Q: My ex-husband and I have pretty much fifty-fifty custody of our 15-year-old son, who has become infected with his father’s disrespect for me. When he’s with me, he makes it very clear that he does not want to be here. He refuses to do anything I tell him to do or accept any attempt at discipline from me, curses at me, and even pushes me on occasion. I believe his father is a very bad influence, which is the only reason I continue to exercise my custody rights. Is there anything I can do to remedy this situation?
A: I seriously doubt it. That very blunt answer is based on lots of experience serving as a court-appointed expert in custody and visitation disputes, as well as a good amount of experience doing post-divorce counseling with parents.
If your son was at least five years younger, you might be able to exercise a reasonable amount of effective discipline over him while he was with you and counterbalance your ex-husband’s influence in the process. But I give that zero chance of happening with a 15-year-old who, assuming you are representing matters accurately, has been successfully manipulated into weapon his father can use against you.
Being very clear that you have done nothing to justify this sort of treatment, a 15-year-old who curses and pushes an adult female qualifies as an abuser. Furthermore, your son is highly likely to transfer his abusive attitude and behavior to future relationships with women. More immediately, however, he is also likely to escalate his mistreatment of you as time goes on. Given that you describe a father who is encouraging his son’s disrespect, you are already at significant risk of further physical harm.
You need to protect yourself. The only way to do that, I’m sorry to say, is for you to do what your son wants you to do: stop requiring him to spend time with you. He has, after all, reached the age at which most family courts would allow him significant voice, if not final say, on the issue of his custody. In light of his anger toward you, I encourage you to pull back completely. Give him plenty of time and space to cool off, but don’t expect that to happen any time soon. Don’t even call him. Simply tell him that you love him and are going to always be there for him, if he should ever want a relationship.
The problem, of course, is a father who does not teach that one of the primary virtues of valid masculinity is respect for women. The reality is that your son’s attitude toward you is not likely to improve until he’s old enough to understand that he’s being manipulated. I give this advice knowing that for you to follow it will involve considerable pain, even guilt. If my experience serves me well, however, it will involve far less pain than if you were to continue to take responsibility for something that is not your doing and try to fix something only your son can fix, if he ever decides to.
