Mom Forces Son To Wear Sign Showing Lousy GPA

@blueveinedthrobber,

blueveinedthrobber wrote:

well, the world needs Wal Mart greeters too.

And ditch-diggers. The world needs ditch-diggers too.

I was a slacker in high school. Bored and an outsider with my interests outside of school. My high school had a deportment requirement for graduation. You got a grade at the end of the semester and needed four. At the end of my sophomore year I had none.

My parents, both teachers, were apoplectic and enrolled me in boys school with ROTC (not all students were in uniform), best thing that happened, because of my ROTC participation my deportment requirement was waived--that and an 800 math SAT.

As for humiliation, get him a summer job as a roofer. Let him see the options that a 1.2 GPA offers'

Rap

1 Reply

@boomerang,

Boom - you said: "So yes, absolutely, I blame the parents when a child's grades slip to a 1.2 GPA. "

Check in with us in 8 more years. you may have a different perspective by then.

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Awful!

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@Phoenix32890,

I went to a woman's Catholic college and had three classmates who were 16. Two were stunning girls. They showed how 'mature' they were by becoming engaged to a different boy every semester. One graduated with honors, went to medical school, finally married then divorced the poor guy after a year and has been single since. The second had a similar experience but she is a practicing psychologist and adjunct professor.

The third not only was unattractive but had the sort of personality that made people cross the street or suddenly remember appointments when she came into view. She had stellar grades and a Woodrow Wilson fellowship. The problem is no grad school would take her in. She just never learned to control her mouth.

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@Eva,

Eva wrote:

I agree, Rockhead. That's why I started my post with the statement, "I don't agree with humiliating the boy, but I certainly sympathize with the boy's mother." We really don't know much about the situation, but it alarmed me how many people rushed to blame the parents for his poor GPA.

<edited...this is what I meant to say>

Boomer, at Mo's age parents have a great deal to do with a child's GPA. But in highschool?...very little. They're increasingly running their own show. If you haven't taught a child good study habits by the time they get to highschool, it's too late. And even if you have, it might not be enough. Highschool is the time for rebellion. Slacking is "cool"...just like everything else you're not supposed to do. It's what makes good parents tear their hair out.

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@Eva,

But this kid wasn't in high school. He's in the 8th grade.

And a 1.2 GPA doesn't happen overnight. I believe his parents would have had time to intervene if they'd been paying attention.

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@raprap,

raprap wrote:

I was a slacker in high school. Bored and an outsider with my interests outside of school. My high school had a deportment requirement for graduation. You got a grade at the end of the semester and needed four. At the end of my sophomore year I had none.

My parents, both teachers, were apoplectic and enrolled me in boys school with ROTC (not all students were in uniform), best thing that happened, because of my ROTC participation my deportment requirement was waived--that and an 800 math SAT.

As for humiliation, get him a summer job as a roofer. Let him see the options that a 1.2 GPA offers'

Rap

Your parents were both teachers?! I bet they WERE apoplectic! I hope you have spent the years since then making it up to them.

I like the idea of a summer job as a roofer. But if they get the job for him, he'll just quit. Better if they cut off his allowance and make him get his own job. At 15, it couldn't be a great job. Then let him know he'll never get anything better if he doesn't qualify for college.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

But this kid wasn't in high school. He's in the 8th grade...

He's 15 years old! That's a sophomore in highschool here. Oh well, no matter what grade he's in, he's still 15. That's still the right age for rebellion. And yes, a 1.2 GPA can and does happen overnight to some kids at that age.

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I would certainly never humiliate my child in any way, but I would probably make him get a job as a labourer, as someone else suggested. "This is what your lousy GPA will get you when you graduate" kind of thing.

I also do not agree it's the parents' fault. You can't do their homework for them and you can't always motivate them. My son was quite a good hockey player and he was on a crappy team for a while. He was disillusioned and disheartened and couldn't be bothered to play as well as he could - he just drifted. Even then he was the best. But it used to irritate the hell out of me to see him lollygagging all over the ice not even trying.

So... they put whatever effort into it that suits them at the time - and kids that age are often lazy... this is not the fault of the parents - it's the type of kid they have. A friend of mine is disgusted with her son's performance and has sworn off any more tutors. She's also removed his video stuff.

Each kid is different so what works for one won't work for another.

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@Eva,

Eva wrote:

boomerang wrote:

But this kid wasn't in high school. He's in the 8th grade...

He's 15 years old! That's a sophomore in highschool here.

You're both right. He's fifteen and he's in eighth grade. I think this fact might provide some insight into his problem.

http://www.tampabay.com/multimedia/archive/00163/b4s_studentsignb021_163210c.jpg

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@joefromchicago,

He looks like he's 30.

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You know (& I'm almost half-serious Wink

) I think there's something to be said for suspending school during the period of adolescence, when young peoples' hormones are rioting, when they can't sit still & concentrate, when they are so preoccupied with themselves, when they're minds are so obviously elsewhere ....

Why not just let them run around a lot, get all that energy out of their systems, get to know the opposite sex better, deal with the things that are actually preoccupying them?

Then, when they've that gotten all that out of their systems, come back & give education a go when & if they're ready & motivated?

Of course I'm being tongue in cheek here, but seriously, I have seen so many of the best intentioned efforts of teachers & parents thwarted, because some adolescents are simply too preoccupied with other concerns at this stage of their lives.
I have seen so many of those young people who have "disappointed" their parents and teachers during high school, return to education later in life, when they are actually motivated, achieve terrific results.

Whether this will be the case in or not for this boy or not, who can say?
And whatever the reason he is 15 years old still in 8th grade, treating him in this way is not going to help matters much at all.
More likely he'll remember this humiliating experience for the rest of his life, with considerable ill feeling toward his mother.

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Mo and his contemporaries all are turning 10 and they're in the 4th grade which means they'll turn 14 in the 8th grade -- that puts this kid only one year behind.

I don't think it's all the parents fault but I do think they played a huge part in it. Parents are responsible for their minor children.

Ms Olga, I've often thought it would be pretty cool if kids graduated from high school and had to work a year or two before they were even allowed to enter college. Maybe earlier would be better!

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

You know (& I'm almost half-serious ) I think there's something to be said for suspending school during the period of adolescence, when young peoples' hormones are rioting, when they can't sit still & concentrate, when they are so preoccupied with themselves, when they're minds are so obviously elsewhere ....

Why not just let them run around a lot, get all that energy out of their systems, get to know the opposite sex better, deal with the things that are actually preoccupying them?

Then, when they've that gotten all that out of their systems, come back & give education a go when & if they're ready & motivated?...

You mean, when they're 27 or so?

Latest research shows the prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until the mid-20s, so "adolescence" actually lasts until then. Which explains a lot of that mindless early-20s behavior, actually.

I'm with Boomer. I think it would be a great idea for a lot of kids to work for a year or two between highschool and college.

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@boomerang,

Hi boomerang

Quote:

Mo and his contemporaries all are turning 10 and they're in the 4th grade which means they'll turn 14 in the 8th grade -- that puts this kid only one year behind.

Ah, I see.
I was thinking average year 8 age in Oz schools.
I was thinking his situation was more serious than it apparently is.

Quote:

I don't think it's all the parents fault but I do think they played a huge part in it. Parents are responsible for their minor children.

Yes, agreed.

I often think that it is a real shame that the academic performance of young people at high school is considered some be all/end all assessment, which can (& often does) have such a huge impact on the rest of their lives. Test results might simply tell us which students are good at performing in tests.

There are so many factors at work, too, about why one student's results might be "better" than anothers. Like how stable their home lives are, how much support & encouragement they receive outside school & in, what resources are available to one student compared to the next .... I could go on & on ...

I can understand the real concerns of parents whose children are "under-achieving", but it can be very difficult to know exactly how to help, the best way to assist. Sometimes the reasons (& the solutions) are out of parents' control ...they might be hard for some student to control, too, at this stage of of their lives.

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@Eva,

Quote:

You mean, when they're 27 or so?

For some.
For others earlier or later.
I don't think it need be a "one size fits all" situation. Depends enirely on the student.
(You realize that my comment was tongue in cheek, Eva? Smile

)

I'm not arguing against what boomerang has said at all.
I have seen quite a few students who have benefited from (what we call in Oz) a "gap year" or two between finishing high school & undertaking further study.

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@msolga,

You remind me of the Sir Ken Robinson Royal Society of Arts talk where he questions why we educate children in "batches" based on the year they were born.

It really doesn't make any sense. It would make much more sense if we could educate them based on where they are developmentally as long as we could somehow assure they they would reenter the education stream at some point.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

Quote:

... Sir Ken Robinson Royal Society of Arts talk where he questions why we educate children in "batches" based on the year they were born.

It really doesn't make any sense. It would make much more sense if we could educate them based on where they are developmentally as long as we could somehow assure they they would reenter the education stream at some point.

... add to that, tighter and tighter controls on curriculum, standardized testing, 25 children in any one class (how many different classes does anyone teacher teach? How many students altogether?) ...

Sigh.

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@msolga,

Not just that, but how many variables are the teachers dealing with in any one class? You might have any number of visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically handicapped, mentally challenged, ADHD, bi-polar, not to mention ESL, plus the other kids with none of the above and I don't believe teachers are taught to deal with all of those conditions, nor should they. It's a lose-lose situation. They need help and they're not getting it.

1 Reply

Mom Forces Son To Wear Sign Showing Lousy GPA

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