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Originally Posted by Plantman
Other than his laziness and general apathy, I have never had any problems with him We hardly ever argue, only on the those issues.
He behaves very well and is respectful for the most part, which makes it hard for me to do what I did.
I believe a kid needs a spanking once in awhile and years ago, he and his father must have spoken and that topic was brought up. The father called up my wife saying that he didn't want me to discipline his kid. I respected his wishes and never laid a hand on him, although he is intimidated by me physically. In fact, I kind of sat back and let my wife deal with him unless he got out of hand.
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After raising three teenage boys and being heavily involved with a couple of nephews as well, I can claim a little insight on the subject of them. In teenage boys that are the children of divorce, laziness and apathy are caused by depression and self pity. Deep down inside, the kid is saying - what's the use? Life never works out for me anyway. This causes poor school work, and lack of motivation. On top that, he smokes pot - they all do - and it makes it even worse. These are all things that add up to one thing - the only one who has the cure is the kid himself. If he is suddenly faced with the enormity of living life on his own or in less comfortable surroundings, he may get the idea that life has a purpose after all - keeping oneself alive. You give him a taste of real life, and then he may be more amenable to going back to school and flying right. If you talk to his dad, you might find out he has already figured this out and you can all just dump him into real life all at once. Drop the kid off at a homelesss shelter, make sure he has some quarters to give you a call.