How to help 9 year old son who inappropriately touched boys

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Feb 25 2018, 5:40 am

My 9-year-old knows about body privacy. He seems to be careful about it at home. On the other hand, he does touch his own private parts at times, saying he's uncomfortable. I just got a call from the school that they found out he and 2 other boys were touching each other near the school. This happened about a month ago. It happened several times. He is also having difficulty with his teacher and is failing his tests and misbehaving. Some more background: I'm divorced for about 1 1/2 years. His father remarried a year ago. Overall, he is a sunshine, lively, bright boy. He's fun to be with and fun to talk to. I have been seeing he is more edgy lately but this does not seem to correlate to a month ago when this happened.

Any ideas how to go about helping a child with these issues? Could play therapy be helpful? I would appreciate any constructive advice about this, how to understand it, how to help him, what you found helpful with children this age with any similar issues. Thank you very much.

imasinger

Sun, Feb 25 2018, 6:07 am

It does sound as if he might benefit from a therapist.

Your observation that he is failing tests, misbehaving, and "edgy" is concerning. It could be many things.

Divorce is traumatic, difficult school situations are traumatic, and you'll want to rule out whether anyone has coerced him or molested him.

Do you have a good resource for names of therapists?

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Feb 25 2018, 6:35 am

What type of therapist could be helpful for this age?

I am currently in Jerusalem but hoping to move near family in New York. Do you have recommendations for this age in either place?

The school sent him home for a day or two. He is sad and so am I. He told me that he learned that lies always get revealed and he thought this would not be revealed, and now he sees it is.

losingweight

Sun, Feb 25 2018, 8:37 am

Your son needs help fast. The fact that it bothers him that his actions got "revealed " should raise a lot of red flags. He would probably benefit from a trauma therapist.

heidi

Tue, Feb 27 2018, 7:35 am

Your son is acting out in many ways, zexually among them. There's no way to know why until you take him to a therapist. You need someone who specializes in zexual molesters.
Feel free to PM me for a more thorough explanation.

anonymrs

Tue, Feb 27 2018, 9:48 pm

losingweight wrote:

Your son needs help fast. The fact that it bothers him that his actions got "revealed " should raise a lot of red flags. He would probably benefit from a trauma therapist.

Where did op say this?