DEAR ABBY: My fiancee has a 15-year-old son, "Jason," who spends countless hours in his room playing Xbox with his buddies. He is loud and obviously has fun, by the sound of it. However, when he comes out for meals, he doesn't communicate or answer questions like, "How was school?" or "What do you think of that?"
My fiancee and I don't live together. We see each other three times a year for two to three weeks at a time. My fiancee says Jason acts the same way whether I'm here or not. He isn't close with his dad, either.
Is this a phase that he will grow out of, or does he need professional help? We get along, but there is never much conversation. I ask questions to encourage interaction, but it hasn't been successful. -- FRUSTRATED IN MONTANA
DEAR FRUSTRATED: Whether Jason's going through a phase or not depends on whether he has always had poor verbal skills and ignored questions he was asked. He might be reluctant to answer because he's having problems socially or academically in school, or because the opinions you're asking for concern things he has never given much thought to.
Boys that age are sometimes less verbal than when they are older, and their dependence on social media has contributed to it. Teens who spend most of their time in the virtual world tend to have lower verbal abilities than those who spend less.
If you and your fiancee are truly concerned, she should talk about this with a counselor at Jason's school and ask if counseling or intervention of any kind is needed.