What do you think?

[Rhea Engler]

Do you think it is "normal" for a 15 year old boy to text a friend "Do you ever think about killing your parents?"

As far as I know there are no major ongoing issues in the family. The boy is praised by his teachers, does well in school, has a large circle of friends, is involved in music and other activities and gets along with his siblings and his parents. He's pretty even-tempered with an occasional flare of anger shown.

Is this the kind of thing kids might just say for "shock value" these days??? Do even healthy well-adjusted adolescents really think things like this at times or would a young man be disturbed to voice such a thing? Is this a sign that help should be sought? (Note: he sent this message to a friend and did not know it would be shared with an adult)

[Mike Bradley]

Dear Parent,
I'm afraid that the answer to your questions will be in your kid's eyes when you ask him directly about this, which you must do.
The odds are that this statement only represents the "normal craziness" that occurs in even well-adjusted kids heads at times (particularly these days) but you can't risk making an assumption like that.
I'm guessing this raises issues of confidentiality for you but your son needs to know that when death and dying issues are involved, there cannot be any confidentiality.
Please let us know how this plays out.