obsession with cliff

[gma8]

we live on a bluff overlooking our city...our yard is completely surrounded by a  5 foot wrought iron fence.  here is the issue, our 8 year grandson stays at our house during day after school   his mother(our daughter) is constantly smothering him with restrictions so that he will not get hurt.  now he is obsessing about jumping off our cliff...talks to other kids about it and even says he could get his 4 year old brother to do it. I think it is to get a rise out of people.  funny thing is that he does not talk to us about it... his behavior is defiant in that other kids will do their chores, he will not.  he does not have a lot of friends from school and rarely has a play date like the other kids(3).  I think the mother and child should have therapy so that the 8 year can learn to make good choices.

[margypops]

Does his Mom think he needs therapy ,maybe he is just bragging about the cliff, best to ignore it as if he thinks he is getting attention saying he would like to jump off  if you say nothing maybe he will give up talking about it ..Perhaps he sees the younger sibling getting more attention from you, and he wants some.Focus on his positive side and praise him when you see him doing something right,.very often the older child does get less attention than the younger sibling, it creates a jealousy ..good luck