I’m facing a serious situation in Illinois where my 8-year-old son has been hurting his half-sisters, ages 3 and 1, during my parenting time. Despite my efforts to spend quality time with him, he continues to push, hit, and taunt them. He justifies his behavior by referencing kids hurting others at school and the recent abusive relationship his mom was in. I’m really concerned for my daughters’ safety and mental well-being. What legal steps should I take? I don’t want to lose my parenting time, but I need to ensure their safety.
You need to ensure that he is not in contact with them. Get him into therapy and consider arranging your custody visits in a separate location.
Therapy is crucial, especially if there’s a connection to domestic violence in his mother’s past. You might need to spend parenting time with him outside of the house to ensure safety for your daughters.
You can modify the custody order to include therapy. Setting strict boundaries is important, and therapy could help uncover the reasons for his behavior.
You don’t need to modify the order to seek therapy unless there are joint medical decisions involved. Courts generally support positive co-parenting without needing to clog the court’s schedule.
It’s critical to address this behavior now. Consider involving professionals who can help mediate the situation.