Trying to save my son from making a big mistake......

[Shelly Sowell]

My son continues to fail in school and has an iq off the boards. he hates school, doesn't apply himself at all, and has basically told me he uses school to see friends and pickup girls. recently he told me he was interested in joining the navy. i am all for it. all my uncles are or have been in the military. i am backing him all the way. about a week ago, he's talked about quiting school and just going to work. i do not want him to quit. he's a junior now and should be a senior. he is going to fail again this year so that will make him 20 when he graduates. he just doesn't want to be there. i wish he would at least get his ged and join the navy than quit and end up living in a box somewhere without an education. at least by joining he could get an education and i feel like he could learn a whole lot of responsibility that he needs. any advice on what you would tell him. he's 1 1/2 month shy of turning 18 and i'm afraid he's going to quit before i can talk him into joining and doing what's best for him.

[Christy Adams]

As far as I know, the Navy does not accept GED.... he must have a diploma. My son's friend who dropped out wanted to enlist and they had him in a class to get a diploma because he said a GED wasn't accepted. Might want to check it out for sure.

[Shelly Sowell]

yes. that's what i was told. you have to be accepted very early in the year and they only accept so many

[Gerri Lynne McNamara]

My sons recruter said that he could have a GED because my son almost wanted to go the route. im glad he stuck with it though and went through with graduating with his class.

[justme_2009]

The navy does except a person who has a GED. I know someone who
in the navy now who only had a GED. Talk to the recuiter first .

[justme_2009]

Navy parents , correct , they will only accept so many per year .
I noticed teens doesnt know what they want to do with there life
as far as graduating high school , go to college or the military.
They seem confused ,doesn't have a sense of direction .
It's going to take parents to guide them in the right direction .
I always say Pray and think positive and do the best you can
with your sons or daughters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My son and daughter both decieded to join the military and
serve there country . I just dropped son off at the recuiter
one hour ago , he will be in GL tomorrow .
Daughter she's in the Airforce and next week ( friday ) she
will graduate from Bootcamp ( 8.5 weeks ) .
We're Proud of them ............

[Carrie-Heather's mom]

My daughter got her GED and had no problem getting in. Maybe it depends on how they score on it??

[Tammy Thompson]

I have 2 sons that have been in the Navy for over 2 years and both of them have GED's And my son's tell me that is the best decision they have ever made is going into the Navy.

[Gerri Lynne McNamara]

I had the same problem with my son, he hated school, and i fought him for 4 yrs, i told him quitting was not a option. so he went into 12th grade as a 11th grader i worked closey with the guid. counsler and principal , i had him take evening classes to be able to pass his 12th grade year. Evening classes were a breeze for him so maybe try that do what you can to get him to pass this year so he can go right into the navy, my son ended up wanting to wait till after summer to go to boot camp and he started wanting not to go , but get him sworn in asap then he has no option but to go. my son started getting into trouble and the weekend b4 he left for boot camp he totalled his car and got into some trouble, i was so releived to see him go i know that sounds horrible but he really needed to go!!! And it has been a blessing

[Anita W Williams]

Gerri:

Don't feel bad about being relieved that your son went to the Navy. I felt the same way. My son wasn't getting into trouble but he told me in the eleventh grade that he didn't want to go to college out of high school. I told him if he didn't go to school, he would have to work (and I don't mean at McDonald's). He finally decided to enlist in the Navy and just graduated from boot camp two weeks ago in Great Lakes. I am sooooo proud of him. We went to see him graduate and he is no longer that little immature boy I raised......he's now a man!

Anita

[myrna fawbush]

my son too hated going to school, he was barely passing his senior year. Then he had a wakeup call. He realized that if he did not finish and get his diploma all the months in DEP would be wasted. He to is very smart he scored well on his ASVAB test, it made him eligible for CTT, he changed his direction graduated last may and left for bootcamp in august, he is currently in A school in Pensacola, Fl. He loves it and can't wait to finish so he can do the job that he is training for. Your son needs a really good recruiter to help him over the humps that was our saving grace, we are so thankful for him. He wanted to quit school and get his GED, he was told he could not go into the Navy with a GED, the Army will take so many with GED though. I am so thankful that he got his act together and now is becoming quite a young man. He is 19 and has a car payment, his own insurance, and is building his credit for his future. Keep the faith and I will keep you in my thoughts. Best of luck. Maybe your son needs to get involved in DEP if they will let him. Check into that. Let me know how it goes.

[Nealie]

Hi Shelly,
Sounds like you're talking about my son! He flunked out of so many classes, he ended up dropping out rather than re-doing a year. His GED scores were the equivalent of being in the top 3% of his class (had he made any effort) and his ASVAB was 93. The Navy recruiter was plenty interested before seeing the ASVAB but jumping out of his skin wanting Alec once they saw that score. I was the one who called the recruiter and gave him Alec's number....that was in August. He swore in within 2 weeks for DEP and left in November. So, I'm not sure about limiting GED recipients and/or getting accepted earlier in the year. But I would say that the ASVAB was a very important part of the whole process and the way the recruiter made Alec feel like this was a place where his smarts would be appreciated. He also spent about a year looking for work, to no avail because of the GED, before I called the recruiter.

So, I recommend:
-pointing out the problem with finding work in this economy when others have their diploma
-having him do the ASVAB and speak with a recruiter to see what his chances look like if he has a GED instead of diploma
-let the recruiter do his job to convince your son (which ever way he decides)
-let your son decide what to do
(Had I opened my mouth after calling the recruiter I think it wouldn't have turned out as well as it has)

Just my 2 cents. Best of luck!!

[Paula]

The only comment that I feel I can make is about my own son. He also hated school - he was there for the football and the girls. Now he is finding out that in order to excel in the Navy, his grades from high school have come back to haunt him. He has come to realize that he should not have been a goof off, but sometimes (like someone said previously) they have to learn the hard way. Now my son is taking extra classes in the Navy to bring up his grades so that he can take the courses that he wants to take in order to move the direction he wants to go.

I am sorry that you have to deal with this, I too, had the same experience of fighting him every day to go to school. Now in retrospect he tells me... I wish I would have listened to you mom... Ahhhh, music to my ears!!

Take care, and good luck - I know it isn't easy.

Blessings
~Paula