Are you ready for back to school? + Wed Links

I ask my son every year if he is ready for back to school and every year his answers get angrier. As a matter of fact if I ask any of the boys that are teenagers they all tell me no they hate school and they aren’t ready to go back. When did it get like this? I’m trying to remember if I hated school this much when I was his age and I think I did but I didn’t voice it because I knew it wasn’t a choice for me. My kids start back August 1st and I sat down with my son to get to the bottom of his anger. The first question I asked was are you ready for back to school?

Are you ready for back to school?

Dman: No.

Me: I didn’t even finish the question

Dman: I am not ready for back to school. Summer just started and I hate school

Me: Why do you hate school so much? Are you bullied? Do you hate the work? Let’s have a real conversation

Dman: I hate the teachers mostly. If I get a good teacher which is rare then I guess it isn’t bad but they give you so much work it’s like I can’t have a life. Tests every week, a paper due, team projects, and that’s every class. It’s exhausting. Why can’t we do like one class every 3 months then end it and move on?

Me: So if you had a good teacher that didn’t give a lot of work and the work was fun would you like school better then?

Dman: Probably not but I wouldn’t hate it as much

Me: You have to make it fun. When I was in school and the teacher was boring I would call my friends on the dial up house phone and we would go over work together. Have you tried that?

Dman: We wouldn’t get any work done we would only talk about video games so that won’t help

Me: ok well I don’t know what to tell you. It will get harder as you go higher in grades. You only have 5 more years of school left and then you can be done. I won’t pressure you to go to college unless you want but at least finish school. If you can do that then after high school you can do what you want within reason as long as you are making money from it and not working fast food. Deal?

Dman: Do I have a choice?

Me: nope…you really don’t.

I hate that he hates school. How can I as a parent make it better for him? Any suggestions?

Wed Links

Speaking of back to school….here is a great spot to start your shopping. I’m buying this and this and maybe this.

If you have a child going to middle school check this article out.

Love this morning checklist just in time for back to school.

I’m preparing now for back to school.

If you need all the sales make sure you check this page out.

Don’t forget to take some fun back to school photos to keep as memories because these kids grow fast.

Florida is requiring a mental health class. Should all states do the same?

I feared not having friends in middle school but I turned out ok.