Expert: Crystal - 9/8/2007

Question
My 12 year old son is obsessed with a local computer center. It is a place where kids hang out and play on-line games. I noticed a change in his personality whenever he comes back from there. He is a little more aggressive and he cries more. I don’t know if this can have something to do with puberty or if he is doing drugs there. I have come right out and asked him. Of course he is going to say no. I was thinking of having him tested. There are so many different types of drugs out there. I was trying to find the most common ones and I had no luck. I think I am mostly concerned because of the way he behaves when he is not allowed to go to the computer center. Could you just help me by telling me if I am over  reacting and he is behaving like a normal 12 year old boy and I should allow him to continue to go. I have showed up there unannounced to see if anything was going on and there wasn’t.

Thanks!


Answer
Tanya,

It is so hard on us as parents when our children hit this age because of what is out there today but he sounds like he could just be going through a lot of normal adolescent behaviors. I think it is a great idea that you pop up at the computer place unannounced from time to time and even even though he appear irritated he will thank you in the long run. You are doing good, keep it up.