Seriously Abusive 5 year old son.

My Oldest son has always been my toughest child. I have 4 he's the 2nd oldest. Lately his behaviors have been on a very abusive level. about a month ago while we were playing freeze tag he threw his 3 year old brother to floor and led my 3 year to needing 4 stitches. I know that boy rough house but he is taking things to far just tonight my 3 year old came running out of their room screaming that his brother poked him with a pen, when i got him to calm down and show me what happen i saw 3 large cut/scrapes on his eye lid!!! my 5 year old stabbed the 3 year old with a pen 3 times! my 3 year old is fine he can see he has the cuts and thats all, but I'm now afraid to let my 5 year old around my two youngest (3&1). He's 5! what can i do?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You are absolutely right - keep him under eyeball supervision. Beyond that, confer with his pediatrician about having him evaluated bya child psychiatrist or a pediatric clinicial psychologist. Such aggressive behavior is outside the norm for his age and invites professional evaluation.