Shannon Needs Advice
Ok LJ pals, here's the deal:
You all know that I have been way involved in my second cousin, Seanie's life since he was a baby, including watching him a few times a week during the summer/ maybe once every two weeks during the semester, taking him out for museums and treats and such and generally enjoying the hell out of how hilarious he is. I have no problem with any of this as it's fun experience and he's a generally cute kid. However, this summer has been a whole new ball of wax. His sperm donor is locked up for assaulting his mom, his mom is supposedly clean and living at home with Sean and his grandparents and Sean is, well, a hand full and a half. The problem is that his behavior and language has surpassed the normal "a toddler acting out for attention" stuff and become sometimes quite disturbing.
He's frequently violent, like lashing out with full force with no provocation. (this hurts quite a bit as he is a very BIG kid)
He has taken to threatening to shoot people in the face with his "real gun", which will "rip their skin open"
He keeps telling us that he a) hates himself, b) is going to kill himself, c) is going to cut his skin up with scissors and d.) knows that god will punish him because he is a bad boy.
He repeatedly uses the N-word, talks about thug life and asks me to "do burnouts" when I am driving.
I tend to ignore the language, give time outs for violence, and reassure him that we love him very much and he is not a bad boy but that sometimes he engages in bad behavior. I always wondered where he picked a lot of the language up. Then, I found out that his mom watches movies with him all day. This Saturday, they watched The Devil's Rejects. I'm not really convinced that watching violent/scary movies leads to violence in kids, because, well, this non-violent person watched a lot of that stuff from around 10 on. However, I'm pretty sure that movies of that caliper are pretty bad for a 3 year old, as they can't grasp the line between fantasy and reality. I'm really concerned about his well being, especially given the suicide talk. His family is not open to the idea of therapy. What should I do?
You all know that I have been way involved in my second cousin, Seanie's life since he was a baby, including watching him a few times a week during the summer/ maybe once every two weeks during the semester, taking him out for museums and treats and such and generally enjoying the hell out of how hilarious he is. I have no problem with any of this as it's fun experience and he's a generally cute kid. However, this summer has been a whole new ball of wax. His sperm donor is locked up for assaulting his mom, his mom is supposedly clean and living at home with Sean and his grandparents and Sean is, well, a hand full and a half. The problem is that his behavior and language has surpassed the normal "a toddler acting out for attention" stuff and become sometimes quite disturbing.
He's frequently violent, like lashing out with full force with no provocation. (this hurts quite a bit as he is a very BIG kid)
He has taken to threatening to shoot people in the face with his "real gun", which will "rip their skin open"
He keeps telling us that he a) hates himself, b) is going to kill himself, c) is going to cut his skin up with scissors and d.) knows that god will punish him because he is a bad boy.
He repeatedly uses the N-word, talks about thug life and asks me to "do burnouts" when I am driving.
I tend to ignore the language, give time outs for violence, and reassure him that we love him very much and he is not a bad boy but that sometimes he engages in bad behavior. I always wondered where he picked a lot of the language up. Then, I found out that his mom watches movies with him all day. This Saturday, they watched The Devil's Rejects. I'm not really convinced that watching violent/scary movies leads to violence in kids, because, well, this non-violent person watched a lot of that stuff from around 10 on. However, I'm pretty sure that movies of that caliper are pretty bad for a 3 year old, as they can't grasp the line between fantasy and reality. I'm really concerned about his well being, especially given the suicide talk. His family is not open to the idea of therapy. What should I do?