<p>Anyway, I think we’re getting back in the saddle after a pretty rough weekend.
DS and all of us had a long talk that stretched out over 2 days and it basically boiled down to him not really taking responsibility for this whole process.
The reason for the 2 F’s was he submitted a major paper in English(worth 30% of grade) in the wrong format - he used Open Office and didn’t save it as a Word doc, and in video production, he did a similar thing - teacher requested final project in one format and he did it in another.He also admitted to not really giving his best effort on other assignments in these classes , so he was already in C/D territory without these major projects. They were the last straw as far as his grades went.
So basically he wasn’t paying attention to details. He wanted to blame the teachers for not making it clear how they wanted the projects done, so we asked him if any other students had the same problem, to which he replied that he didn’t think so.
Well at least he was being honest about it - at this point we take our victories when we can, but now its really up to the teachers involved as to whether they want to give him a second chance.
But we’re staying completely out of it and leaving it totally up to him as to whether he wants to contact the teachers and see if he can make it up. We made it really clear that if he doesn’t get into college this year, he has two choices -
- If he’s really serious about transferring to a college in a couple years, he better get moving on enrolling in our local CC for Fall. If he goes this route and maintains his grades(at least a 3.0), we’ll help him out financially, but he’ll need a PT job to help pay for at least some expenses, like car insurance and food.
- If he hasn’t enrolled in a CC by Fall, then he has to start paying rent/utilities/car insurance/food,… i.e., everything , which means a full time job. </p>
<p>He understands, and I think its beginning to sink in that he regrets not taking more responsibility earlier. But we’ll see.
DD, who is 16, sees what is happening now and I hope she realizes that if she goes the same route as her brother, she’ll be facing the same consequences.</p>