Member-only story
Hell Child
Living with a conduct disorder
The telephone rings. The school — again. Now what? Does this happen to you? Calls from the principal complaining that your child is truant, picking fights, or destroying school property? It’s possible your child suffers from a Conduct Disorder.
My stepson, MB, suffered from a conduct disorder. At age eleven, his mother put him on a bus from Houston and called us thirty minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive in our town. He’d gotten caught stealing money from a teacher’s purse at school, and it was the last straw. The school gave her a choice — get him out of their district or they were sending him to jail. Now keep in mind, I only heard her side of the story.
His father and I met him at the bus station. The child arrived with nothing except the clothes on his back — literally. He wasn’t even wearing shoes. Thus began my education on conduct disorders.
Life became a complex challenge dealing with MB’s acting out without being overly harsh or allowing our younger children to think his behavior was acceptable. I visited MB’s classroom. If I was…
