<p>I saw this in the NY Times today....the student goes to school with my children and although some might think it's a bit odd the way it is presented, it is refreshing to see someone say, "enough, let me be" when parents try to mold him into the "resume king" for college.
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/18Rparenting.html?_r=1&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/18Rparenting.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>Sounds like a great, very smart, normal kid. I would make him get a job this summer though. There's underscheduled...and there's lazy!</p>
<p>I was curious - is he enrolled in a New Haven public school?</p>
<p>My son is somewhat like this. In high school, he refused to participate in extracurricular activities and instead spent his time fooling around with computer stuff and working at routine jobs (first in a library, later in a party supply store) to support his software habit.</p>
<p>He is now at our state's flagship state university (he also refused to apply to anywhere more selective), and he is happy there.</p>
<p>The kid in the article will probably end up at UConn and will probably like it. This is not a bad outcome.</p>
<p>Possible, but the public schools there are 55% African-American, 31% Hispanic, and 11% White. My guess is suburban.<br>
Isn't this the way most American teenage boys still live?</p>
<p>Both of my daughters do 15 to 20 hours of ballet. It makes our life a lot easier - no time to date, hang out at the mall, or partying. They pick and choose what activities to do with their friends - they'll go to a party, but will get home before 11pm because of early ballet schedule next day, or they'll go to a school game but skip a sleep over afterwards. The kid in the article seem like a very nice kid, but I think when teens have too much time on their hands tend to get in trouble, that's especially the case when both parents are working.</p>
<p>Yes, he is in a public New Haven school (not one of the magnets)He was in a public school up to 8th grade also, his sister went to a private school though. I also have very under-scheduled kids, if they want something, fine, but I'm not pushing 10 EC's for a resume. My son had 2 he loved (most of the time) and that was enough. It does seem contrived after a while.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the article and love this kid! (as he comes across in the article) I bet he ends up going to Harvard.</p>
<p>I got the impression that the kid is choosing his own path (with parental acquiescence). Why in the world would he want to attend Harvard? Does he even want to go to college?</p>
<p>I think the mom is smart - she rearranged her work schedule so she was around when son and friends came to the house. </p>
<p>It's funny that this is news, that this ordinary boy is an oddity - at least in the tri-state area.</p>
<p>My DS is similar - had very little involvement with school ECs or any ECs for that matter, and spent much of the first 3 years of high school hanging out with friends, playing computer games and recreational tennis. He needs and enjoys a lot of "down time" and is not much of a "joiner" of organized activities. THen, last spring, he started to take charge of his life and focus outward more - searched for and found a summer job, volunteered, took a college class, etc. etc. Now, he is very balanced. He works some, plays some, hangs around and plays computer games, does his school work. He is not a type-A personality, and I didn't try to force him to be one. (One is enough in any family!!!) He has good boards scores and class rank, and he has done just FINE in the college acceptance department; accepted to all schools he applied to, with merit scholarships at 4 of the 5. Balance in life is very important, and I'm glad that my son is mature enough to have found it.
I love the kid in this article - and I'm sure he'll do fine in college acceptances and in life. Kudos to him and to his parents for allowing him these choices.</p>
<p>It may not be true for this kid, but marijuana sure can sap a kid's motivation.</p>
<p>I don't know why he wouldn't want to go to Harvard, or something like that. He sounds a lot like my S, and he's at Columbia.</p>
<p>the young man gets straight A's in school, tutors friends who go to private schools, does fine in standardized tests, has some sincere extracurriculars, and sounds spectacularly well-adjusted. To suggest drugs seems a tad over the top, to me.</p>
<p>"It may not be true for this kid, but marijuana sure can sap a kid's motivation"</p>
<p>So can very "type A" parents....I see a lot where I work and to them a crisis is their daughter/son dropping swimming and not having a sport to put down next year for their resume.(although they have many others) Some of them rebel and cost themselves a lot of heartache when compromise would of been an option if allowed.
He is a smart student, has two EC's that he likes, is only a sophomore and will probably be taking class's at Yale by the time he's a senior. (an option New Haven students have in high school if they qualify) Kind of nice to see children having fun that isn't organized all the time....like the "good old days" of my youth. : )</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't know why he wouldn't want to go to Harvard, or something like that. He sounds a lot like my S, and he's at Columbia.
[/quote]
Exactly what I was thinking reading the piece... mine is in Princeton. ;)</p>
<p>I third Garland. The kid sounds smart, well-adjusted and has a good sense of priorities. Nothing wrong with tennis and math! And isn't it nice that there were four girls drinking tea while the guys' greatest crime was eating up all the bagels. Makes a nice change from all these stories about underage binge drinking.</p>
<p>He sounded much like Mathson, except I think tennis makes him more well-rounded. My son does two school extra curricular activities (Science Olympiad and Academic Team). Summers and last spring he did a fair amount of freelance programming. We'll see how it plays out in another month or so. I work at home so I know my kid isn't doing anything worrisome with his free time.</p>
<p>Aaron's attitude sounds exactly like our son's, a few serious activities and the rest of his free time hanging out with friends. He nixed CTY opportunities in order to lifeguard at the lake, earn some bucks and do kid stuff during the summer.</p>
<p>No, he wasn't a person the most selective colleges would have give so much as a glance at, but he had a wonderful time in hs and is a happy, well adjusted college student.</p>