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Parental Control: leading to mental abuse?

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Well, this is a very long complicated story, but I'll try to just give the neccesary logistics. My boyfriend, which is synonymous with best friend, cannot handle living in his house anymore. His mother died from cancer four or five years back, and emotionally, he hasn't been the same. His father remarried, and his stepmother is someone who has has known his whole life - just not in a role that affected him. She seems so nice becasue she is involved with the schools, and volunteers to help out ; but this isn't her first motivation. She's very much so a control freak. She likes to control her kitchen, her house and her children. Which, wouldn't be a problem. Annoying maybe, but not an issue. But she tries to control her stepson too. Obvously he still has ill feelings towards her for many reasons, but she effectively controls everything he does. As a seventeen year old, I feel he should be able to go to other friend's houses, to have friends and grow socially. His stepmother threatens him with taking away his ride to work; (an internship at a lab which he needs for both a summer job and as a path towards a future career) and the only way she punishes him is to keep him locked in his house. Even with all this information, I myself might not think it to be so big of a deal. Some people are control freaks. But I know him, and I see how she affects him, how he is deteriorating as a person, and losing his fun spirit that I love. He just can't stand his family, and the way its lost the love and feelings it used to have. His dad has become a complete pushover, ruled by her, and doesn't come to his aid at all, not as someone to talk to and not as someone to help him, I'm 16, which I know may turn some adults to sneer at this, but he will be 17 in two weeks, and we're both juniors in high school. It just doesn't seem fair to me that something so simple as staying happy should be so difficult. My father does like him, and knows his family and situation. He thinks he should file for some kind of mental abuse for the stress she puts him under, and how it affects his school and etc. I don't think he knows how to do this, or where to begin. He's thinking of running away. I don't want him to lose the opportunities like a great school, great job and everything of what he now has. How can I help him? What should he do?