Anonymous wrote:Counselor, immediately. There's some sort of issue, and you obviously don't know what's going on.
Family counselor, so that everyone can work through what the tween is doing (including the tween).
Nanny, grandparent, aunt, parent's friend or any other neutral party who can step in and help at home. The tween needs time to him/herself, time with the third party, and time with each parent. The third adult needs to make sure that the current discipline system works, and if it doesn't, figure out something that will. Parents needs to go along with whatever is decided.
Absolutely agree. This is not normal behavior for a child this age and if you do not get outside help ASAP, you will have the school and possibly eventually the cops involved, if your tween has anger management issues that are not handled now. Please do not put off getting professional help, and please don't try to handle this alone as a family.
Bear in mind, too, that the siblings getting hit and kicked are learning a lesson from it: Their parents are not able to protect them from someone who is harming them. Not a message you want to send. Even if you are pulling the tween off them and telling the tween to stop, the other siblings still will come to feel you aren't able to protect them. Counselor or therapist for the tween and family counseling so you get advice on how to handle this.
We have family friends who only now, in high school, are getting outside help for a teen who has long had anger issues that have really affected schooling and friendships. Don't wait -- it's harder as the kid gets older.
Please be aware that this isn't necessarily just "teen hormones" or a case for harsher discipline. You need to find out what deeper thing is going on.