My son is having a difficult time - especially at school. He’s struggling educationally but especially with friends and friendships. If I try to bring the subject up with my friends I get the ‘boys will be boys’ phraseology whenever I bring it up, as if we’ll somehow grow out of this ‘stage’. I find it really hard to get people to take my concerns seriously.
He says things like ‘I hate my life’ and ‘I don’t want friends’. It breaks my heart. His teachers have shared the same concerns about his friendships. He is impulsive and can make some really poor decisions. I hate to see him struggling. I’ve been in regular contact with the school but feel like I’m always being fobbed off. I’ve tried putting it down to him being young and immature and people keep telling me it’s a ‘stage’ and ‘he’ll grow out of it’. But he’s not. And I’m really worried about how he’s struggling and how it’s affecting his mental health. I’m wondering if maybe ADHD might be a consideration but I don’t know how to approach this - through the school? Through the doctor? How do I help him? Parents of his school friends have been really cutting - talking about his bad behaviour to other parents but yet not talking to me about it (even though I try so hard to engage with them). I just want to make things easy for my son and I’ll do whatever it takes to get him the support that he needs. What can I do?