I have a friend named Timothy. He went to a good school, and have nice friends there. He was a kid at heart. He was decent Christian and he always knew how to have fun. But Timothy had a problem: oppressive parents. These parents would make him do anything that they thought would give him an edge in life, even at the cost of his own happiness. In seventh grade, He missed exactly one day of school. I didn't find out why he missed it until the end of that year: he had his TAMS interview that day.
(TAMS is a program which you take for 2 years in 11& 12th grade to gain 2 years credit for college. You have to live at the dorms of the school.)
We were really surprised, he was only in seventh grade and he wanted to go to TAMS in eighth grade. Actually, it wasn't so much him as it was his parents. Strangest thing was, he was ACCEPTED, except the interviewer strongly suggested he wait at least another year.
The next year, he applied again. This time, he accepted and went to TAMS in his freshmen year.
He wasn't ready. Anyone who knew him thought that he didn't have the right personality for college. He was still just a kid, and a place filled with juniors and seniors had quite an impact on him. He didn't spend his time working as hard as he should have. He was too tempted by the fun things to do elsewhere to really care that much about his grades anymore. And his grades began to slip... but what really changed things, in my opinion was a computer game... he started having friends online that weren't so nice people. He began to cuss... online at first, and then offline, too.
And things went downhill from there. That spring, his parents pulled him out of tams because he was going to fail, and they didn't want to waste their time and money. Since then, he has been taking classes at the community college and plans to go to UT sometime in the future.
He's changed a lot. No longer, is Timothy the happy, almost heyper person he once was. He cusses like a sailor and thinks of nothing else but the boredom that he has been experiencing ever since his parents tightened up control on him. No internet. He's quit piano after over 6 years, which he is really good at. He's exhausted almost of the fun things to do at his house, including playing with his brother and their gamecube. He just sits around all day and hopes for an escape.
And that's what he does. This break he has "ran" away from home no fewer than three times. His parents have called the police and made him come back. He's gone completely "out there". He wants to run away constantly and is bored to death by the oppresiveness. And he wont return to school for two more weeks.
What did he do wrong? What made him change? I think his parents (and himself to a point) tried to push him too far too fast. But he's closed up pretty much now, we can only guess...
All I can do for him right now is tell you this, as ask you to pray for him. He wouldn't listen to reason, good or bad, and he has tried to run away again(unsuccessful)
Please Pray for Timothy