Thanks for that. My son is seeing a counselor and has been since beginning school this year. The school noticed the change and so did I so got on it right away. We had a long talk and msn is cut off, no computer, no sleep overs. I know this won't be easy and I can't cut these things out forever. I did tell him that I can't trust him and when I can trust him he can have his privileges back but he has to earn it. Your right, he needs a better role model than his big brother. He had a big brother from the Big Brothers and Sisters program but they are not in as much contact anymore as the contract was for one year only. The wonderful person that was his big was the same age as my older son and actually saw him on a regular basis for over three years. These days though with full time university and a part time job he isn't available like he used to be. He also told me that he calls my son and tries to connect with him, but my son is not so open to visiting with him as much anymore.
Yes, it's tough raising kids in this day and age. So many parents have much more lenient attitudes than I do and it's an up hill battle trying to keep my kids in line. It truly amazes me how much freedom these kids have. I drive my kids everywhere and pick them up. And guess what, I pick up all their friends too and their parents don't even know where they are. I gave a 13 year old girl a ride home the other night from skating. It was 10pm and she was starting to walk home in the dark by herself, a 1/2 hour walk so I drove her home. What are her parents thinking? Drives me crazy. My kids see this, all the freedom their friends have and think I'm way too strict. I'm hanging in there though and will do what it takes to keep him on the straight and narrow. As for the girlfriend, she dumped him and was dating someone else 3 hours later. I hope this was a learning experience for my son in some ways. Whew... it's a new day!
Kate