What do you do as a parent if your child wants to peruse

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How old is the child?

>>17496547
16 in October

>>17496555
Yeah, they don't have a fuckin' clue what they want. Give it a month or two, it'll pass.

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>>17496555
Too late to influence them at that age.

What career is it?

What is your ethnicity?

>>17496559
>>17496562
Shit. Who's advice do I follow?

>>17496579
K-9 unit for border patrol. Irish Catholic

>>17496580
It's the same advice. Do not attempt to influence him/her, and hopefully it will pass. If you try to stop them, you are likely to cement their idea.

>>17496583
Sounds like something he'll grow out of. Besides there are worse careers than that. Federal employment at least has good benefits.

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>>17496600
He's a three sport varsity athlete and this is what his transcripts look like. He's throwing away being a doctor or lawyer for some stupid career.

>>17496583

Hmm, if you were asian I would say you have a chance at influencing him, but your ethnicity has a bigger chance of rebelling against your wishes (8 years of high school counseling, you tend to see patterns based on cultural similarites).

I've seen parents who become "too" supportive of their children (gives kids all sorts of shit related to career field like news clippings, stupid toys or clothes) and that embarrasses the kid so bad that they just give up. That's always funny to see. I think at 16 the kid is just reaching out to different possibilities. Maybe he just wants to do something with animals or law enforcement. Have him do volunteer work to see what he likes.

Also >>17496600 speaks truth. Government benefits are nothing to sneeze at.

>>17496624
It only bothers me because he's smart. If he was your typical C and B student I wouldn't care, but if he's this smart he needs to go into a field accommodating that. Like medical, law, science, engineering, etc

>>17496611

>4.1
>ranked 1

Do you live in a very poor area? I'm sorry to tell you anon, but that's not very impressive in the grand scheme of college admissions. I mean, it's really cool for a personal accomplishment, especially since your area probably isn't very high achieving, but compared to others he'll be drowned out. Maybe if you were Mexican or Black it would be a real selling point, but...

>>17496647
Freshmen at his high school can only take one AP class. AP human geography. He got a 5 on the final exam, he said the way he studied was reading the things from the textbook in bold the night before

>>17496624
>I've seen parents who become "too" supportive of their children (gives kids all sorts of shit related to career field like news clippings, stupid toys or clothes) and that embarrasses the kid so bad that they just give up. That's always funny to see.

This. Set him up to be the best goddamn K-9 border patrol unit the force has ever seen. A lot of stuff can go into that -criminal justice, animal handling, negotiation and de-escalation, deception theory, and linguistics, just to name a few- that can overwhelm even the most capable of minds sometimes. Give him as much of a taste of the career as you can: enough, at least, to hammer the point home that it's not just playing with dogs and/or catching bad guys all day.

>>17496641
>if he's this smart he needs to go into a field accommodating that. Like medical, law, science, engineering, etc
Being a detective doesn't accommodate smart people?

>>17496658

Ah, I see. I was imagining he was a young 11th grader since you said he was 16 and you were freaking out about his career choices.

He'll change quickly over 10th and 11th grade. They're all over the place with what they want. It's the ones who say "I want to do ___" since they were in 4th grade that you have to worry about.

>>17496679
If he doesn't change his mind?

>>17496543
Maybe talk to him about his potential, the fact that he will not be able to work such a physically challenging job until retirement age and go over the requirements for FBI/Homeland Security Jobs witch would suite him better. You could suggest getting at least a Bachelors in criminal justice or something similar. Because the people in the k-( unit need trainers/teachers for their programs, too. That way he could study, learn something and still stay in the field he is interested in.

>>17496695

Have an honest, heart-to-heart with him about what you believe he is capable of. If you think he can make great strides in these other fields, tell him that you believe in him. Don't speak down to him for his choices because there's nothing that can make a person turn against you like making them feel stupid or beneath you. Come across as like "I love you as my son, and if this is what you want in your heart of hearts then I will support you, but I truly think that you could do so much good in the world in fields xyz."

If you have time, pick up The Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins. I sometimes have students and parents who are fighting over school read that together so they can understand each other better.

>>17496720
He used to be into epidemiology. Idk why he can't be and epidemiologist now.

>>17496779

Because he's a kid who is getting all this new experience and his brain is finally becoming developed enough to comprehend things at a more advanced level. They jump from topic to topic, drill deep, then move to the next to satiate their need for knowlege and life experiences.

>>17496583

That is a stupid fucking career move. Dubliner here. If you're living in Ireland try to convince him to sign up with the PSNI or Gardai and get experience in different roles. Usually you can't choose to be on the "dog squad." Your superior picks you because of your past experience and relevant knowledge.

>>17496875
We're American