Proud and disappointed at the same time

[Black wallnut]

Today my daughter will graduate from high school. We are so proud of her. At the same time her twin brother will not graduate. So sad, frustrated and disappointed about that. He will have to live with his choices for the rest of his life.

On the other hand our 8 year old is an over achiever reading above his grade level.

[jking]

I understand the mixed emotions. I'm not really sure what else to say other than hopefully, your son decides to go back at some point & get his ged.

[Raffi]

Hang in there. With any luck, and a few blessings, he'll turn it around.

[Neal]

I wish you the best in both circumstances. I know the one situation is a difficult one, and adds stress to your household. Hope for the best, and perhaps some maturity may help your son improve his situation.

[dbhost]

Congrats for her and hang in there with him. Working at Taco Bell can inspire great change in young men!

[gsmittle]

Sometimes high school just isn't the right environment for a young man. He'll find a way to get his GED, whether on his own or through an alternative school or juco. And, as db said, fast food can be a great motivator.

It might take a year or two, but he'll find his way.

g.

[Hellrazor]

That is always sad. Hopefully he realizes he needs his diploma or GED for most jobs and will never be able to get a decent job without one of them.

Graduation is always a big event but we had 4 kids who refused to walk this year. Strange..

My cousins kid did the same thing and unfortunately he never seems to learn. He has been through about 6 or 7 jobs. He finished his 60 day probation with a great review at the last one. Then he forgot to set his alarm, overslept and never reported for mandatory OT on a Saturday. Could have went in late but he chose to blow it off. Fired 7 days after probation was over...

You couldn't get a job as a custodian or cafe worker where I work without a diploma/GED and a drivers license.

[Richard in Smithville]

Perhaps he needs to be more of a "hands on" type of person. Here in Canada there are ways of getting a high school equivalent and ways of getting into apprenticeship type programs, where they end up better off then most college kids.

[scmhogg]

Mark,

My wife and I both went to college for eight years. You can imagine how we felt, when he quit high school the day he turned 18. He got his ged that year.

Now jump forward a few years, he got a job with Shopzilla, at their NOC. Then at myspace, where was the manager of the NOC. When myspace sold, he went with a Fortune 500 Company. At 29, he is the manager of his department, as a Senior Systems Engineer.

But, I still remember the feelings of helplessness, during the early years, after high school.
I'm an older parent. I was 42 when he was born. I wondered how he would fare after I was gone.

So, don't give up hope, and be supportive always.

Steve