It's tough love. The best thing to have done were to set forth what makes a healthy and happy adult from the day he was born and if he should move in the wrong direction in his teenager years he will come back to what's right because it was instilled in him. You can't start when they are a teenagers. Human personality normally sets around age 7. By that time the person have dedided what works in the way of getting their way etc. etc. and how they view the world and react to it. However it can be changed and moved in a different direction at such a tender age. If you have done those things throughout his formative years then you have nothing to worry about. He will thank you later.

And I'm not ashamed to say it but by pure accident I had one of those free Time Life cheap phones with a speaker in my bedroom and I can hear every conversation my daughters had on the phone when they were teenagers. And if it hadn't been for that I wouldn't have known how to trick them. LOL Sometimes parents have to do what parents have to do. And sometimes you have to let them take some lumps. Some of the things that you hear about how parents should do concerning teenagers I did out of pure shrewdness that did not provoke fights.

The only thing I can say is that remember that you are smarter than he is.   

P.S. Teenage boys have one thing on their minds. SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX Their hormones are raging! And another thing too. The girls are almost as bad and intice them at every turn.

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!! My daughter is 16 and an only child, but I have many teenagers in my life and a lot of gray hair, lol. My daughter knows everything, just ask her....I have learned that everything can't be major, you have to choose your battles or you are on their back constantly, and your nerves are shot and they go off with their friends like nothing happened...and most of all PRAY!!! My mom always says "This too shall pass" and I hope she's right, she raised three of us and we all turned out okay. My prayers are with you!!   Bama

Thanks for the words Tenaj and Nolottoinbama-I know I will get through it but boy is it rough going

I have a teenage girl who is 18 years old. She is beautiful, talented, funny and she making me pull out my hair because she is beautiful, talented, and funny and gosh - do the boys know beauty, talent and funny when they see it! It is just one boys she is "in love with" and that's enough to make me want to pull my hair out. I can barely concentrate on my NUMBERS!
But, I believe if they have always been a good kid...they will return to normal once those hormones settle down.