Withdrawing from school

[MomInFLA]

Dear Doc
My son is dropping out of school and wants to go for his GED. He didnt come home after school yesterday (Friday) called at 8 pm and said hewas sleeping by a friends and its Saturday and I havent heard from him. Do I just let him do all these things? Get it out of his system. Now I feel like I have lost all control. My family wants to go on a cruise but I dont want to leave him in my house alone. I dont want all of our lives to suffer because of him. Scared My daughters friend (22) just died last week of an oversdose Drinking and Xanax She dated him and is devastated. Im scared for my son

[Mike Bradley]

Dear Mom,
Please quickly get in touch with an adolescent therapist to better advise you after getting a full history on your family.
For now I would do the following:
-check with your local police to see how your state's laws work regarding a runaway 16-year-old. For now, do not report him.
-get a message to your son that you are willing to consider allowing him to temporarily stay at the friend's house (if you feel it is a safe place) IF he returns home to negotiate this. If he refuses, and the law allows, I would tell him that your only remaining option to keep him safe would be to have him arrested as a runaway, and that you do NOT want to do that.
-if he still refuses, and the law allows, you must have him picked up as a runaway. This is to send the message that he is not yet an adult, and that he needs to deal with his parents.
Finally, I would condsider not doing a cruise at this point, until you get a handle on what is happening with this kid. As always, keep calmly saying that you want to find a goodway out of this for everyone, and push for the family counseling. The only real solutions are there.
Good luck.