We're now 'proud' parents of a high school drop out...

I hope to heck you have better luck with you high school dropout than I have had with mine! He is about to turn 21 in May and still is squatting in my house. My husband won't even consider kicking him out. He can't get/keep a job. It is a big deal if he washes his own stupid plate or takes the garbage out to the curb on trash night. He supposedly has been studying for the GED for over a year and half. Please keep on him and make him do what he has promised you to do. We let ours get away with everything and now can't fix him.

I know the pain of that. My friend is going through the same thing you are. Her son is a senior in high school and dropped out. I will tell you taht I did the same thing and I received my GED at 26 years of age. I am now in an online college pursuing my Bachelor's Degree. I know it's disappointing but some kids really aren't equipped to attend traditional school at certain ages. Some of us have to learn from the school of hard knocks then they can appreciate the value of an education. I don't know your son's story but I have been there.

you are so right about it being 'disappointing' but you know what is happening and can move on with your plan. I experienced similar feelings when my 15 year found out he was going to become a father. After much unrest, we/he/she/they developed a plan, the baby was born, put up for adoption and we are moving on although it is hard to realize this 'kid' is a father (or more correctly, fathered a child). just hang in there.

well that's great that ur boy is now adult and have his resposibilities .

You are right. It's not the end of the world. I was kicked out of high school at 15 because I was pregnant. I got my GED and later on went on to get my 4 year degree. Of course I waited until my son was 13 to even start college because I was a single Mom. Hopefully your son will realize later that he will never get anywhere in life without an education and then he will go and get one. I know I made better grades in college going as an adult than I would have ever made as a younger person.

I am a proud high school drop-out, I had a really hard time with the people in my town accepting me, and I couldn't stand the way I was treated...I went on into vocational college and became a med-tech. Now, I am a webmaster. I told myself that I didn't need a piece of paper proving my worth, however, on all my previous job applications I lied and placed "HSD" instead of "GED" It's not like they really ever checked or asked to see my diploma anyways. So don't feel bad. My mother had a really hard time with it, and she thought that I would never be able to make real money. Well, I proved her wrong. She says that no matter what now, she is proud of me and understood that the people treated me badly in school and she is glad that I am not where half of my graduating class is now...Working in the local twine factory, smoking the bad stuff.

First I want to wish you good luck! I really hope that you can work it out in every ones favor. I know its not really what you wanted, but remember every thing happens for a reason, this too. Some day you will figure out why things worked out this way. Good luck getting every one on board with your new "adult" rules. Tell you husband that consistancy works. I know that was a concern from your last discussion. Good luck again. Hope all goes well for you and especally him.

School is not meant for everyone. It hapened almost the same way with my sister, yet I finished high-school. Actually, I'm the only one in my immediate family to hae finished Highschool. None of us went on to University. It's different for everyone.

Well... I was a high school drop-out and now I am CEO of my own company. And yeah there was a guy named Albert Einstein who dropped out of high school as well... A couple more... Presidents of the US (Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor... even Grover Cleveland and he was president TWICE) John D. Rockefeller Benjamin Franklin there are a lot more at this great web site. http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts.htm Thanks Zelo

I went down this route at his age as well.. and i wish that i wouldnt have now. I couldnt get into any good schools with just a GED later on down the road when i wanted. Plus all my friends forgot who i was when i was no longer there in school everyday.. I got really depressed and started to drink and it took me a long time to come to terms with myself and i still to this day dont have a well paying job, well any job for taht matter, i choose to stay at home with my kids, but in the work force i was always food server, or factory grunt. Not much fun.

First off don't think of him as a drop-out, this will engrain this in his head. He has moved on to a different phase, where he is working on his GED. Let him get a crappy job, this will show him what his future will be without going back to school. Rules - if he is not in school, he pays his own way, including rent. Make his life uncomfortable.

Oh gosh, I never got to respond to the first discussion. My son was determined he couldn't attend one more day of his senior year in high school and as he was turning 18, I let him drop out on the condition that he would finish on his own. I home schooled him, but that was torture for both of us, and I had to do the bare minimum. A year later, he decided he wanted to go to college and proving the homeschooling had so much involved, he went to take the GED test and passed. Now he's a junior in college planning on going to grad school. I also know a girl who dropped out and went the GED route. Worked out fine for her with a 9 month technical school after. So here's some happy endings for you. I'm glad you have a new plan and it may work out for the best with less stress...

It is sad and disappointing for everyone concerned as I have done this myself and also my children have done this too. I dropped out of two years of college and went into the Air Force but I still felt bad about letting my parents down and disappointing them and cheating myself out of a college education. My children both quit high school when they turned 16. They were not living with me as I was no longer married to their mother and did not have custody. But I finally got out of the military and it took a several years but I gota good job at the age of 33..and retired with full retirement at 63..but it was a lot harder working then if I would have gat a college education..Plus lost earning power over those years. My kids are grown up and gotten good jobs but it took them a lot longer too and they did what they could and like me had to work a lot harder for less pay. In the end we do the best we can with what we have. Not everyone grows at the same rate at the same time. Good luck in the future. Have faith it will all come together down the road.

Sorry I missed your previous post, there's just so much here that I didn't see it! My son quit school, too. After a few months of goofing off, he finally got his GED. I had a graduation party for him and gave him one of my guitars and told him how proud I was of him! He's going to community college now and trying to decide what he wants to do with his life and how to go about it. So don't get discouraged! Sometimes kids have just had enough and there's no way you can get them to hang in there. Encourage him and let him know that you love him and believe in him. When he gets his GED, treat it just as you would a diploma because he should be proud of himself and know that everyone else is, too. Hope things turn out for the best. They usually do.

You know we all want toppers and rankers but every child is unique and has its own potential and dream. Some follow the line society has drawn for them some others refused to. Frankly those who refuse to are the ones we remember as those who changed the course of human history checkout1) ALbert Einstien's biography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Youth_and_schooling 2)Van Gogh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh#Early_life_.281853_.E2.80.93_1869.29 3) Charles Darwin http://bioweb.cs.earlham.edu/9-12/evolution/HTML/theory.html 4)Nobel Prize winners http://learninfreedom.org/Nobel_hates_school.html Now I am saying that your son may be next in line but let him follow his heart and find his true vocation and may be he will succeed.

I am so sorry Sweetie and I hope that it all turns for the best

sounds like you are on the right track. You have a new adult in the house who is going to have to act like one! New Rules, job, ect. But then on the other hand you will have to remember if you are treating him like an adult with the new rules and job, then he is going to expect to be treated like one. Going when he pleases ect. But basically I think you have the right idea!!! Sorry you have to go thru all this!

well...i havent read your previous discussion on that...but anyway just give your step son all the moral support that he needed..despite of all what he had done...maybe theres a reason behind all this...

Perhaps high school was just too boring for him. Many of my friends dropped out, got GED's, and started taking college classes. Is this an option for him? Or does he just not like school? If it's the second one I think that working at McDonald's or whatever will cure him of that quickly. I love school, but realize that it isn't for everyone. I hope he finds himself quickly or both his and your sakes.

Oh I am sorry, I was hoping the story I told you would change his mind, but I know how 17 y/o's are, they think they know everything.. There is still a chance that it will work out though, my story was only an example of one person, but there are others out there that have made it by not graduating with their class, just a little encouragement for you..:)