Tell me if I'm being too strict with my son

[campbellcj]

I personally think pressuring for "good grades" in and of themselves is a tough sell and not teaching the right lesson. Temptation is tough to please Mom & Dad by working the system, kissing teachers' asses, cheating, taking cakewalk classes instead of the ones where you actually learn anything valuable, and so forth - and what does that buy them after graduation? Maybe a trip to prison, or the unemployment lines.

I think building a solid work ethic and realizing the correlation between doing a good job now and having a better quality of life later is crucial. Would we have so many HS drop-outs if they realized the high probabilty that they'd still be working at Blockbuster or Starbucks 10 years down the line? A reality check can do wonders for a 14-16 year old kid (believe me, I had several).

Kind of OT but what is entailed in U.C. admissions these days? I guess I was kinda lucky way-back-when as I was admitted 'automatically' based only on my SAT scores (I had a nearly 3.9 GPA also but IIRC only one or the other was sufficient back then.) Of course back then UC tuition was around $1,200 a YEAR.

[tabs]

Originally posted by campbellcj
I

I think building a solid work ethic and realizing the correlation between doing a good job now and having a better quality of life later is crucial.

Having a solid work ethic and doing your personal best IS A MATTER OF PERSONAL SATISFACTION. It can lead to a better material life, but the whims of fate can wipe the better material life right off the map.

[tabs]

I have a friend whose daughter had a 3.7 GPA in an upper Middle Class HS in So CA...yet when I asked her when was the Declaration of Independence signed she didn't know. So what good was her 3.7 she is ignorant..however she knew how to work the system.

Today she has graduated college and has a relativily high paying job being a salesrep for a company..why.. it was because of the work ethic in her family.

[JavaBrewer]

No lie - I graduated from H.S. with a 2.2 GPA. I was the picture of lazy and parents didn't care. Continued to bomb through Community College before I got self motivated 10 years later and got my B.S. in Computer Science in San Diego. Now 15 years into my career and I direct 10 engineers, 2 with Ph'ds. Grades are overly emphasized. I do see your desire for scholarship opportunities but don't make that the first priority.

[tabs]

There is also a matter of time allocaton and the priority I give a task.....There are times where I allocate enough time to acheive a certain level of achievement and use the additional time on a task that I feel is more important.

For instance if my Major in College is Micro Biology I am going to give short shift to a class in Art Appreciation and spend my time on the Biology classes.

Or in my case it was time spent on Partying and not the classes....and see where its fking got me today...I should be a cautionary tale for every kid in the country...do your work or you will wind up like Tabs...

[tabs]

Originally posted by dmoolenaar
and parents didn't care...

Your talking about the expectation of doing your personal best...it has nothing to do with the outward manifestation of success or in this case a Grade.

[livi]

I´ve got to hand it to you, tabs. 'Wealth and taste' just doesn´t cover it. Maybe you should add 'mind'.