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To me, this is not fair to the younger boy and actually, I think, unfair to the older.


Why should the younger lose his stuff, when he did not act out? And why should the older boy see that the younger gets punished, for acts that are his alone? It seems to me, this would be a roundabout way for older son to get at younger son, to see him punished for misdeeds that were acts of older son. You are rewarding misbehavior in this way, I think.


I would make sure it is only older son who gets the consequences. This to me would be fair.Well, that seems to be a trigger.


What about stopping the reading and making it clear it will not resume until there is peace between the two?


Is there the possibility of family therapy? It sounds like a "family system" issue.


Is the younger son reading? What if the boys take turns being the reader for their father? So each one can be responsible for part of the story?


There is famous psychology research on cooperation called The Jigsaw Classroom. One of the writers was Elliot Aronson. You should find it summarized on the internet. It took a tack such as this. Making every child responsible for a piece.


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