<p>As one in the same boat, I feel for you. It is very frustrating to have your nice kid struggle and fail and not tell you about it until the grades are out. I can see my son having the same issue. As someone else said, you’ve got to love him through this. He’s a good kid who screwed up in the time when a lot of kids don’t put forth their best effort. And it’s a touchy subject for him, which means your ability to guide him is limited. After trying to broach the subject for weeks and hearing “I don’t want to talk about it!” I finally got to ask “how did this happen?” (subtext: tell me you’ve learned how not to let it happen again) and encouragement (I love you/I’m proud of you/this isn’t like you/it’s very hard freshman year). So now her task is: don’t overstress “I have to get perfect grades to pull up my GPA” but stay focused (don’t party; seek/get help; pick classes you can do well in).</p>
<p>Good luck</p>