210
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
(Background: I saw this question on SE and am answering from an anonymous account because of personal details). I'm not a parent but feel the need to post because this resonated strongly with me.
...
125
votes
How to deal with a 6 year old who was "caught" cheating?
You may not like this answer, but bear with me for a moment, please.
So first, let’s recap what happened. Your son checked the answers for a test, during the test, in order to correct possible ...
97
votes
How to deal with my 12 year old son being allegedly caught cheating at school
First, I would (as Becuzz mentioned) sit down with him and hear his side of the story. It may be that he was cheating, and in this case, if he seems properly repentant and embarrassed, you might work ...
92
votes
Accepted
Should I buy my college child a vehicle when I can afford to or make him earn it on his own?
I like the way my mother did:
I told my mother I was going to buy my first car. She listened to me, my budget, my pro's and con's and once I had picked a car I could afford and was planning to get it ...
90
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
First, please let me express my sympathy with what seems to be an extremely difficult situation. What follows does not mean I am not sympathetic with your struggles.
You seem to have a few ideas of ...
88
votes
Should I buy my college child a vehicle when I can afford to or make him earn it on his own?
Mine is getting ready to head off to college soon too, it's a fine line to tread between spoiling and being too detached. The way I put it to my kid is that as long s/he is either gainfully employed ...
73
votes
Accepted
What's the motivation behind school uniforms {or} Why can't my daughter wear a dang princess on her shirt?
I wore a school uniform (very similar to what you describe) from ages 10 - 17. There were some benefits to it such as not having to waste time figuring out what to wear and not feeling "judged" by my ...
60
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
There's a very good chance your daughter is being bullied.
My experience with my then 13-year-old son was almost identical to what you describe. It took several months to find out what exactly was ...
55
votes
How can I convince my child to write?
First, please know that I agree 100% with @David Hedlund's answer in its entirety. I just want to address one particular point that needs to be stressed.
His teacher says if this type of behavior ...
49
votes
Why do I have negative feelings about my mother?
I don't think you hate your Mother as strongly as you think you do. We always get angry with those that are near us. It seems to be the easiest way to vent.
I remember being 16 and the reason why is ...
49
votes
How to encourage children to do their homework?
...knowledge and mastery ought to be its own reward.
Question: do you work (at your job) for free because it's rewarding and what you want to do? No, you work because you get a paycheck for it. (I ...
48
votes
Teacher telling 4th grade student "I hate you"
The remark your child told you about is deeply painful and disturbing, and anger is a justified response. However, please consider that you weren't there. You cannot know with absolute certainty what ...
45
votes
What's the motivation behind school uniforms {or} Why can't my daughter wear a dang princess on her shirt?
Lots of reasons.
Keeps kids on level ground, economically. Uniforms are generally pretty cheap and no one gets ridiculed for their choice of clothes.
Keeps kids safe. Have you ever tried to herd a ...
45
votes
Should I buy my college child a vehicle when I can afford to or make him earn it on his own?
Buy him a used vehicle. Let hm earn his first "new" car.
I am like you; I worked for everything I got. I started working after school at 15, and at 17 I bought my first used Volkswagen Bug for 400$ (...
35
votes
School told my daughter Charlie Chaplin’s speech was “offensive”
I think the first step is to write to the PA asking for clarification:
Was the video actually rejected as offensive? If I understand your post correctly, you only have your daughter's report on that.
...
34
votes
My son's handwriting is so poor that even he can't read it. How can I help him improve?
There are a lot of different things that might help, depending on the child, but ultimately what has to change is the child's choice to pay attention to details.
I had pretty poor handwriting as a ...
31
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
First, I agree with the other posters who suggest that your daughter may be trying to avoid an abusive situation, and that this should be taken very seriously. In the short term, though, what should ...
30
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
Have you tried talking to her?
The first question I would ask is:
Would you like to change school?
If she said yes, ask why.
I had a similar issue with my sister-in-law, she didn't wanted to go ...
30
votes
How to deal with a 6 year old who was "caught" cheating?
I was furious, so I called the vice-principal and asked why a 6-year-old was shamed and that child doesn't know the concept of cheating. The VP told me that he was not shamed in front of the class but ...
26
votes
What's the motivation behind school uniforms {or} Why can't my daughter wear a dang princess on her shirt?
School uniforms eliminate any questions of what is or is not appropriate. There is no subjective component to a teachers objection to being out of uniform, versus the news hype raised over t shirts ...
21
votes
My son's handwriting is so poor that even he can't read it. How can I help him improve?
If he's writing ‘joined-up’ (cursive), has he considered switching back to printing (writing each letter separately)?
Printing has a reputation for being much slower and looking ‘childish’, but in my ...
20
votes
Teenage daughter refusing to go to school
Something bad is happening to her at school, something quite bad judging from the severity of her aversion. It could be severe bullying, or it could be abuse, possibly sexual. It likely has a ...
20
votes
Accepted
Taking days off from kindergarten
As an adult, I've come to realize the value of taking days off much more than when I was a kid. Throughout all of school I had perfect or near perfect attendance. I & my family never played hooky ...
19
votes
How to deal with my 12 year old son being allegedly caught cheating at school
Other answers have covered getting his side, so I won't go further into that. But not much has been said yet (that I agree with anyway) about what to do if he has been cheating.
The school will ...
19
votes
What's the motivation behind school uniforms {or} Why can't my daughter wear a dang princess on her shirt?
There are many upsides and downsides to school uniforms. A lot of them can be "opinion based" so bear with me a bit as I relate what is usually talked about with people around me.
Positives
...
19
votes
What is the name of this SAT test concept?
That is called an analogy. They were removed from the test in 2005.
18
votes
School told my daughter Charlie Chaplin’s speech was “offensive”
Ask the school for a clear explanation as to why this happened.
They should be able to provide a basic explanation as to why the video was removed. And if they don’t? That is the real problem here.
...
17
votes
How to deal with my 12 year old son being allegedly caught cheating at school
Because @Becuzz's comment is so very good, I'm turning it into an answer.
Today I received a shocking call from his teacher that he was caught cheating. I'm shocked; this is so not him. ...Should I ...
17
votes
Why do I have negative feelings about my mother?
I seriously doubt you hate your mother, she is most likely the focal point of the anger you feel about something else because she is the biggest presence in your life.
You probably need help dealing ...
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