T.J. lives with his mother, his stepfather, and his sister during the week and with his dad and his dad’s girlfriend on the weekends. T.J.’s parents are very combative with each other, and Mr. Wilkins is noticing a lot of emotional outbursts and behavior problems with T.J. on Mondays and Fridays especially. Mr. Wilkins knows he needs to talk with T.J.’s family, but he isn’t quite sure how to approach them or whom to approach first. What should Mr. Wilkins do in this situation to help T.J.?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Talk with the principal or school counselor/social worker to get advice on how best to approach the situation.
Ask the school counselor to observe T.J. and talk with him privately.
Ask for a conference with T.J.’s mother and stepfather as well as his father, but schedule these on different days.
Have the counselor join the conference with parents and share his or her observations/recommendations for helping T.J.
Research different types of parenting plans that can be used to help children and have this ready to share with T.J.’s family.
Create a parent journal or notebook to help record and share information about T.J.’s well-being in school with both sides of the family.
Provide names of family counselors and other community resources that help families deal with divorce and remarriage/blended-family experiences.
Keep lines of communication open by staying neutral about ongoing family conflict. Help keep the family’s focus on helping T.J.