8 year old boy

[shoesoff]

My son turned 8 last September and since his birthday he has become very difficult.  He went from being the nice kid in class to being one of the bad kids.  I have had parent/teacher and parent/principal meetings.  He is no longer getting into trouble but he constantly tells me he hates school.  He started hating school before he was getting into trouble in class.  He has gotten to the point were he cries about things.  His newest phase is that he is afraid of the dark and does not want to sleep in his room by himself.  There are two night lights and a desk light on in his room.  Also, I keep his bathroom light on and his door open.  Tonight it took me over a hour and a half to get him to go to bed because he kept crying about being alone in the dark.  I finally got so fed up that I let him cry in his room by himself.  I need some suggestions.  It is very frustrating trying to convince him that there is nothing to be afraid of and with all of the other problems we have had the last few months I have run out of ideas.

[SL345]

Kids behavior changes for a reason and his behavior means something.Tell him that his behavior tells you that something is bothering him. Make time to talk to him when things are calm, not during an upset. Ask him is he has any ideas about it.  If not, suggest some possibilities. What do you mean by "all of the other problems we have had the last few months?" It's hard to know what might be going on internally with him without engaging him in a discussion. In thinking about what might be stressing him, what do you come up with? School demands and expectations increase around this time of year. Is there anything going on with peers? You need to work on him communicating more of what he's thinking and feeling. If, for some reason, he doesn't feel he can tell you, maybe he'd be willing to talk to the school psychologist or a private counselor. Good luck.