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EMM1, hang on a minute. Our great nation was founded by some very bright guys who were fed up with the "way things were." It's not just my kiddo here that we are talking about. We, as a nation, are failing our young men. Far more males than females drop out and don't finish high school. Newsweek ran a story last year about the number of males that now choose not to go to college and then spend their twenties couch surfing and holding temp jobs.
I find that teen males are more honest than most. They are unvarnished in their unwillingness to put effort into meaningless tasks. I believe most of them hunger for a place and occupation that fits -- and many are NOT willing to sell their soul to go into plastics or whatever the current high school administration deems appropriate.
Your post shows that it is impossible to know all the details in another poster's life. I am a paraplegic. Believe me, sir, my kid knows all too well how to deal with minutiae and repetitive household tasks. He's had to help me since he could toddle. He is amazingly cheerful and sweet -- and he sees why the household stuff is necessary and how he makes a difference.
What he is less inclined to do is 50 math problems that are exactly the same, particularly when he grasped the concept in the first problem. I think he has a point. Alas, many teachers grade on compliance, not mastery. He will get an A on the exam and an F in homework. Do I berate him for this? Yep, a little. But I surely don't want him to end up in a college environment that has more of that to serve up.
I'm glad your offspring gained some satisfaction from athletics. We haven't really had the time or money to indulge in that fashion. Different strokes for different families.
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