kids!

well joe my son got his a level results n all did'nt go as planned!he got enough to get in to his 2nd choice but not is first which meant he would be going to Bradford uni not portsmouth.its his own fault thought he could get away with still going out on the beer and not studying until a week before his exams .i got fed up of nagging him as being 18 thinks he knows it all .so now he is going to go back to school part-time and retake them again in jan.I so fed up with going on at him how important these next few months are going to be,that he cant be a party animal and that he's got to get his head down and study

Been there done it and bought the Tshirt though we dint get as far as UNi apps, my lad couldn't apply himself at school to get basic qualifications. Non the less got an apprenticeship from my brothe in law on a reasonably low wage then griped about how his mates were earning more money than him stacking shelves in Tescos.
We explained that 4 years as an apprentice were valuable and his wages would increase in time, his mates would still be earning similar wages and stacking shelves , would he listen ...NO He packed it all in as he needed to better his maths for 1 of his courses and wasn't up to it . My brother in law wanted to pay for him a private tutor to bring him up to spedd at no cost to him but he declined and gave it all up. Spent years drifting.
On the good side now at the age of 21 he has put himself through courses to be a PT , Nutritionis and MMA Trainer and is now in the early stages of what we hope will be a successful career and looking for his own premises to build up his career mainly in MMA and has his own fight team. Sounds a bit rough and tough but its something he loves, gets the agression out in the gym / ring and we are quite proud of him. And our grandson that he managed to produce along the way , little Reon 2 years old in December

think at the age of 16/18 their far to young to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lifes (other than being in the pub!)just hope he knuckles down

Hope he gets what he wants. Hard when it's your own kid as you just want them to give it their all for a few years so they can achieve the best they possibly can. You think if they do the work now it could change their whole life and what lifestyle they get to afford to live but at the same time who didn't want to party at 18. There is still plenty of time for him to really well

Honestly i wish my parents had nagged me. I never had any help with homework and school just wasn't important. That has resulted in me having to go back to school basically and spend 5 years working to be able to have any sort of qualifications. now im 25 and looking for a job, instead of 21 in steady work in an area i really want. Tell him its now or never not to waste his life!

Sorry to hear it didn't go as planned. My brother is 16 and I doubt he's done very well with his GCSEs because he never bothers revising really, but he's really clever. That said, I was completely focused on my school work, got into my first choice for sixth form, and had to leave and never come back because I developed a long-term illness. So...even if you plan things and have the ambition or effort, it doesn't always work out. He'll just have to learn that there are consequences to not balancing work and fun properly, I guess.