Son giving away money to friends
My 12 year old son has epilepsy which has become uncontrolled since December 2025 so he is under it at the moment. He has a savings cash tin that he puts all of his birthday, Xmas and pocket money in. The cash tin is in his room and he has the key to it. It's to buy things for himself such as a new XBox game or something new he has seen. Previously he would never really spend the money and there was close to £700 in there as he just never wants to spend it. I told him to get his tin out so I could put money in there that his grandparents gave him. He was apprehensive and wouldn't get it out. So got the tin out myself. A good chunk of the notes where gone around £260 was missing. I asked him where the money had gone and he told me that his friends at school had been asking him for money for snacks for after school. I didn't even realise that he took his money in to school and I would have thought he would never give his friends money. I told him to text all of his friends and tell them to return the money. We made a list of all the people that had had money off him and the list is very long and around 16 people all having £20 here £30 there, all mounting to £260 which rallies up with the amount of money missing. I asked him why he was giving these friends money and he said because they needed it. He went to bed and 1 of his friends text me stating that he didn't ask for money and that my son just gave it him even though he insisted he didn't want it. He also said there is other people he gives money to and he said he does it as other kids bully him and say nasty comments to him. I told him I wanted all of the money back. I am not happy with myself for not picking this up and checking his cash tin on a regular basis but also I am annoyed with the school as my child is vulnerable and it seems he is being bullied at school whilst in their care and he is already vulnerable with his epilepsy. I have gone through his phone messages and on two occasions these friends are asking him for money and saying it's the last time they will ask for it as they need to buy stuff with the money. My son has then given them the money and they have not paid it back. It seems my son has been taken advantage of and that he is buying friendship. I am literally about to pull him out of school as there has been no end of issues which they hardly ever sort out. Any advice on how to navigate this? My son is an only child and loves to socialise and I think he is trying to buy friends so he isn't lonely but I don't want him to feel that way.