Jenelle Evans is speaking out about son Jace’s struggles following multiple instances of the 14-year-old running away from home. The Teen Mom 2 alum took to TikTok Wednesday to respond to the social media backlash she faced for going on a California trip amid reports that Jace has been reported missing from their North Carolina home multiple times in the past two weeks.
“A lot of my son’s actions is being pinned against me and I’m getting a lot of hate, a lot of comments,” the former MTV personality explained. “It just keeps going and going and going.” Jenelle recently regained custody of her eldest son in March after Jace spent years under the custody of his grandmother, Barbara Evans. Jenelle is also mom to 9-year-old son Kaiser with her ex, Nathan Griffith, and 6-year-old daughter Ensley with husband David Eason.
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“My son has been having a hard time for the past two, three years,” Jenelle continued in her TikTok. “None of this has gone public because we’re trying to keep his privacy. Me and my mom, when she gave me custody, she’s like, ‘Oh we’re just getting along, I’m just gonna give Jenelle back [custody].’ Well, there was a big reason behind why I got him back.”
While Jenelle said she wouldn’t go into the “big reason” in order to respect Jace’s privacy, she continued, “I will say one thing, monitor your kids’ phones,” calling Snapchat a “bad” app for kids her son’s age and calling Jace’s relationship with his phone like an “addiction.” She continued, “My son is fine. He’s healthy and he’s safe. Due to my son’s mental health, none of this is going to be shared and I don’t really want to go into detail with anything. So if you can kindly give us the privacy, give my son the privacy, right now, I’d appreciate it.”
Jace was reported as a runaway on Aug. 15 but was later located by police. At the time, Jenelle released a statement via her manager reading, “As a boy mom, kids can act up and rebel as I’m sure the majority of us all once did as kids too. Jace got in trouble at school, we decided to take his phone away, and that’s when he decided to run off.” She continued, “Jace is a good kid and we’re not dealing with anything that most families don’t deal with while raising children. This has absolutely nothing to do with my situation with David. We do not argue in front of our children or fight in front of our kids. This is a teenage boy being a teenager who’s mad that we decided to take his phone away.”
Less than two weeks later, Jace was reported as missing again and was one again located by police. “Jace was out roaming the property like he usually does,” Jenelle’s manager said to E! News in a statement Tuesday. “He went off to the gas station, without telling Jenelle. … The family is fine. Nothing to be alarmed about. Jace is a teenager finding his independence, wanting a bit more freedom, and Jenelle is a momma bear.”
