10. PARENTING GONE WRONG?

While I was typing this new book, I received a ‘phone call from a desperate mother who told me she could no longer manage her son and asked if I would meet him with her with the intention of accepting him into my school to do what she and her husband have not managed to do! She said her son had to be plugged-in whenever he is at home, or walking along the road, and she had lost control. After the call I asked her to email me a sample timeline of her son’s typical day, and this is what she reported, after she told me I could state my price, but so long as she could get her son back!

THE SON. Struggled to get out of bed because he said school was boring and uninspiring. This was the same every morning.

Encouraged him, with little success, to wash and clean his teeth ready for school. His shoes, grotty-Trainers, are messy and had not been cleaned since they were new, and they smelled rotten, but he was not inclined to clean them.His school clothes were lying around on his bedroom floor, creased and uncared for. His bedroom was out-of-bounds to his mother. There was a sign to this effect on the door, hanging from yellowing Sellotape, at an angle.His mood was intolerable, and he slid down the stairs to breakfast in the morning, which he could rarely eat. Unkempt and irritable, with no kiss goodbye, he dragged himself to school, iPod plugged in, bright red headphones clipped across his head, without wishing his mother good day.He sidled towards the bus stop where he met other ‘Martians’, similarly plugged-in, and clearly many were just as bored and unkempt as he was. The school day was followed by the same route dragging himself towards the bus stop, but his gait was more upright and his pace faster, then.His dart for the bus ensured a place, to avoid waiting for the next bus, so eager was he to get home and get up to his tricks!His bus was packed with noisy, mostly plugged-in young children from his school, who were playing games on their ‘phones and IPads, and the occasional laptop was to be seen belonging to the richer children.There was some bullying on the bus, of a few children whose parents had not bought them these ‘toys’.

On arrival home he rushed upstairs, with only a glance to his mother. She had made tea and was happy to see him, as she was every day, but his mind was set on switching on his X-box, bought by his absent father, with associated games, and was a de-tox from school! That was four-thirty and he asked for his supper to be brought to his room when it was ready.

He didn’t even have his tea!

By eleven he was ready to sleep after six hours playing on his Xbox, so after several texts, a few ‘phone calls, and showing a lack of desire to do any homework, he flopped on his bed and fell asleep, having speedily eaten only half of his lovely supper, which had been dutifully delivered to his room by his caring mum, without a thought about bodily hygiene!

A NORMAL DAY? The woman said this was a normal day, but at weekends, he would insist he had to visit a friend, where he played games all weekend! There was always a confrontation because the mother knew that where he wanted to go there were other dangers! She could not stop him! He was eleven years old!

A mother called me last term and updated me on their current situation at home. I will leave that for you all to work out!