Poll of the Day > If you had KIDS, would you let them DROP OUT OF SCHOOL if they wanted to???

(+) Yeah! (+)

Suppose you had kids and they decided one day in high school they wanted to drop out. would you let them? let's see what people will vote.


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I have a kid, and no, go to school, ok?
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Depends. If they had something they were really good at and wanted to pursue it, then yes. If they just want to be some lazy shit? Hell no!

Id sell them to the army

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I don't know, maybe. It would depend on circumstances. I dropped out in my senior year myself. In my case it was because the home schooling program I was in couldn't give out diplomas so I would have had to go back to public high school for a year. I would have rather died.

Guess what that home school started being about to do a few years after that.
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Only if they have a plan to get their GED and are actually planning to do something in place of going to school. If it's just dropping out because they can't be bothered to go and don't see their diploma as having any value, that's no bueno.
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Too scared to lose the one I never had.
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They can drop out of college if they want to, but dropping out of high school is just dumb.
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I would not no. I'd actually encourage them to do well. I do this with my Niece and Nephews too. I never had that myself and probably should have.
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No, unless they had some sort of plan detailing the benefits of dropping out and what they plan to do.

And they'd be my kid so I doubt that would happen.

i dropped out of school

my kid will absolutely not be allowed to drop out.
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No way in hell, Ill have my father present when or if they decide they want to drop out. Scare them straight back to getting their high school diploma.

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i plan on telling my children, their college fund will be spent on a hitman, if they don't finish high school, ok?
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Lots of people dont finish school and do well.
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If I had been lucky enough to have kids, I would have ensured they didn't waste their time like I did, and they would have been in college by age 10-12 or so.

I did skip 6 years total, but I did that the hard way, with no help from parents or the school system etc. I was tested 12+ in elementary school but other then being put in accelerated program classes, and not being held back when I skipped 4th grade (by just not going), the school system did nothing to ensure I actually was challenged or had something to learn.

So yeah, if I had kids I would have ensured they went to a private school as early as possible, and then given them the resources to learn at their own rate at home, as soon as they were ready for college I would find a way to get them in one and stop wasting time.

I do regret not having the HS experience (or college when young as I didn't use my scholarship as I thought school was a waste), but I also didn't have a family that was supporting me etc. I would ensure my children still were able to socialize with others their age, and were supported even after graduating HS (unlike me, who was thrown out as soon as I graduated on my 16th birthday).

Honestly they should have a "college" for students who graduate early, and they should enable a fairly easy path for kids to qualify to go instead of continuing in the public school system. That way not only can you skip wasting so many years, but you can still socialize with others your own age, who are also very advanced academically. If I had kids, I would have strongly worked to get something like that set up, way before they actually needed it. I bet I could do it in the LA area since I have wealthy and influential relatives in that area, and I'm sure there are many parents who have tons of money and would like their children to have a better option.

Current system though basically sucks.
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zebatov posted...

Lots of people dont finish school and do well.

we're going to need some examples, ok?
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No, although I'm not entirely sure how I could stop them.
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zebatov posted...

Lots of people dont finish school and do well.

Lots more who dont finish school struggle the rest of their lives.

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There are definitely skilled trades that don't require even a diploma. The apprenticeship happens at work while being paid. Not everyone is cut out for school but it doesn't mean they're stupid either.

Also ROFL at seriously thinking your kids would be in college at 10-12 years old.
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Nah they at least need their high school diploma

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No. Only thing close id let them do is like i did drop out to long enough to get of a shitty school to asap move and go to another. For me it was adult highschool but i dont know if they still have those. Heard they got rid of them and GEDs is all they offer from a community college now. At least here.
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afrodude77 posted...

Nah they at least need their high school diploma

Moonjay posted...

There are definitely skilled trades that don't require even a diploma. The apprenticeship happens at work while being paid. Not everyone is cut out for school but it doesn't mean they're stupid either.

Also ROFL at seriously thinking your kids would be in college at 10-12 years old.

Shrug, I could have gone to college at 16, and I started a year late (lived in Vermont at the time, and my birthday is in November). Honestly I was ready by the age of 10 or so, and that was without learning from schools (I learned to program myself using LOGO, on APPLE IIc computers that were donated to the schools).

I'm not sure if my kids would be the same, but they would have more support and actual adults (even if it was just me) that were helping them learn and pushing them to do so, so yeah, I would expect them to be going to college by around that age, even if I had to fight for the right to......paaaaarty...wait...I mean send them to college.

When I was 15, I did 4 years of HS in 1 year, at a private school (worked as a janitor there to pay for it), which required filling out a ton of workbooks, and then taking tests for each of the courses. I didn't actually learn anything, just filled them all out as fast as I could, and took the tests. I graduated with a 4.0 and a full scholarship to college, but didn't use it. I thought school was a total waste (and it had been for me).

If I had kids, I would ensure they actually got something out of the school they went to, and were challenged and if they were at a college level by age 10-12, they would get to go to college.

It doesn't matter now though since I obviously won't be having kids at this point. I also did very little with my ability to learn fast etc, I mostly used it to live a comfortable life, make money easily, and work a few jobs that normally require alot of time/school/training to get into.

I did read a freakton of books (science fiction/fantasy mainly as an adult at least), and play a gazillion video games. Always had to find something to occupy my mind at least till the last 5 years or so. Now I can actually just sit somewhere and relax/rest...which is very refreshing honestly.
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ClarkDuke posted...

zebatov posted...

Lots of people dont finish school and do well.

we're going to need some examples, ok?

I was just talking to a friend about how you can make quite a bit of money without a degree, and only working min wage jobs. This friend is in his 30's and has no money saved etc, and blamed that on his childhood, starting off with nothing etc.

Anyway, step one is to move somewhere with a decent min wage. Doesn't need to be 15$ an hour, and I believe they are raising the fed min wage to $10 at the end of this year, but I would aim for at least $12 an hour. There are tons of places to move like that.

Step 2, get any job paying min wage, even without a HS diploma this is easy. In fact there are many jobs that don't need them that pay quite alot more (in states like washington where tip jobs get min wage + tips especially), mechanic jobs pay alot as well, many warehouse jobs start at 2-3$ over min wage (especially if you get trained to drive a forklift etc). Construction was the job I worked before I was legally old enough to work (13-15 or so), and even back then it paid $15 an hour (sadly it does not seem to have gone up THAT much considering how long ago that was).

Point is aim for at least $12 an hour and 40 hours a week. That is $480 a week and about $1600 a month after taxes.

Now here is the important part, don't spend a freakton of money on crap you don't need. This is where most people go wrong. First rent a room, preferably split a 3 bedrooms cost with 3 friends who you know and like, and enjoy spending time with. Many areas that have $12 an hour min wages have 3 bedrooms for $1000-$1100 (much like olympia, tacoma etc where I live now), some have waiting lists so you might not get it right away...but if you keep applying you will eventually get one.

Your base rent cost will then be about $400 (including utilities/internet) split 3 ways. Restrict yourself to spending $200 a month on food, and you can save $1000 a month.

Even just making min wage your whole freaking life, you are saving 12k a year, and by 28 (saying you start at 18), you would have 120k saved.

Don't wait that long to start investing your money though obviously. Best option though is to use the internet, go to car auctions etc, to purchase and sell cars initially, until you get enough to start buying and selling mobile homes (you buy them at mobile home auctions where the mobile home parks auction them off for the space rent that was not paid, you can get 30k mobile homes for $5k that way).

Done right you'll have enough within a year (by the age of 19) to buy a few cars from auctions (you can get $2k cars for $400-$500, but will def get em for $600 as the used car lots won't pay that much for a $2k car). By the time your 20, if you do that well enough, you could stop working the min wage job all together and just buy/sell cars, then mobile homes, then eventually full homes that you buy from for-closures etc (you will want to get your realtors license before doing full homes to avoid the 6% realtors fees though).

Anyone can do all that, without a HS diploma, although being able to read would really freaking help lol. Honestly though, you could start doing most of it before you turned 18 (buying and selling before 18 is a bit more of a hassle and you'd probably need to use an adult to do it). You could just work construction etc till you turned 18 though, and then have enough saved to buy/sell full time (especially if you actually got to live somewhere rent free till you were 18!!

But yeah, you can do quite well without a HS diploma, even just working jobs, and switching from one job to another (higher pay each time).
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https://www.thejobnetwork.com/10-jobs-high-school-dropouts-can-successful/
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Rein is never gonna go to school, so I guess it's a non issue.
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To much to read, but I am going to say I don't think you'd have you kids (especially multiple) in college by 10-12. They are some kids that have done that. But very little compared to how many kids there are. Those were actually child prodigies. Like the one who spoke at 4 months. And told the doctor he had an ear infection at 6 months old. Others, as well. But not many.

And I think only 1% of kids even skipped a grade, though they can skip multiple. Which isn't uncommon. But even people I knew who seemed like geniuses didn't skip very often. Though, taking college classes (at school or in college) isn't uncommon. I've done it at school My last two years. And my sister goes to the college to take courses. But not full college. Even then, she would have only skipped a grade or two. Which only 1% does. And even with her taking those courses, she still technically hasn't skipped.

There's also the social aspect of it and letting them live a kids life. Some parents don't see it, but it can take a lot for a child who's smart, but not a prodigy, to live up to their parent's wishes. In this case, trying to force you child to be a prodigy when they are a genius, or a genius when they may just be really smart. And it can take a toll of them. Not giving them enough time to have fun, even though you give them some time. And the social aspect. Kids should be able to go out and meet kids their own age doing normal kid stuff. Which you can do. But it's also good to just be in social groups, as well. I know some kids who have had their parents hand pick friends for them. And most weren't happy because it was usually kids they didn't get along with. Or kids that had nothing in common with. They may have be other kids whose parents were doing the same thing and stuff like that.

Also, things were different for you. You were apparently working at a construction site as a child, which would not fly these days. You lived in a different time. Though, since you are older, your kids would have live in a slightly different time, as well. Though, I still don't think it would happen exactly as you envision...
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wolfy42 posted...

ClarkDuke posted...

zebatov posted...

Lots of people dont finish school and do well.

we're going to need some examples, ok?

~snip~

I believe this is the struggling Mead was talking about. Sounds like it, at least. Not to mention, it'll be hard since you could easily have competition. Like someone else (or multiple someone else's) doing the same thing.
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LinkPizza posted...

Also, things were different for you. You were apparently working at a construction site as a child, which would not fly these days. You lived in a different time. Though, since you are older, your kids would have live in a slightly different time, as well. Though, I still don't think it would happen exactly as you envision...

Like I said doesn't matter, and if I had adopted (which was my plan anyway) then yeah, they would have probably just gone to school like everyone else. I would spend time teaching them myself though, and would have them go to a private school etc, so I still think even adopted kids would have graduated a bit early.

I grew up poor, we moved every 3-6 months until we moved to SF and I started 4th grade (why I got away with skipping that whole year, they thought we had just moved again). I started working under the table jobs around then and no longer needed to live off school lunches (main reason I skipped the year, besides just reading in the back of classrooms forever).

Honestly though, what you need to learn in order to graduate from HS isn't that hard for kids much younger, if they are above average int, and actually study/try (while having someone directly teach them). I taught for a few years and usually had a good 5-6 students who were well beyond the classroom average (at least a year or two ahead in most cases). I never had a class that didn't have at least a few students who could have been ok in a classroom one grade higher (and at least a few who really needed to be in a classroom a year or more lower as well).

It's especially true at the elementary level where you pretty much cover what was learned the previous year for the first half of the next one.

Our public school system is extremely inefficient, especially for students that learn faster than average. There are usually at least 3 classes per grade level in a school (and often more), and I think the students should be broken up based on how fast they learn/advanced they are. The faster you can learn, the faster you can graduate, and the extra time can be used going to college, or a trade school, or interning etc.

Meanwhile students that need more time, would still graduate by 18 probably, but might not be quite as advanced as the norm. They would actually have teachers focusing on what they need to learn though, and would progress constantly, ended up far more advanced compared to the current system (where they often get left behind and teachers don't have the time to spend to help them catch up).

But oh well, doesn't matter anyway at this point.
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Only if she had a well reasoned and thought out plan to make something of herself. (I have a new daughter)

But otherwise, if I'm paying $30k per year (plus all the other BS they make you pay to get on the waiting lists) then I expect her to stick it out and get into a good university.

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