Trying to keep my son from dropping out

[englishteacha]

I teach middle school and have some students who are already on the path towards dropping out. I teach in a mill town and many of my students' parents dropped out and then got excellent paying jobs in the mill. Those jobs are no longer available so the "Drop out, work at the mill" plan doesn't exist any more. The kids don't seem to realize this (of course, they're much younger than your son). Our district recently established a middle school alternative program that has been quite successful. We already had a high school alternative program. Does your district, or a neighboring district, offer an alt. ed. program or school-to-work program? For some kids, traditional school doesn't suit them. Perhaps there are other options out there that will allow him to finish his vocational training but provide the final core subjects he needs to get a diploma, without doing the traditional "school" thing. And I agree that the principal needs a stern talking to, at the very least!

 

[hoosll]

I recommend sitting him down and show him a realistic budget -
rent, utilities, food, car insurance, gas. One version real world, second version home version. Kids have no idea what it costs to live.

When our children turned 17, they were expected to get a job to pay their own car insurance and gas. They need to learn that a dollar earned doesn't go very far. If he has never had a job, he may be glorifying the idea of earning his own money while still living with Mom and Dad.

I have always said that I got our son through high school and my husband got him through college.

If a child is not in school, then he/she should have a job, pay rent and take care of his/her own car. We told our children that we would place their rent in a savings account so that they would have a nestegg when they moved out - deposits for rent and utiliites.

If your son is not pointed to college, is there a good Vo-tech program that he can transfer to?

I hate to mention this but .... it sounds like you are tuned in to the messages that he is giving you but ... watch for other kinds of behaviors: changes in his level of interest in things he has always enjoyed, giving things away that he has always valued, changes in sleep patterns. Have you considered a couple of sessions of family counseling.