My 15-year-old son let his best friend (17) pierce his nipples while they were home alone with stuff they bought online. My son came to me afterwards to confess because “dad, what if it gets infected or something!!!” (post-thrill clarity?). Wasn’t mad (mainly disappointed); took him to a professional piercer & doctor to check it out and apparently the piercings were positioned well & there was no sign of infection, also got an aftercare plan. So I’m wondering now what? Obviously it was a dumb and reckless action but for some reason it doesn’t feel “groundable” to me. I feel like I should do something but also not really? We had a good open talk about everything though.
Agreed, grounding as a punishment seems wrong. Use it as an opportunity for developing his wisdom. He knows better now. And there was probably a little voice telling him before it happened that it was stupid. He should learn to listen to that voice. Tell him that even though you think it was reckless, that you are grateful for him coming to you and you know that it couldn’t have been easy.