age of said child. It's emotionally damaging. Anyways, there's also better ways for parents to handle situations such as OPs. Like, directly confronting the kid and encouraging them to study harder, or whatever, NOT speaking behind the kid's back, saying nasty things, whilst knowing the kid is listening. For some people it may be a wake-up call, yes, but for many others it works the opposite.

I don't know about it being similar to telling your kid they are an accident. I mean would you rather your parents tell you they didn't want you (which can easily change once they HAVE you) or that they DID want you but now you are such a big pain in the ass that they can't stand you and wish you'd grow the **** up and get out? I'd rather be an accident than a planned child who grew into a burden. Hell at least if you were a burden AND an accident it makes more sense, if they didn't want you to begin with it makes sense that maybe they never would. Doesn't make them good parents, just makes sense.

#37, I think we need to look at this whole FML closer. The OP states that they got up "early" that morning, insinuating that they are not normally awake at that time. More likely than not the parents didn't know the kid was there listening to them. For all we know they could have actually been discussing the fact that they need to talk to their kid face to face. Also there are tons of ways the parents could have been using the term burden that is either being twisted by the OP or were said before they walked into hearing range. For example, maybe the OP is a selfish brat and is acting as a financial burden by refusing to work or do chores for money but always throwing tantrums over not getting the new sports car they want. I don't think there is enough information provided to truly decide that either side is correct in this argument.

I'm pretty much just playing devil's advocate. There are many different ways of looking at this. I'm just giving another option to what people have already said. I know there's not enough evidence to really determine what happened. Because also by "early", OP could've just meant that they were up even earlier than they normally are. Some kids are good, hardworking students who always put their education before anything else (key word being some), and who are involved in many aspects of their community, but their parents don't understand and think they should do more. That could also tie in with the financial burden argument, by saying that the OP cannot manage to keep a job and their marks up at the same time. Or they could be too young for a part-time job, or there could be no part-time jobs available because they're all taken up by older generations who've lost their jobs from the apparent economic situation. So like I said, I'm not going against what you say to be a bitch, I'm merely playing devil's advocate because I'm bored & it's more interesting that working on my assignments at this point of time. =)

OMG, that is what I was doing! Are we like Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss or what? Yeah... I just made up that comparison to, you caught me.

Haha, wow nice. =) Dr Suess is awesome.

Everyone knows parents are always going to be (or should be) completely and totally honest with you no matter what. If you're acting like a brat, they WILL tell you because their mindset is that they'd rather you hear it from them than someone else. However, I feel you jumped to conclusions when painting him as a "typical teenage tool". I'm not sure if you or anyone realized this, but when he heard his parents complaining aout him, he had gotten up early to do physics homework, which in my opinion shows he had his priorities straight. In my high school experience (I'm guessing it's a lot fresher than yours since I just graduated and you sound pretty old, no offense), physics is a challenging and PRODUCTIVE course that only the most mature, intelligent students take. The "prom queens" and "football players" didn't fall under either category in my school, so I'm convinced to believe that your point is biased and only shows how stereotypical of teenagers older people can be. Anyway, his parents had no right to judge him so harshly and if I were him, I'd take it the same way. This is an FML and whoever thinks otherwise needs to delve deeper into it and read between the lines. By the way, I'm American and my work ethic is just fine. To the OP: First, I hope I didn't make a complete fool out of myself in defending you. Second, I'm incredulous at your parents' caustic spewing, but as the adage goes, "The greatest revenge is to exceed all expectations." Study hard and blow your parents' minds so that they get on their knees and beg you for forgiveness.