s/o: Force child to go to TJ?

[Anonymous]

Hypothetically, if your child does NOT want to go to TJ but ends up admitted to the class of 2029, should you, as the parent, force them into going anyway?

Yes / no. Why / why not?

[Anonymous]

Why don't they want to go?

[Anonymous]

I always liked going to Trader Joe’s as a kid

[Anonymous]

No. Because if things don't go well, if they don't get the grades they want or the college they want, they will always blame you for making them go to TJ. Anything that goes wrong, will be your fault in their eyes and they will be resentful and angry and full of "what ifs." Or they may tank on purpose.

HS is too old to force a child to go to a school they don't want to go to. You have to have some buy-in from teenagers at this point or it will be a disaster.

[Anonymous]

At this age, you need to persuade and not force. Question is, why does the child not want to go to TF? Assuming they put in the effort to apply and test for it. If the reason is because of friends, it'll be an easy case to discuss with them; but if it's a reason such as anxiety/academic pressure, I'd think twice about it.

[Anonymous]

Why would you force or even persuade? TJ is for kids who have a passion in these subjects and they want to dig deeper. A regular FCPS high provides a fine education and in fact, it’s likely your kid would have a “better” college outcome there. Not sure what the point of pushing them to go is at all if they aren’t self motivated.

(Of course, I say that as the child of parents who absolutely would have forced me to go. I thank my lucky stars we didn’t have something similar where I grew up.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Because if things don't go well, if they don't get the grades they want or the college they want, they will always blame you for making them go to TJ. Anything that goes wrong, will be your fault in their eyes and they will be resentful and angry and full of "what ifs." Or they may tank on purpose.

HS is too old to force a child to go to a school they don't want to go to. You have to have some buy-in from teenagers at this point or it will be a disaster.

+1 Disaster for four years and maybe more!

[Anonymous]

No way. Disaster in the making.

[Anonymous]

I didn't want to go, my parents first tried bribing me and then told me that's where I was going regardless of what I wanted. Once I found my group I loved it and I am glad I went. I am still very close to a lot of my TJ friends 20+ years later. BUT I would not push my children to go. Why? Because my kids don't love STEM. I really enjoyed math and logic so it was a better fit for me, also it's much more competitive seeming now than when I went. If my children want to go we will consider it, but not planning on forcing them.

[Anonymous]

Holy cow, absolutely not.

Without the student's buy in, it's going to be miserable.

[Anonymous]

No, no, absolutely no.

- TJ grad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hypothetically, if your child does NOT want to go to TJ but ends up admitted to the class of 2029, should you, as the parent, force them into going anyway?

Yes / no. Why / why not?

Force them to go.

You get a sticker on your car + you get an A as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Bribe them. They will do give in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hypothetically, if your child does NOT want to go to TJ but ends up admitted to the class of 2029, should you, as the parent, force them into going anyway?

Yes / no. Why / why not?

Force them to go.

You get a sticker on your car + you get an A as a parent.

TJ grad here. The other day I drove past a newer car with an incredibly faded TJ bumper sticker from my grad year, which was a while ago. Driver was one of my classmate's parents, it looked like. The sticker is forever!

[Anonymous]

Unless your zoned school is a disaster, absolutely not.