YOU CANT MAKE MONEY OFF GUITAR HERO!!! What is wrond with you people? He was getting a great education at a good Christian school. He has an older borther who plays football and is actually good and could make a future off that and his little sister is a great dancer. He was at school and left the people there (including his girlfriend) to play guitar hero, his future is gonna suck and he needs to open his eyes and see that
only one problem with that theory...he was going to the 2nd best school in the city. trust me i know i went out with his ex and know this kid. and its video games, i love them as much as the next kid but who the hell runs to videogames as a future?
MY 16 yr old just bought a REAL electric guitar - with his own money that he earned at his summer job! Guitar Hero is LAME; my kid taught himself guitar and he's only been playing a year. And no way he would quit high school - whether I let him or not - he has common sense, a rare commodity at any age. Besides, he's on the school ski team and really looking forward to winter. Life should be about expanding choices, not limiting them, and especially when you're young.
This kid wants to bail out of high school so he can play a video game all day, and he's getting cheered on? It's no wonder we can't get people in this country to wake up and see how our culture is crumbling. They're too busy playing online games and zoning out with their PS3's.If the kid is having trouble socially, the answer is not home schooling and Guitar Hero. That's not addressing the problem; it's running away from it.
Yeah, he should leave school because once the socialization factors are gone, education is better, one on one with a tutor. Obviously, if he's a cultural recluse then school's probably a good thing for him. Finally, if he's not aiming for a full scholarship to a private college or 6 yr BA-MD program then it isn't worth it if he's got some other dream to pursue. Online colleges still exist (U of Maryland) so there are alternatives to regular traditional education.
I can't argue with the kid dropping out if he's getting a decent education at home. As a high school teacher, I have so many kids with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, or even who just don't fit in who would benefit from having private, dedicated instruction. It seems to me that even though he dropped out to play Guitar Hero, the privilege of playing the game is merely an incentive for finishing his work. He's hitting two birds with one stone. How can you disagree?
Young man, or woman, I just want to say to you, DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM!! Your posting was awesome & inspiring & I'm an adult. It was really refreshing to hear/read a young person speak like that! And you are right that there are no accomodations in public schools for above average intelligence students. My husband was one of those & consistently got in trouble because he was simply bored. There was never a challenge for him. He has since earned his masters degree & is making a yearly salary in the 6 digits & will one day go back to college to earn his doctorate. When we compare now to the highschool days & him being ridiculed by the students & looked over by the teachers, we are so thankful. Those same students that picked on him, now work at your local convenience store & have basically done nothing with their lives! You hold on tight to those dreams & you look to your future because it's going to be a bright one! Just a word of caution & advice, be careful with whom you discuss your dreams/goals because there will always be dream killlers & hope snatchers. Avoid those people!! They will offer all of the ways in which it is impossible to acheive your goals & speak not one encouraging word. Talk only to those who will encourage you in your dream for your life & those who will support you. You seem like an amazing person & I hope for all good things & blessings for you in your life!!!
This is one of the most intelligent replies on this topic that I have read. Props to you homeschool Mom! Your kids have a fine mother with a sensible head on her shoulders. I wish there were more Mom's like you!!
Thanks for your opinion. It's always a thing of interest to see how others' can make things up out of what was never said. I never said that it was my parents' mistake or fault for ME choosing to drop out. If you will read close to the top of my original post, I said, "So -----> I <----- quit in the middle of my senior year." I didn't say my parents agreed nor disagreed with MY choice to quit. When I referred to myself not making the same mistakes they made as parents, I was referring to many things left unsaid about my past & my relationship with my parents or lack of. Also, I don't consider it "lucky" to be able to be a stay at home mother. It is a CHOICE that I made because it is what's best for our children & our family as a whole. There are times we struggle with the same issues financially, that "most families" struggle with & as you say, where both parents HAVE to work. (Who doesn't struggle financially, what with gas prices & groceries having become so costly?) I know what "most families" have to go through because I was raised in one of them, as I previously stated. I also think that perhaps you use the word, YOU, too often, as in, pointing fingers at me when I never once placed blame on my parents for MY choice to quit, in my posting or otherwise. I have always taken & will always take complete responsibility for that choice ----> I <---- made. Nonetheless, I do thank you for your two cents & it was worth as much.
Playing games for competition sounds nice and fun and challenging, but I'd rather make games for PCs and consoles and even invent new gernes, thank you.
Okay... Weird. Ignore that people! Earth Science is 10th grade (my computer is screwed up!) My apologies if any of you were looking at that comment weird trying to figure out what 19th grade was. XD!
I agree with you. I'm in the 8th grade, and I'm a high-honor's student (95% and above). I can't stand most of my classmates, I get picked on quite a bit, and though I hate it, I've become slightly violent. But you see, I've been picked on since kindergarten. I haven't ever beaten anyone up, but I got sooo close once, I almost did it. I play 4 instruments, and have been told by several people that I am "musically gifted". My dream is to be a musician in a popular rock group. Is that ridiculous? Is it impossible to achieve? Maybe... But I am willing to take that risk. I am of course going to get my Master's degree first (you have to go to college people!) I'm going to try very hard this year, because I truly believe that I am smart enough to skip my freshman year. I'm not bragging, I'm just one of those smart people that they don't have the right services for. They put me in remedial reading class last year because I was so smart! They were using me to increase the grade curve! Unfortunately I did not know this until the second half of the year when my best friend told me what he had heard the teachers talking about. I got very mad, and understandably, told off my teacher (in a more respectful way than that though). But I did get very angry, I mean, I’ve been in the library since I was 2! My goal is to be valedictorian, and nobody is going to get in my way. I hope to attend Notre Dame, or Harvard. I’m going to go for Criminal Justice and medieval history. After that, I hope to form (if there is not one currently), my own band. What I’m getting at is, public schools don’t help the intelligent. They just help the normal students, who really don’t apply themselves. But the only public schools in my area are religious (no offense to the people that are, because I am). I just don’t want to hear sermons in the middle of math class. Math is not an easy subject for me. I used to get 50%! But now I’ve got 95%-100%! The most boring subject is Earth Science (19th grade class, yes I know that I’m in 8th!) Last year I had some trouble with a black girl (no offense to black people!) She for some reason did not like people with eastern European backgrounds (I’m Polish, and Czechoslovakian.) She then threatened to stab me with a pen. I went down to the office, naturally, I wasn’t going to take that from her. And whilst down with the vice principal, she told me never to come back. I had “disturbed her work”, and if I even had a problem again, she would give me out of school suspension. That didn’t go over well with my mother at all. She almost had the lady’s job. The bitch. I don’t think that Peebles did anything wrong, he didn’t drop out. He is being home-schooled. My parents were thinking about doing that with me. I don’t get along with public school kids, at all! Blake wants to follow his dream, that’s fine, because it might sound as ridiculous to you as me wanting to be a rock-star. Will it happen? You need to have the skills. If he is top 20 in the world, then he’s good!
I don't think I would say your parents made a mistake by letting you drop out. You already stated that the knew they couldn't make you stay in school. 'You' made the decision to drop out. You are lucky that you are in a position to be a stay at home mother. Most families have to have both parents work to be able to provide food & pay the bills. You made the decision to drop out, Your decision. You got your GED. Your decision, your mistake, not your parents.
If your reporting is correct, this student didn't "drop out" of school...he merely changed buildings and systems. Having a private tutor has been the choice of royalty and blue bloods for centuries. You say he is doing his work without complaint...doesn't sound like a drop-out to me. There are many ways to get a diploma...one of which is for the family to award one themselves (as long as they can back it up with proof of work done, it is totally valid and colleges are accepting them now.) So, is he wasting his time playing games after doing his school work or was he wasting his time before in the public school system trying to survive and not getting anything out of his classes? I say, let him go...he is getting educated and learning about life in a way other kids stuck in the system aren't getting.
Bill Gates dropped out of college and was an introverted geek, by all accounts. Of course, there's only one Bill Gates. While dropping out of high school stacks the odds against you, he could (and should, obviously) still finish his degree and continue his stated path of learning programming. Of course, most 16 year olds don't know what they want to do for a career. If things go terribly for him, as Judge Smails said, the world needs ditch diggers, too.
My daughter is 16 and is opting to do early entrance to college rather than stay in traditional High School. It's true that our system is not equipped to deal with children who are academically "above average". I would state that includes a large number of children considering that our "average" students are not generally high performing. Truly gifted children are actually better off in many schools simply because there are programs for them. Special needs children also have programs developed specifically for them. But "average" in our school system equates to the lowest common denomonator amongst that group-leaving highly capable students to languish in classes that bore them to tears-and misbehavior. Homeschooling, early entrance into University or "running start" programs are all good options for kids dissatisfied with traditional high school. In anycase, going to school isn't all it's cracked up to be and I think people shouldn't be so quick to judge these parents or buy into the obviously hyped aspects of this story. I think they are making a good choice because it's what works with their son. I bet the obsession with games this kid has may fade now that he's being provided a meaningful education.
I would say acquiring Trade Skills is way better than joining Video Game Tournaments to get paid. Joining Video Game Tournaments might be fun but for the long run it is stupid to spend whole life depending on Video Game Tournaments to eat and live in the REAL WORLD.
My son quit school at 16, not because he wasn't doing well, not because he didn't have friends, not because he was being bullied. He was just plain bored. Public school think that special ed is only for students on the low side of the bell curve. Students on the high side are ignored. Public schools seem to think the gifted can take care of themselves. When my son was born, his IQ was 145. I know because that's what it was when he was tested 10 years later. In spite of this, I did not let him cross the street by himself when he was 2 years old. No, the bright kids can not take care of themselves. If anything, they need a lot more from schools because they can think of much more creative ways to get into trouble. If public schools continue to teach to a student's weaknesses instead of to his strengths, they'll continue to produce ignorant graduates and dropouts. FYI, my son is an engineer now, absolutely no thanks to the public schools. My second son opted for continuation high school and graduated a year early. He's a multi-millionaire real estate broker. Public schools are broken and need fixing. The No Child Left Behind law just makes things so much worse than they were that if I still had school age children I'd never allow them withing spitting distance of a public school. FYI, I'm a former teacher. I dropped out and went into accounting in the 80s because I couldn't stomach my own profession any longer.
YOU CANT MAKE MONEY OFF GUITAR HERO!!! What is wrond with you people? He was getting a great education at a good Christian school. He has an older borther who plays football and is actually good and could make a future off that and his little sister is a great dancer. He was at school and left the people there (including his girlfriend) to play guitar hero, his future is gonna suck and he needs to open his eyes and see that
he was at a good PRIVATE school not a public school
only one problem with that theory...he was going to the 2nd best school in the city. trust me i know i went out with his ex and know this kid. and its video games, i love them as much as the next kid but who the hell runs to videogames as a future?
MY 16 yr old just bought a REAL electric guitar - with his own money that he earned at his summer job! Guitar Hero is LAME; my kid taught himself guitar and he's only been playing a year. And no way he would quit high school - whether I let him or not - he has common sense, a rare commodity at any age. Besides, he's on the school ski team and really looking forward to winter. Life should be about expanding choices, not limiting them, and especially when you're young.
This kid wants to bail out of high school so he can play a video game all day, and he's getting cheered on? It's no wonder we can't get people in this country to wake up and see how our culture is crumbling. They're too busy playing online games and zoning out with their PS3's.If the kid is having trouble socially, the answer is not home schooling and Guitar Hero. That's not addressing the problem; it's running away from it.
Yeah, he should leave school because once the socialization factors are gone, education is better, one on one with a tutor. Obviously, if he's a cultural recluse then school's probably a good thing for him. Finally, if he's not aiming for a full scholarship to a private college or 6 yr BA-MD program then it isn't worth it if he's got some other dream to pursue. Online colleges still exist (U of Maryland) so there are alternatives to regular traditional education.
I can't argue with the kid dropping out if he's getting a decent education at home. As a high school teacher, I have so many kids with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, or even who just don't fit in who would benefit from having private, dedicated instruction. It seems to me that even though he dropped out to play Guitar Hero, the privilege of playing the game is merely an incentive for finishing his work. He's hitting two birds with one stone. How can you disagree?
Young man, or woman, I just want to say to you, DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM!! Your posting was awesome & inspiring & I'm an adult. It was really refreshing to hear/read a young person speak like that! And you are right that there are no accomodations in public schools for above average intelligence students. My husband was one of those & consistently got in trouble because he was simply bored. There was never a challenge for him. He has since earned his masters degree & is making a yearly salary in the 6 digits & will one day go back to college to earn his doctorate. When we compare now to the highschool days & him being ridiculed by the students & looked over by the teachers, we are so thankful. Those same students that picked on him, now work at your local convenience store & have basically done nothing with their lives! You hold on tight to those dreams & you look to your future because it's going to be a bright one! Just a word of caution & advice, be careful with whom you discuss your dreams/goals because there will always be dream killlers & hope snatchers. Avoid those people!! They will offer all of the ways in which it is impossible to acheive your goals & speak not one encouraging word. Talk only to those who will encourage you in your dream for your life & those who will support you. You seem like an amazing person & I hope for all good things & blessings for you in your life!!!
This is one of the most intelligent replies on this topic that I have read. Props to you homeschool Mom! Your kids have a fine mother with a sensible head on her shoulders. I wish there were more Mom's like you!!
Thanks for your opinion. It's always a thing of interest to see how others' can make things up out of what was never said. I never said that it was my parents' mistake or fault for ME choosing to drop out. If you will read close to the top of my original post, I said, "So -----> I <----- quit in the middle of my senior year." I didn't say my parents agreed nor disagreed with MY choice to quit. When I referred to myself not making the same mistakes they made as parents, I was referring to many things left unsaid about my past & my relationship with my parents or lack of. Also, I don't consider it "lucky" to be able to be a stay at home mother. It is a CHOICE that I made because it is what's best for our children & our family as a whole. There are times we struggle with the same issues financially, that "most families" struggle with & as you say, where both parents HAVE to work. (Who doesn't struggle financially, what with gas prices & groceries having become so costly?) I know what "most families" have to go through because I was raised in one of them, as I previously stated. I also think that perhaps you use the word, YOU, too often, as in, pointing fingers at me when I never once placed blame on my parents for MY choice to quit, in my posting or otherwise. I have always taken & will always take complete responsibility for that choice ----> I <---- made. Nonetheless, I do thank you for your two cents & it was worth as much.
I have 4 boys. I have to agree with this sentiment. The kid is getting his education - probably better than most public High Schools in the nation.
Playing games for competition sounds nice and fun and challenging, but I'd rather make games for PCs and consoles and even invent new gernes, thank you.
Okay... Weird. Ignore that people! Earth Science is 10th grade (my computer is screwed up!) My apologies if any of you were looking at that comment weird trying to figure out what 19th grade was. XD!
I agree with you. I'm in the 8th grade, and I'm a high-honor's student (95% and above). I can't stand most of my classmates, I get picked on quite a bit, and though I hate it, I've become slightly violent. But you see, I've been picked on since kindergarten. I haven't ever beaten anyone up, but I got sooo close once, I almost did it. I play 4 instruments, and have been told by several people that I am "musically gifted". My dream is to be a musician in a popular rock group. Is that ridiculous? Is it impossible to achieve? Maybe... But I am willing to take that risk. I am of course going to get my Master's degree first (you have to go to college people!) I'm going to try very hard this year, because I truly believe that I am smart enough to skip my freshman year. I'm not bragging, I'm just one of those smart people that they don't have the right services for. They put me in remedial reading class last year because I was so smart! They were using me to increase the grade curve! Unfortunately I did not know this until the second half of the year when my best friend told me what he had heard the teachers talking about. I got very mad, and understandably, told off my teacher (in a more respectful way than that though). But I did get very angry, I mean, I’ve been in the library since I was 2! My goal is to be valedictorian, and nobody is going to get in my way. I hope to attend Notre Dame, or Harvard. I’m going to go for Criminal Justice and medieval history. After that, I hope to form (if there is not one currently), my own band. What I’m getting at is, public schools don’t help the intelligent. They just help the normal students, who really don’t apply themselves. But the only public schools in my area are religious (no offense to the people that are, because I am). I just don’t want to hear sermons in the middle of math class. Math is not an easy subject for me. I used to get 50%! But now I’ve got 95%-100%! The most boring subject is Earth Science (19th grade class, yes I know that I’m in 8th!) Last year I had some trouble with a black girl (no offense to black people!) She for some reason did not like people with eastern European backgrounds (I’m Polish, and Czechoslovakian.) She then threatened to stab me with a pen. I went down to the office, naturally, I wasn’t going to take that from her. And whilst down with the vice principal, she told me never to come back. I had “disturbed her work”, and if I even had a problem again, she would give me out of school suspension. That didn’t go over well with my mother at all. She almost had the lady’s job. The bitch. I don’t think that Peebles did anything wrong, he didn’t drop out. He is being home-schooled. My parents were thinking about doing that with me. I don’t get along with public school kids, at all! Blake wants to follow his dream, that’s fine, because it might sound as ridiculous to you as me wanting to be a rock-star. Will it happen? You need to have the skills. If he is top 20 in the world, then he’s good!
I don't think I would say your parents made a mistake by letting you drop out. You already stated that the knew they couldn't make you stay in school. 'You' made the decision to drop out. You are lucky that you are in a position to be a stay at home mother. Most families have to have both parents work to be able to provide food & pay the bills. You made the decision to drop out, Your decision. You got your GED. Your decision, your mistake, not your parents.
If your reporting is correct, this student didn't "drop out" of school...he merely changed buildings and systems. Having a private tutor has been the choice of royalty and blue bloods for centuries. You say he is doing his work without complaint...doesn't sound like a drop-out to me. There are many ways to get a diploma...one of which is for the family to award one themselves (as long as they can back it up with proof of work done, it is totally valid and colleges are accepting them now.) So, is he wasting his time playing games after doing his school work or was he wasting his time before in the public school system trying to survive and not getting anything out of his classes? I say, let him go...he is getting educated and learning about life in a way other kids stuck in the system aren't getting.
Bill Gates dropped out of college and was an introverted geek, by all accounts. Of course, there's only one Bill Gates. While dropping out of high school stacks the odds against you, he could (and should, obviously) still finish his degree and continue his stated path of learning programming. Of course, most 16 year olds don't know what they want to do for a career. If things go terribly for him, as Judge Smails said, the world needs ditch diggers, too.
My daughter is 16 and is opting to do early entrance to college rather than stay in traditional High School. It's true that our system is not equipped to deal with children who are academically "above average". I would state that includes a large number of children considering that our "average" students are not generally high performing. Truly gifted children are actually better off in many schools simply because there are programs for them. Special needs children also have programs developed specifically for them. But "average" in our school system equates to the lowest common denomonator amongst that group-leaving highly capable students to languish in classes that bore them to tears-and misbehavior. Homeschooling, early entrance into University or "running start" programs are all good options for kids dissatisfied with traditional high school. In anycase, going to school isn't all it's cracked up to be and I think people shouldn't be so quick to judge these parents or buy into the obviously hyped aspects of this story. I think they are making a good choice because it's what works with their son. I bet the obsession with games this kid has may fade now that he's being provided a meaningful education.
I would say acquiring Trade Skills is way better than joining Video Game Tournaments to get paid. Joining Video Game Tournaments might be fun but for the long run it is stupid to spend whole life depending on Video Game Tournaments to eat and live in the REAL WORLD.
My son quit school at 16, not because he wasn't doing well, not because he didn't have friends, not because he was being bullied. He was just plain bored. Public school think that special ed is only for students on the low side of the bell curve. Students on the high side are ignored. Public schools seem to think the gifted can take care of themselves. When my son was born, his IQ was 145. I know because that's what it was when he was tested 10 years later. In spite of this, I did not let him cross the street by himself when he was 2 years old. No, the bright kids can not take care of themselves. If anything, they need a lot more from schools because they can think of much more creative ways to get into trouble. If public schools continue to teach to a student's weaknesses instead of to his strengths, they'll continue to produce ignorant graduates and dropouts. FYI, my son is an engineer now, absolutely no thanks to the public schools. My second son opted for continuation high school and graduated a year early. He's a multi-millionaire real estate broker. Public schools are broken and need fixing. The No Child Left Behind law just makes things so much worse than they were that if I still had school age children I'd never allow them withing spitting distance of a public school. FYI, I'm a former teacher. I dropped out and went into accounting in the 80s because I couldn't stomach my own profession any longer.