How do I discipline my son's girlfriend?

[DevoteC]

I have been talking with my son who will be 18 in May. There is this girl who does not respect me or my family. She keeps calling my son late at night or any time. I told my son that he needs to take it slow and think when it comes to his dating. This girl is a non-Catholic. Am I in sin if I was kind of having anger for a short time after talking with this girl’s mom and telling her that, if her daughter wants to date my son, she needs to call him before 11 PM? I told her mom that it isn’t polite and her daughter had no manners when she kept calling my sister’s place trying to talk with my son at midnight. I thanked her mother, then hung up.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

It seems to me that you should be taking more of an interest in your son and his behavior than in this girl and her behavior. If your son is taking calls at midnight and disturbing the family, then it is he who needs to face the consequences of his behavior. If he does not turn off his cell phone at a reasonable hour, turn it off yourself and ground him from using it until he can demonstrate personal responsibility. If he does not make clear to his friends that he is not available for calls after your curfew, then ground him from seeing them until he does. If he gives out family phone numbers without permission, thereby opening family to nuisance calls that they cannot stop, require him to pay the charges for changing the phone numbers.

If your son is meeting your expectations and doing the best he can to control his social life, but he still receives nuisance calls from friends who will not respect the rules he must follow, then you can call those friends’ parents and politely warn them that you will be contacting the police if their child does not stop harassing your son. But you should not presume to tell these parents that their child has no manners.