Thursday, October 21, 2010

How can a 15 year old be forced to go to school?

My brother is 15 years old and has been absent from school 17 times in the past 3 months. He stays up all night playing games online and in the mornings stays in bed. I've been told he's still awake playing games at 3 am and my mother and father both yell at him from 7:30 to about 9 am trying to get him to leave. He just stays in the house all day until the evenings when he logs back onto his computer.



My mom threatens to put his computer in storage but she and my dad never get their act together and DO it. Wait, no, they did it once but then they gave it back. Anyway, recently they tried to block his access to the internet. They even called up the ISP, but my brother's computer is the only one directly connected to the router so blocking it by changing the WEP password didn't work.



He is a big kid, he's looked like he's in his 20s since he was 13 and he's very tall and weighs about 180 or 190 lbs, so there's no way to physically force him out. My mother keeps ranting about calling the police or social services, and asking if there's some way somebody could come to our house to get him out or if there is some kind of program that can help. He's failing school because he's never there! Please help.How can a 15 year old be forced to go to school?
Your parents need to take action. It is their responsibility to make sure he is in school every day whether he likes it or not. It is their responsibility to set limits for him, make sure he is in bed at a time that he gets enough sleep, etc. If he doesn't listen they should take his door so they will know what he is doing in his room all night.



They can get the school and/or police involved. At his age he is legally obligated to go to school or to have some form of schooling. I'm surprised the school is not already involved.



Your parents should stop calling him off, they are allowing him to stay home, if they don't call him off the school will send someone to get him if he doesn't show up.



There are programs like boot camps and scared straight programs that could help him but those are mostly for kids who have a worse offense then just truancy.



Your parents need to step up and be parents to him or he will never learn.How can a 15 year old be forced to go to school?
He's chosen his lot - he will fail and have only himself to blame.
He should be going to school if he's under 17, at least that's true here in Texas.

Where do you live? Give us your contact info so we can help you out.



Also, it sounds like your parents aren't doing much ';parenting';.
You need to call the police. A truant officer will escort him to school.
Sign him up for military school. They don't care how big he is.
It sounds like your parents are giving your brother false threats and your brother knows they won't follow through. Ultimately it's your parents that need help. They need some guidance and support in learning how to work with him.



It's nice that you care about your brother, but it's not really your job. The best you can do is remind him every once in a while, that you care about him.
First, kudos to you for being a sibling that cares enough to help.

Without commenting on his behavior, it seems like your family is at the point where they need to work with the school and have them officially intervene for the sake of your brothers future.



In my state, 16 is the age where a minor may choose to quit school, so your family may have to act quickly to utilize the resources that are legally there for your brothers protection. I believe you will find a lot of support in your community for acting in his best interests, also, since showing such visible support (and respect) for others seems to be so rare nowadays.



I hope you can both get legal support to help him, and that in the process, he is able to find whatever skills he needs to get out of his rut and back in the groove.

Good Luck to ya!

p.s.-Thanks again for caring! Stick to your guns!!!
just threaten to burn his computer, if he doesn't go do it

then see what he does, that's what I would do
... if your concerned about him talk to the school psychologist... if you call a truancy officer he could easily get into trouble.... possibly put in a lock up school or something...
Your mom needs to step up and take that computer away, and if that doesn't fix it within a day or two, everything outta his room.

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