Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Kyle's dad here:
Kyle's final court date was yesterday for his "spring fling" last May. They dropped the possession of marijuana charge, and the disturbing the peace charge if he pled guilty to theft and assault. He got credit for time served, and is done. So, overall, I think he has one shoplifting, one theft, and two assaults. He doesn't have the drug charges which would pretty much prevent him from receiving educational financial aid in the future, and probably preclude him from military service.
We talked about his future on the way back from court. He is very insistent about wanting to join the service. He really wants the Chaplain's assistant position in either the Air Force or the Army. I doubt very much he will qualify for that position given his criminal record, but we'll see what they say.
I have worried a lot about how he'll do in the service, and the closest example I can think of is the time he spent in jail. He didn't just survive, he thrived. He made friends, stayed out of trouble, and did very well with that structured environment. For this reason, I think he may do extremely well in the service.
I am pushing him to do SOMETHING, I don't care what it is. School is out at this time, until he decides to take his meds regularly, he won't be able to handle school. It will be the same struggles he's had since grade school. I have offerred to help him find a job in a trade. He immediately dismisses this, planning to enter the military. I am going to push him to do something - he'll put it off forever and and up doing nothing but make it harder to pass his drug tests in the future. If he decides on the service, I'm going to see if he can ship out within the next few weeks. If not, I'm going to see if we can get him training on a trade next week. I don't want him to have the time to sit around and get into trouble. And if he has nothing to do, he WILL get in trouble.
Do my statements and my motivation sound selfish? Do I just want to get rid of him? I think it's more a situation of wanting him to get on with his life, and start to accomplish SOMETHING.
Kyle's final court date was yesterday for his "spring fling" last May. They dropped the possession of marijuana charge, and the disturbing the peace charge if he pled guilty to theft and assault. He got credit for time served, and is done. So, overall, I think he has one shoplifting, one theft, and two assaults. He doesn't have the drug charges which would pretty much prevent him from receiving educational financial aid in the future, and probably preclude him from military service.
We talked about his future on the way back from court. He is very insistent about wanting to join the service. He really wants the Chaplain's assistant position in either the Air Force or the Army. I doubt very much he will qualify for that position given his criminal record, but we'll see what they say.
I have worried a lot about how he'll do in the service, and the closest example I can think of is the time he spent in jail. He didn't just survive, he thrived. He made friends, stayed out of trouble, and did very well with that structured environment. For this reason, I think he may do extremely well in the service.
I am pushing him to do SOMETHING, I don't care what it is. School is out at this time, until he decides to take his meds regularly, he won't be able to handle school. It will be the same struggles he's had since grade school. I have offerred to help him find a job in a trade. He immediately dismisses this, planning to enter the military. I am going to push him to do something - he'll put it off forever and and up doing nothing but make it harder to pass his drug tests in the future. If he decides on the service, I'm going to see if he can ship out within the next few weeks. If not, I'm going to see if we can get him training on a trade next week. I don't want him to have the time to sit around and get into trouble. And if he has nothing to do, he WILL get in trouble.
Do my statements and my motivation sound selfish? Do I just want to get rid of him? I think it's more a situation of wanting him to get on with his life, and start to accomplish SOMETHING.
