Then she needs to call the cops and have him arrested. I don't care if he's off his meds...this is tens of thousands of dollars in damage. She has a small baby to take care of also.
Tens of thousands of dollars likely makes this a felony in a lot of States and 15 is some States can be tried as an adult.
Once she calls the police, it's up to the prosecutor if they want to press charges...it's effectively then out of the mother's hands.
If he has mental health problems, the last thing he needs is to be in jail and labeled a felon for the rest of his life.
This is obviously not a tenable situation and this child, yes a 15 year old who can do this level of damage is still a child, needs some mental health care. Given there seems to also be a baby in the house that may need to be an in-patient situation--but cops/jail/felony conviction is not what this child needs.
without cops , court , jail conviction… what route should this mother go ? obviously she can’t control him at all and there is a baby in the house . that kind of blind rage is exactly when he needs discipline, that way he realizes there are consequences for his actions. by giving him a pass , he’ll just feel free to do it again .
at that point by not calling the police , hospital , cahoots, whatever , you are putting that babies life in risk , he could throw one thing that hits an infant.
the way i look at it , you can have one kid safe and one getting help . if the courts find him unsafe, or unstable , it would be best for mom , baby and him to get help . not getting the police or courts involved could be life or death in this kind of blind rage
Agree re safety of others, hence comment that perhaps an in-patient facility is the right way.
Look we don't actually know the facts behind this case...but assuming what has been shared is true and this child behaved this way whilst off (and because he was off) of his psychiatric drugs, then this isn't about discipline. It's a mental health disorder that needs to be appropriately treated.
Let's play out the jail scenario. He's not going to jail for life. He'd get a short jail stint likely, if at all, during which time his mental health may or may not be addressed and he'd be exposed to the type of stuff that goes on in jails that is probably not particularly helpful to fostering a functioning member of society when he gets out. You exacerbate the situation. Not to mention he now is a felon at 15--good luck finding a job after that, even assuming he manages to get his mental health in order. Jail is just not the way.
Is he dangerous? Yes. Is he a child that also requires/deserves his mother's love and help? Also yes. These points aren't mutually exclusive. I agree staying at home is not a viable option. I think he needs to be checked into a mental health facility where his needs can be met.
The very obvious issue with my suggestion however is the lack of mental health resources.
Hopefully they have health insurance. I don’t even want to what what a bill for an in patient stay would cost. My mom has dementia and both my parents have health insurance yet it still costs 11k a month to house her locally.
635
u/Feisty_Bee9175 Aug 10 '24
Then she needs to call the cops and have him arrested. I don't care if he's off his meds...this is tens of thousands of dollars in damage. She has a small baby to take care of also.