Mom Makes Son Wear Sign Announcing 1.22 GPA

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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Mom Says She's Tried Everything To Get Son To Shape Up

TAMPA, Fla. -- A Tampa mother is defending her decision to stick her teenage son on a street corner with a sign that says, among other things, "GPA 1.22 ... honk if I need education."

Ronda Holder says she and the boy's father have tried everything to get their 15-year-old to shape up academically. They've offered help, asked to see homework, grounded, lectured him and confiscated his cell phone. James Mond III's indifference at a school meeting last week was the final straw. The next day, Holder made the sign and made her son wear it for nearly four hours.

Experts criticized the move as humiliating and ineffective, and someone reported Holder to the Department of Children and Families.

Holder insists she's fighting for her child's education.

Mom Makes Son Wear Sign Announcing 1.22 GPA - Irresistible News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
 
Should have gone Amy Chua on him when he's much younger, not at his age now.
 
It is sticky...some kids, it will work and for some, it wont work at all.

I dont use the same methods of discipline for all of my students. I monitor each child and find the method that works the best for that child. Hope it works for this family.
 
good. tough love. jiro style.
 
Sighh...Are you guys for real? This is child abuse.
 
Beowulf said:
Sighh...Are you guys for real? This is child abuse.
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I'm with you. I wouldn't have done it, either. Although, I will say that Shel is right to some degree. This might work with SOME kids, but, that doesn't mean it should be done.

There may be reasons why this teenager isn't doing well in school besides the usual teenager "tude" they have. This kid could be depressed and that may be why he doesn't care.

I know that when I was in JHS (Yes, I was younger), I was severely bullied. This led to my first bout with severe depression. I'm not being dramatic when I say that it took everything I had just to survive. I wanted to die on a daily basis. As a result, my grades sucked.

Parents have a responsiblity to their child. This kid may have issues that his parents aren't aware of because they're too busy yelling, threatening, grounding, ect and look deeper into what really might be a true problem for this kid. Another issue that may be going on is that the kid may have an learning issue going on. Whatever it is, it's obvious being punitive isn't going to work.
 
My 16 yr. old went thru those trying times...goofed off, talked too much in class, etc. Hid his report card!....(when he was 14)....I grounded him from the internet, phone, weekend activities....now he can barely maintain a "C" average, and struggles with that. But he knows if he wants to play football, he has to!...Same as for drivers training!...So far, no more D's & F's...just B's & C's...so he's passing, but I know he could do better! His GPA jumped right up this year..so right now, he's on the "safe side"....He also takes math tutoring twice a week.

Seems to me this mother tried everything she could do, but some teens won't listen....but I dunno if I would go as far as she did!....This could cause a lot of anger issues....
 
rockin'robin said:
My 16 yr. old went thru those trying times...goofed off, talked too much in class, etc. Hid his report card!....(when he was 14)....I grounded him from the internet, phone, weekend activities....now he can barely maintain a "C" average, and struggles with that. But he knows if he wants to play football, he has to!...Same as for drivers training!...So far, no more D's & F's...just B's & C's...so he's passing, but I know he could do better! His GPA jumped right up this year..so right now, he's on the "safe side"....He also takes math tutoring twice a week.

Seems to me this mother tried everything she could do, but some teens won't listen....but I dunno if I would go as far as she did!....This could cause a lot of anger issues....
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Seriously, Robin. I mean no disrespect here, but, you may want to look into whether your son has dyslexia. Some kids aren't diagnosed when they are young. I have ADD and WAS diagnosed with an LD early. However, my sister has dyslexia and it WASN'T caught until she was a freshman in college. Btw, even though I was diagnosed, the LD wasn't mitigated while I was in school. Don't ask me why.

My parents and sister went through this, too. The bad grades, the inattention in class, goofing around, the grounding, ect... Come to find out, it wasn't that she wouldn't do the work, it's that she couldn't! As a result, she got tired of trying to tell people that she was struggling and figured "If they think I'm a screw up, I might as well BE one!"

Raising teens isn't easy. But, I think parents make it harder by not listening; really listening when their teen is struggling. Sometimes, there is more than a behavior issue going on.

Just my two cents.
 
I do know that my daughter would not even have a 1.22 GPA. She struggles so hard with everything. Luckily, I know where her difficulties are and so does the school district. We have done what we can, but based on her issues, she goes through regression all the time.

With my son, it's the typical, "Why do I have to do this?", but he does do his work. Since I home school, I don't keep track of GPA's, but according to the district office, based on his book list I submitted and the form completed by the certified teacher, his 8th grade level stuff last June, was actually 10 grade level for Florida. Based on that, I am still working him on the Missouri standards which are higher. That's just a personal choice and the district office understands that. I only have 2 things that he must take and pass for him to graduate in Florida, that's some kind of Florida history and Algebra.
 
The mother sound like a lot of pressure on the teenager who might be kind of down and feeling being bullied by his own parents. He might have a problem with his learning issues. But all in all, it is still child abuse if the parents would lighten up and try to help the teenager to find out why he is having problem with his education.

Like for me, I was pressured into learning to lipread and tried understanding in the oral classroom with no special accommodations to help me understand what is going on in the classroom. With the special accommodations, I would have gotten a good education and getting a good grade like A and B, even A+ and B+. That would be heaven instead of having to struggle with D and F. Ugh! :(
 
Oceanbreeze said:
Seriously, Robin. I mean no disrespect here, but, you may want to look into whether your son has dyslexia. Some kids aren't diagnosed when they are young. I have ADD and WAS diagnosed with an LD early. However, my sister has dyslexia and it WASN'T caught until she was a freshman in college. Btw, even though I was diagnosed, the LD wasn't mitigated while I was in school. Don't ask me why.

My parents and sister went through this, too. The bad grades, the inattention in class, goofing around, the grounding, ect... Come to find out, it wasn't that she wouldn't do the work, it's that she couldn't! As a result, she got tired of trying to tell people that she was struggling and figured "If they think I'm a screw up, I might as well BE one!"

Raising teens isn't easy. But, I think parents make it harder by not listening; really listening when their teen is struggling. Sometimes, there is more than a behavior issue going on.

Just my two cents.
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I was getting extra help in math with my teacher and he had me read some numbers , my teacher stopped and asked me do if I knew what I was doing wrong , I was reading the numbers in the wrong order and had no idea! I
was around 14 years when I found out I had dyslexia.
I saw the kid on TV and he looked really angry and hurt , I think the mother going is going more harm than good! The kid could end up quiting school all together! I think this is abused and it should be against the law as this is bullying a child!
 
Oceanbreeze said:
Seriously, Robin. I mean no disrespect here, but, you may want to look into whether your son has dyslexia. Some kids aren't diagnosed when they are young. I have ADD and WAS diagnosed with an LD early. However, my sister has dyslexia and it WASN'T caught until she was a freshman in college. Btw, even though I was diagnosed, the LD wasn't mitigated while I was in school. Don't ask me why.

My parents and sister went through this, too. The bad grades, the inattention in class, goofing around, the grounding, ect... Come to find out, it wasn't that she wouldn't do the work, it's that she couldn't! As a result, she got tired of trying to tell people that she was struggling and figured "If they think I'm a screw up, I might as well BE one!"

Raising teens isn't easy. But, I think parents make it harder by not listening; really listening when their teen is struggling. Sometimes, there is more than a behavior issue going on.

Just my two cents.
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Thks, Ocean. He has been tested, and he does not have it. He's not depressed either. Basically, he is a very happy-go-lucky guy, very sports inclined, has a lot of friends and of course, girlfriends...(he's too good looking!)...He's making B's & C's now, and never has failed a grade, (he's a sophomore now). The only problem we've encountered with lately, is him being diagnosed with high blood pressure...but is taking meds for that now.

He likes to "play" and have a good time and seems to be just satisfied with "just getting by", henceforth, his younger brother is an all A student....but no sibling rivalry at all....

We had a long talk last night about it. And as long as the B's & C's still keep coming and I do see an "effort" or more than an effort on his part, then I feel everything will be fine. He is totally a different guy from his brothers, not the serious kind, he "mixes it up".....I do not expect him to make straight A's ! All I expect of him is to do his best, remembering there is a time for work and a time for play. After talking with some of his teachers, they assured me he is smart, but is so "talkative".
 
rockin'robin said:
Thks, Ocean. He has been tested, and he does not have it. He's not depressed either. Basically, he is a very happy-go-lucky guy, very sports inclined, has a lot of friends and of course, girlfriends...(he's too good looking!)...He's making B's & C's now, and never has failed a grade, (he's a sophomore now). The only problem we've encountered with lately, is him being diagnosed with high blood pressure...but is taking meds for that now.

He likes to "play" and have a good time and seems to be just satisfied with "just getting by", henceforth, his younger brother is an all A student....but no sibling rivalry at all....

We had a long talk last night about it. And as long as the B's & C's still keep coming and I do see an "effort" or more than an effort on his part, then I feel everything will be fine. He is totally a different guy from his brothers, not the serious kind, he "mixes it up".....I do not expect him to make straight A's ! All I expect of him is to do his best, remembering there is a time for work and a time for play. After talking with some of his teachers, they assured me he is smart, but is so "talkative".
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I believe you are a good parent and are definitely on the ball. I was just wanting to throw out another possibility for others who may be harder on their kids than need be. Sometimes, you MUST "ride herd" on a kid to make them buckle down and do what they need to. But, when that doesn't work, there may be something else going on. That's really all I was saying. Parents need to realize that. Some do. Most don't, and when they don't, it's often a very sad situation for the kid.
 
Robin, as long as he's doing semi OK, I wouldn't panic. He may not go to Flagship State University, but he's not being a total and complete slacker.
And Sheliea, AMy Chua is effed up. It's basicly the parent telling the kid " you're a reflection of ME...you have to acheive b/c of me. I actually read some of Chua's writing, and all I gotta say is that woman is mentally abusive and sounds like a fucked up American stage mom. It also sounds like the perfect way to produce a kid with borderline personality disorder.
 
deafdyke said:
Robin, as long as he's doing semi OK, I wouldn't panic. He may not go to Flagship State University, but he's not being a total and complete slacker.
And Sheliea, AMy Chua is effed up. It's basicly the parent telling the kid " you're a reflection of ME...you have to acheive b/c of me. I actually read some of Chua's writing, and all I gotta say is that woman is mentally abusive and sounds like a fucked up American stage mom. It also sounds like the perfect way to produce a kid with borderline personality disorder.
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Robin's got it cover, DD.

As for Amy Chua, I need to google this person, but, they sound pretty damned extreme. You know how I feel about extremes! :laugh2:
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I was getting extra help in math with my teacher and he had me read some numbers , my teacher stopped and asked me do if I knew what I was doing wrong , I was reading the numbers in the wrong order and had no idea! I
was around 14 years when I found out I had dyslexia.
I saw the kid on TV and he looked really angry and hurt , I think the mother going is going more harm than good! The kid could end up quiting school all together! I think this is abused and it should be against the law as this is bullying a child!
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I don't think it should be against the law. The child is not physically forced to do this. Let's be honest, if he REALLY didn't want to do it, then he wouldn't have. He probably was threatened with something like "You do this or Ill take your car away from you.". Child abuse? Get real.
 
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