what do you think?

Your teenager is offered a gig at the snow for the rest of the season, all expenses covered. The hitch is, the teenager is in Yr 11, doing some Yr 12 subjects and doing well at school. There’s a chance that the kid could fail due to “lack of attendance”....
What do you say?

Ooh that’s a tricky one, if said teenager is prepared to definitely repeat the year next year I’d say go for it!!

trentradpants - 29 July 2014 05:47 PM

Ooh that’s a tricky one, if said teenager is prepared to definitely repeat the year next year I’d say go for it!!

this…

I was going to +1 Trent and ozgirls opinions, but then I thought about it a bit more.

If I got to do that in year 11 and then I had to repeat yr 11 and then do yr 12, I would hate having to go back to school after that…all I could think about would be snow and what I was missing out on and why was it ok for me to ditch school last year but not this year?

I think said teenager will have plenty of opportunities for gigs like that in the future. I would be saying ‘Get school done first and then you can spend the rest of your life chasing similar opportunities if you like!’
Mostly for their own good because I can imagine myself just not giving a tinker’s cuss about school after I’d had that much fun!

But thats exactly what treant and I are saying.

I agree 100% with you cords. but if said kid okay with repeating (ie we think he should finish HS eventually…) then he shoudl do it.

weigh up the pros and cons

See I there is a correspondence/long distance option for their studies? Its only realistically 2 months… And not over exam time… So if they can keep up to date with their schooling 1-2 days a week in order to have the opportunity to be at the snow for that period.  I think that would work?

Can’t he do some sort of correspondence that’s cool with the school?????

If he’s dedicated, and he’s disciplined, this could be a life changer!!!!!

Whilst an education can be good, contacts and life experience can sometimes be the catalyst for big things!!!!!

I suppose I have to say that fundamentally, I don’t have a problem with it. Tomorrow, we are trying to organise with school that it is all ok. There’s a pretty high chance of it not affecting school at all…. But also a pretty high chance that this can lead somewhere more permanently over the next couple of years. Teenager has a plan to do yr 12 at the snow next yr, so might be good thing.
Another thing for this teenager is that life has been lived pretty much outside the square, and that his parental figures are of the opinion that school can be a stepping stone, but not the whole pavement.

I am really valuing your opinions, because many heads are better than one, and there are things I don’t think of.

ozgirl - 29 July 2014 06:48 PM

But thats exactly what treant and I are saying.

I agree 100% with you cords. but if said kid okay with repeating (ie we think he should finish HS eventually…) then he shoudl do it.

I know if I was kid, I would agree to ANYTHING!!! to be allowed to do that…but I also know that once I knew what life could be like without school and snowboarding all the time, I could never have applied myself to my studies in the same way after that, cos I simply wouldn’t have cared anymore, no matter what agreements I had made! School would just be wayyy more of a drag than it had been previously and snowboarding would be all I would think about.
Get schooling out of the way before you realise how much better life can be without it!

Tambo - 29 July 2014 08:06 PM

Another thing for this teenager is that life has been lived pretty much outside the square, and that his parental figures are of the opinion that school can be a stepping stone, but not the whole pavement.

This

I’ve done the responsible thing; 7 years at uni, 2 degrees and then straight into a professional job. Followed up by 5 years of travel. So can def appreciate both arguments.  But for mine, the teenager should do it, for sure.
Education is rad. But there is just something about life experience that feeds the soul and mind.

Tambo - 29 July 2014 08:06 PM

I suppose I have to say that fundamentally, I don’t have a problem with it. Tomorrow, we are trying to organise with school that it is all ok. There’s a pretty high chance of it not affecting school at all…. But also a pretty high chance that this can lead somewhere more permanently over the next couple of years. Teenager has a plan to do yr 12 at the snow next yr, so might be good thing.
Another thing for this teenager is that life has been lived pretty much outside the square, and that his parental figures are of the opinion that school can be a stepping stone, but not the whole pavement.

I am really valuing your opinions, because many heads are better than one, and there are things I don’t think of.

In light of this information, which I hadn’t actually read when I posted last, because I was doing a few other things, then I say go for it!

School definitely isn’t the b-all and end-all but it is definitely worth it to try and do ok at it while you’re there, but like all things, it is a balancing act!
Kids get so much pressure put on them these days (definitely in NSW with the HSC, anyway) - schools make out like it is THE most important thing in your whole life, when the truth is that a year later, everyone has found their own path anyway and no one gives a crap what university entrance score you got!

Ill agree with most on here.. Go for it!! I only just scraped through my HSC back in ‘99.  i was bursting at the seems to get out and see the big wide world. Something uni could never offer. University never interested me at all. though I eventually gained a PhD from the school of life, experimenting with different jobs, 4 years of straight overseas travels, winters in the snow, summers spent surfing till i eventually found my passion and love of the maritime game.

As long as the person can still kinda balance study and gaining life exp, do it do it do it. Life exp is such an amazing and soul searching thing and teaches you so much along the way especially at a young age, which is the best thing in life

Thanks everyone.

bit of a sleepless night. but we will see how things go today. I’ll agree with a few of you to say that even having been a teacher, my view is that school is over-rated somewhat, and does little to give kids the experiences they need for the future. I feel very confident that if this child wants to get to uni, they will, with or without school. I personally have strong views that uni isn’t something to go into straight from school (I did), and that it’s a waste of time until you are totally committed to it.

Another thing working for me in this instance, is that the teenager isn’t old enough to head out to the pub (everyone up there knows he’s not 18 yet) and that we know so many up there who will look out for him and report back. 

So I’m going to leave the decision up to the teenager -    feeling confident that the will learn some good lessons along the way.

Tambo - 30 July 2014 07:10 AM

I feel very confident that if this child wants to get to uni, they will, with or without school.

This was my reasoning back when i left school.

back in the good old days when you could just go to Uni as a “mature aged” student.

Unfortunately you can’t any more you must have completed the HSC.

So if Azz or me wanted to go to Uni we have to go to TAFE to do our HSC. It doesn’t’ matter that this rule came in well after the fact.

So if said child has any inclination to do a job requiring a University Degree they will have to finish High School.

But he can do yr 11 and 12 in one year nowadays… so next year. Even at current school.

Just something to think about as Cords is right every year you wait going back to high school will be harder.

Tambo - 30 July 2014 07:10 AM

Thanks everyone.

bit of a sleepless night. but we will see how things go today. I’ll agree with a few of you to say that even having been a teacher, my view is that school is over-rated somewhat, and does little to give kids the experiences they need for the future. I feel very confident that if this child wants to get to uni, they will, with or without school. I personally have strong views that uni isn’t something to go into straight from school (I did), and that it’s a waste of time until you are totally committed to it.

Another thing working for me in this instance, is that the teenager isn’t old enough to head out to the pub (everyone up there knows he’s not 18 yet) and that we know so many up there who will look out for him and report back. 

So I’m going to leave the decision up to the teenager -    feeling confident that the will learn some good lessons along the way.