Hi, I have a 15yr old son who came out to us about 3yrs ago. We always suspected it. At that stage we used to monitor his phone and there was a conversation between he and a friend saying I don’t know how to tell my parents. It took hours for him to pluck up the courage to tell us and he was crying and we were playing guessing games and when he told my husband my husband said oh is that all, can we go to Mardi gra. We asked him if he wanted us to tell his brother who was three years older. His brothers response was ‘yeah I know, he likes dancing and can I go back to playing my games now’. Our family is extremely open and supportive of the LBTQI community. I admit I cried when I got to work the next day not because he was gay but because I was scared for him as some people are just awful. All my work friends were supportive and are supportive of the LBTQI community. We have been open and supportive and he is confident with his sexuality. He asked to go to Mardi gra with his friends from his new school land I said no initially as I thought my husband and I were away that night but I said no out of fear of him being in a space where he could be vulnerable and us being so far away. I had to stop reading social media posts over the Mardi gra weekend as I was disgusted and saddened with some of the comments people wrote about the LBTQI community. My eldest son stopped talking to a friend last year and I asked why they had a falling out and he told me he found out that friend was making fun of his brother with other friends behind his back and talking in a bay voice. While I was saddened that the friendship ended I was proud of my son for sticking up for his brother despite him being aware of what was going on. Continue to love, encourage and support your child. Be open with them about the minority groups and that them people don’t matter. ... View more

My son has his interview today. He was very nervous and shy but he asked that I leave the room while he did his PowerPoint presentation and they thought it was a great presentation and showed initiative and he was offered a place at the school to begin next year in year 10. They only start at that school from year 10. I had some happy tears as he has had such a rough couple of years recovering from a traumatic incident which led to self harm, a suicide attempt, ongoing depression and anxiety. Now we just have to get through the remainder of year 9 but with holidays in between and some work experience he has planned in a nursing home (he wants to do nursing post school) there’s not that actually that many schools weeks left and at least he knows that it isn’t forever and he has the pot of food waiting at the end ... View more

Thank you for the article. I will have a look through this and discuss with him and practice what he can say He has made a power point to highlight why he would like to go to that school. He was thinking outside the box so may show some initiative, fingers crossed ... View more

My son is linked in with the child you mental health team but he first engage in counselling. He doesn’t see the point of it and they find him difficult to engage in therapy as he doesn’t like talking. His school counsellor also said he has the same issue and he isnt good for talk therapy. We are looking at another school which he found himself which is a fantastic school that focuses on their interests and goals/careers goals and set the curriculum around that but there’s no guarantee he will get it in as it’s a private school. He did an interview over zoom and because he isn’t a big communicator they said he didn’t seem enthusiastic but they are giving him another opportunity with a face to face interview. He would absolutely thrive there I’m sure but he needs to sell himself during the interview ... View more

I can’t offer any advice but I am dealing with the same issue with my 15 year old son which is why I came to this site. My son goes but it’s a battle every single day and when he’s at school he doesn’t attend classes much and prefers to sit down near the deputy and do his work but the school can’t sustain that ... View more