Your Top Back-to-School Questions, Answered by These Experts
High school: What if my kid doesn’t want to go to college?
Jessica Lahey: Not all kids are ready to go to college after high school and not all kids are meant to go to college. … If your kid really wants something else — something that excites them and drives them to learn — your job is to listen to their reasoning.
Believe me: For kids who are in middle to high socioeconomic high schools, there’s no end to the pressure they get to go to college. … It’s important to give kids time to enjoy school and learning before heaping on the pressure about college applications.
Kids are going to get this pressure with teachers asking them about gathering fodder for college essays during their freshman and sophomore years. They don’t need pressure from you at home asking about college, too.
Instead, ask what they’re loving about school and what they don’t like. Conversations should be about what they are interested in learning about now, instead of how to pad their CV for college applications.
Remember: Their college admissions journey is theirs, not yours. You’re the guide: listening, asking the occasional, well-placed, tell-me-more type questions about what they envision after high school. If your child is saying, “No college for me,” listen as they bounce ideas off you about what’s next.
