Reduce Idle Time

The last thing a troubled teenage boy needs is idle time on his hands. When he's not in school, he needs to have plenty of things to do! Where you live will have a lot to do with the type of options you have available to you, but here are some ideas.

 

If there are other kids in your home, or if you or your spouse enjoy playing board games, have a regularly scheduled board game night! It's a great time to build relationships, to learn to get along with people, to learn to be both a better winner and a better loser.

If you have a big yard, give your son the task of being the property manager. In that role, give him a list of things he's in charge of. For example, he could be in charge of keeping the hedges trimmed. And he shouldn't have to be told every time it needs to be done. He needs to set an alarm or keep a calendar or do something to remind himself of keeping up with this task. Perhaps his job could be to grow and weed a garden. Or to make sure the family pet is fed, watered, and bathed on a regular basis. What I'm saying is, your son will feel better about himself if he has a responsibility he's expected to do a good job with, and where he is supposed to supervise himself. Of course, it would help if he knew there would be occasional, unscheduled checkup on his work and that when those checkups were done, if he had everything up to par, he would get a reward, and if things weren't up to par he would receive some correction.

Another idea is to help him develop a hobby. Preferably one he could make money off of, so you could also teach him how to save and set goals for his future. 

See if there are some volunteer opportunities your son can take advantage of. He may be able to help out at a food bank, a hospital, a nursing home, or even at a local church.

There's an old saying that an idle mind is the devil's workshop. That has been proven true time and time again. Keep that boy busy and you'll have a lot less problems with him.