Dear Family Coach: My son is in sixth grade, and has a girlfriend. Their relationship mostly consists of texts and an occasional movie date. He likes the girl, but he doesn’t communicate very well over text. Recently, the girl’s mother approached me asking whether I could tell her daughter that I took my son’s phone away so she wouldn’t be upset that he didn’t text her back for a few days. She also asked me to talk to my son to encourage him to text more often. I’m at a loss. What should I do? — Stuck
Dear Stuck: I guess I shouldn’t be shocked about the degree to which some parents will go to protect their children from even the slightest discomfort. Yet I am. A good barometer of a child being ready to date is whether he or she is able to handle the ups and downs of a relationship. This girl, or at least her mother, isn’t ready.
Parents should not be intervening in their children’s dating relationships. The most important issue isn’t shielding this young girl because her boyfriend (if you can even call it that) isn’t communicating enough. What’s more relevant is teaching both of them what responsible and thoughtful dating looks like. Now seems like a good time to teach this girl that if a boy isn’t texting you back, he probably isn’t that interested in you. Tell her mother that you won’t interfere. Request that she allow her daughter to speak with your son to assess whether he is still interested in dating. If she isn’t receptive to helping her daughter understand dating, don’t enable her inappropriate interventions.
Updated: Fri Jun 16, 2017
Source: Dear Family Coach