18-year-old DS wants to drop out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would move mountains to convince him (obv you can’t force) to finish high school. Including calling his boss, but I’m kind of shocked his boss wouldn’t care if he finished high school or not. It doesn’t sound like he is a good boss and definitely doesn’t have his best interests in mind- forget best, but just general interest. Surely he knows that finishing high school is a necessity

Why do you think his boss would give AF about this kid? The boss has a reliable worker and wants that reliable worker to be available for more jobs to generate more revenue for the business. He wants that money now, not in May. In fact, it is probably better for the boss if this kid has less career mobility because that means he will be stuck with boss and will have less ability to bargain for higher compensation in the future.

[Anonymous]

I'd pay him to finish HS if I needed to. Especially if it's a money thing.

[Anonymous]

Echo the talk to counselor- there may be path to graduate without all the bells and whistles. If he leaves now the odds are he will NOT go back/do GED. Not same situation but know kid (not in Va) who effectively dropped out with 4 months to go and school worked with parents- kids did not go to graduation but school worked with parents and kid does have a diploma in hopes kid might one day decide would have been good to have graduated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd pay him to finish HS if I needed to. Especially if it's a money thing.

I agree with this. Especially if he’s not going to college.

[Anonymous]

Echoing others. Talk to the high school counselor. Work with them to figure out how he can finish school while still working. At our high school in PA there are 2 ways that students work full time and finish school. One is to have all core classes that are required for graduation in the morning. Then they leave for work and do an 8 hr shift. The high school counts the job as an internship that takes the place of all electives. The other option is an online program. Students must log on each morning for a "check in" then all work is done asynchronously. Most of the students do their check in on their phone either in the parking lot at work or while on a break if their shift started very early.

[Anonymous]

I would give him a massive reward, if possible, to essentially pay him to stay in high school. Can you pay him the same going rate per hour for every hour he is in school?

[Anonymous]

The boss is a complete jerk for attempting to dissuade your son from finishing HS early. I hope you can get your son to see the value in finishing this out. Going back later to get a GED will be much harder than finishing the year out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now think of all the redshirted kids who will be 19 and 20 year old HS seniors and want to quit but the parents won't be able to stop them. It's coming. Ironic, since parents thought starting kids later in school would hive them such head start. They didn't think about the other end of K-12, only kindergarten.

My kid turned 18 earlier this month. He was 5 when he started kindergarten. Plenty of HS seniors are 18. Don’t know a single one that has been 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now think of all the redshirted kids who will be 19 and 20 year old HS seniors and want to quit but the parents won't be able to stop them. It's coming. Ironic, since parents thought starting kids later in school would hive them such head start. They didn't think about the other end of K-12, only kindergarten.

My kid turned 18 earlier this month. He was 5 when he started kindergarten. Plenty of HS seniors are 18. Don’t know a single one that has been 20.

Ha very true. My kid started a year later than they were “allowed to” per our state law and was 18 when he graduated. You really don’t see 20 year olds in high school PP.

[Anonymous]

Quitting before finishing high school benefits his employer, not him. If it's in the DC area, there will be a job waiting for him after high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd pay him to finish HS if I needed to. Especially if it's a money thing.

I agree with this. Especially if he’s not going to college.

I was thinking this as well. Just whatever needs to happen to get him a degree. A true high school diploma is different than a GED. Many jobs, even carpenters etc, require a high school diploma, especially if you ever want to move up. A GED could work but as others said it’s more work and he will need to take initiative to do it (with a full time job at that time).

[Anonymous]

Tell him that $35/hr is only good money if he doesn't have to pay for rent, utilities, insurance, etc. None of which he has to pay while in high school.

That worked with my brother when he went through this phase in high school. He worked construction with his friend's dad and made a lot of money one summer. When my parents sat him down and did a budget of what he'd need to use that good paycheck on, it wasn't quite as enticing as it is as an 18 year old with no obligations/responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now think of all the redshirted kids who will be 19 and 20 year old HS seniors and want to quit but the parents won't be able to stop them. It's coming. Ironic, since parents thought starting kids later in school would hive them such head start. They didn't think about the other end of K-12, only kindergarten.

My kid turned 18 earlier this month. He was 5 when he started kindergarten. Plenty of HS seniors are 18. Don’t know a single one that has been 20.

Ha very true. My kid started a year later than they were “allowed to” per our state law and was 18 when he graduated. You really don’t see 20 year olds in high school PP.

My friend's kid will be 19 when he graduates which is kind of odd to me. Red shirted and then held back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now think of all the redshirted kids who will be 19 and 20 year old HS seniors and want to quit but the parents won't be able to stop them. It's coming. Ironic, since parents thought starting kids later in school would hive them such head start. They didn't think about the other end of K-12, only kindergarten.

My kid turned 18 earlier this month. He was 5 when he started kindergarten. Plenty of HS seniors are 18. Don’t know a single one that has been 20.

Ha very true. My kid started a year later than they were “allowed to” per our state law and was 18 when he graduated. You really don’t see 20 year olds in high school PP.

My friend's kid will be 19 when he graduates which is kind of odd to me. Red shirted and then held back.

19 is pretty normal, IMO. My kid with a December bday will be 19 when she graduates high school. 19 is common but 20 is rare IME.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely no
OP you failed

Basic HS diploma this is not hard.

If your kids bucks this then they move out no car no phone whatever you pay for gone.

Your kid doesn’t need college but they do need a basic education clearly you have failed