<p>What is truly pathetic is that one could give useful feedback (assuming the listener is doing so with an open mind) depending on whether one was taking to the teacher of a 9, 12 or 14 yrs old. But if this is merely a game of cat and mouse or dangling of carrots, that is a waste of bandwith. If you truly want answers to the original question, then answer what posters ask so they can provide a reasoned response. Its really not that hard.</p>
<p>Oh, many others already know my son’s age, JYM. Just not you.</p>
<p>Yep…I’d go with the natural consequences…sorry but if HE doesn’t want to put in the “hard work”, then in MY opinion…HE doesn’t really want to do what it takes to be better in this sport which would help his team win.</p>
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<p>So the squash teacher kicks him out. Don’t you think that would be a better lesson for him to learn? </p>
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<p>School’s more important than squash proficiency. I can’t possibly equate the two on any level. </p>
<p>But yes, at every point sometime in late middle school / early high school, every parent has to step back and allow the kid to get the negative consequence of a choice, whether it’s the C on the test where a little effort would have gotten an A, extra credit points missed, etc.</p>
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<p>There is no team, it’s a solo game. So where do you draw the line? Let him drop out of school next (he definitely wants to)?</p>
<p>IP- I started out willing to give genuine suggestions to what at the outset seemed like a reasonable question, based on what age kid we were talking about. All you want to do is play games. Good day to you. Go play by yourself</p>
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<p>I don’t know what lesson he will learn from it other than it is OK to give up when the going gets tough.</p>
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<p>And this is the key point. To you school’s more important. To me it isn’t. To him it certainly isn’t. But you refuse to look at it from his or my perspective. Many of our difference in opinion stems from that. He is bored in school but excited about squash. How in the world would you claim that school is more important if you believe in truly asking kids what they want?</p>
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<p>What’s the consequence? The parent says nothing. The kid thinks it’s fine to get get C’s and goes into a spiral. The consequence only becomes clear when 10 years down the line the kid can’t find a job for being a high school dropout.</p>
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<p>You will be back.</p>
<p>Let him drop out of school next (he definitely wants to)?
Why does he want to drop out of school?</p>
<p>IP…your cut and quote from post #197 was from the Asian Parent thread…not this one.</p>
<p>Just FYI for everyone else…the quote in #197 on this thread was posted by me on ANOTHER thread…just in case you are wondering how this ended up HERE.</p>
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<p>He is bored.</p>
<p>That’s correct Thumper, I thought it was better to pollute this thread than that one.</p>
<p>A poster who is extremely well paid (enough to hire an entire comprehensive household staff), who has six weeks of vacation, who is valued enough at work to skip out of critical meetings because of a desire to be with family without fear of being fired, and whose workload allows continual posting during the work day (as frequently as once every two minutes).</p>
<p>This amazing poster, whose contributions are so highly valued by its employer, chooses instead to grace us with its presence, asking our opinions on parenting issues. We should all feel tremendously honored that this individual invests so much of its precious time with us, don’t y’all think?</p>
<p>;) :D</p>
<p>ST, the beauty of the American capitalist system never ceases to amaze me. Very hard work in your youth pays off amazingly well in your middle age. There was a time when I routinely put in 100 hour weeks.</p>
<p>Can I suggest (make that plead) that this thread be closed? It’s serving no purpose other than to raise blood pressure.</p>