[minion97]

Mom who is very concerned about her 16 yr old son
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Hi.......I have a 16 yr old son who lives in Florida with his Father. His Fathers significant other & 19yr old son lives there as well. Even though I live in Pennsylvania I have contact with my son on a daily basis.
My 16 yr old son does Homeschooling (This is his 2nd yr) plus works with his dad in his lawn service. He rarely does anything else except go bowling with his dad and his girlfriend. So All he pretty much does is school and work.
The problem is.....My 16 yr old has been Disrespectful, lying, taking things without asking or that don't belong to him, playing video games on the computer when he should be doing his schoolwork etc...
Due to his fathers significant other, his father & I very seldom talked because she was in control of everything including making decisions for whats best of my son. I finally found out from the both of them 6 months after all this started going on and still is going on with my son.
My concern for him is He was very Anti-social, angry, He got picked on in school very badly, has some Emotional issues which he went to counceling for...ect..His fathers girlfriend handles 100% of my sons punishments which are military style...Yes he should be reprimanded for his actions but NOT in that way! he is always punished...All he does is go to work , homeschooling and his chores .
.I think he needs another form of contact such as a youthgroup, Big Brother & Big Sister ect.....because he cant catch a break from her barking at him all the time and being a detective and his father allows it....I think my son needs another form of contact to confide in someone at a personal level otherthan a family member to release the stress he has or whats really bothering him. Or maybe he is acting like a typical teenager......
IT CONCERNS ME!!! He had everything taken away...tv, no video games....I wanted him to stay here with me when he came to visit in the summer he said no no no.....I am very confused, angry, sad because I feel he is being deprived to being a teenaer......
What should I do???

[k12573n]

Talk to his father and express your concerns calmly and logically. Don't lay all the blame on his father's S/O. The boy does need to learn to take responsibility for his actions as well as how to express his feelings verbally instead of acting out. I think you're right about his needing outside contact, friends, an adult confidante in a place like a youth group or something similar. It can't seem like a punishment or a babysitter, though, which will be difficult to get across to a 16-year-old kid. Best of luck, I'm sorry you have to go through all this anguish as well as being so far away from your son.