I have a kid who has been in and out of jail for the last two years. He's almost 21 now. Until a few years ago he was a nice kid. He started hanging out with a few thugs and now he is a thug. He has been arrested for breaking into cars and recently breaking into a store.
A few weeks ago he disappeared with my wife's car. I called the police, and he was caught leaving a a drug house that they were watching already. I pressed charges and now he's in jail again. This will be his fourth felony. I try to be positive when I visit him, but I honestly don't know if he has any chance of a decent life. I'm considering dropping the charges, but I don't want him back in my house.
I would appreciate hearing any suggestions. My best idea now is to leave him in jail. That's the only place I've seen him improve.
If anybody here has a similar experience, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Thanks.
I'm a year older than you, dl, and have some experience that I won't get into now. My thoughts on what I would do in your situation would be to look for your son's long-term best interest. If he keeps on skating by on life without facing the consequences, then he probably won't learn life's lessons. He may not learn them anyway, but there's a chance he could at least learn that if you're going to do the crime then you have to realize you deserve to do the time. Slaps on the wrist to unrepentant criminals almost never end well. They just get worse because they realize they can get away with it. In other words, I suggest that you do not under any circumstances drop the charges. Be a parent, not a friend. He's obviously not being a friend to his mom and dad. If he does learn the lesson and changes his ways in the future, you can invite him back like the Prodigal Son.
