To force DS to go to karate?

[Kushanku]

DS is 11 and has been doing karate for 3 years. He reached his blue belt and then quit. Since he quit he has done nothing but sit on the PC night after night. He is putting on weight and is having a bit of bother from other kids at his new secondary school (not because of his weight).

I told him he would be going back to karate tonight for fitness purposes, to get him back amongst the land of the living and to improve his confidence again. He's dead against it and really, really doesn't want to go.

To be fair, the kids at the karate club are not exactlyy nice to him either, they rip the piss out of him, call him a sissy/girl and randomly punch and kick him.

... Ok after writing that last sentance I can quite see I'm being unreasonable to make him go back into that environment but he seems to attract this treatment no matter where he goes - I think he may have aspergers or something but AIBU to want to toughen him up a bit??!

I think you need to tackle the possible aspergers first, tbh

The karate club sounds appalling. But lots of kids want to drop former hobbies when they get to Y7, that's perfectly normal. Lots of Y7 boys want to do nothing more than sit in front of a games console, that's perfectly normal. (I have a Y7 ds!)

Does the school run any afterschool activities, and how would your ds feel about doing them? If you're concerned about exercise, theres tennis, badminton etc - all sorts of other things besides the macho team games. Drama club? But if he really, really doesn't want to I would'nt force it.

If he likes drama do you think he would like dance as well? That would be good exercise and discipline without getting into all that macho regimented stuff that puts him off sport.