Dear Queenie,
My teenage son is going out with a girl who threatens to hurt herself if he doesn’t do what she wants, like answer his calls right away. She even sent him a picture of herself holding her father’s gun pointed at her head.
I called the girl’s mother to tell her about all this, but she just thought I was saying she is a bad mother.
Queenie, what should I do about all this?—Worried mother
Dear Mother,
You, or even a professional counsellor, should explain to your son what emotional blackmail is and how it should be dealt with.
This girl apparently has serious emotional problems that your son is not able to deal with. He should break up with her to protect himself, and hope her mother will then get her the professional help she badly needs.
