J is for Jack. He’s 13. Sometimes I don’t understand him at all, at all. He loves his computer, sleeping in, potato chips (chippies, crisps, whatever you call them), his mother’s roast chicken and his very few friends that’ve been a tight unit for years now,He’s into computer animation. They swap funny, clever “Flash” files and critique each others work with humour and honesty. Teenage boys are great fun. They’re so funny! They laugh all the time. I love having the house full of them, but it doesn’t happen very often. They prefer to ‘talk’ via their computers rather than be in the same room. Jack is fiercely intelligent with a huge imagination. His primary school teachers thought that was fantastic, to be celebrated. His secondary school teachers? Not so much. You know that boy in the media? The one who doesn’t do well at school, compared to the girls? The one who cruises through school doing just enough to get by? He lives here. He effortlessly gets excellent marks on tests, but never does his homework. I don’t like all the loud attention the issue of educating boys gets in the media. And I loathe the stereotype that says boys all need to be active and must play sport. What kind of message does that send these lovely young men? They’re not expected to excel at school, all the information says they won’t. So why bother?
I hope he keeps fighting against the mainstream, laughing and putting his own quirky twist on things. But don’t tell him I said that.
3 comments:
Ah, you could have been describing my boy at the same age! I decided at this point that school wasn't nearly as important as we have all been brainwashed to believe and that all he really needed to do was get good enough grades for whatever he wanted to do at uni. (Bad Mother)Some of his teachers at high school seemed determined to make their students terrified of the lifetime consequences of failing a maths test. I think it is far MORE important to be an independent thinker, HAPPY, inquisitive and joyful. Smart kids often just do enough to get by. Clancy didn't do ANY homework during high school. He's at uni now, enjoys it and...
...does just enough to get by ;)
BUT he's happy, has A Life and seems relatively unscarred by school and not at all Burnt Out.
Here Endeth The Rave!
This sounds eerily like my boy (14yo).They are beautiful and carefree on the whole at this age.
Nice to see you.
mmmmmm.... Exactly how I describe my 7 year old to people who don't know him. Thank God other parents aren't caught up in the whole aussie boys and sport thing. My son can't throw or kick a ball to save his life, but he can draw a hell of a picture. Love your blog Helen.
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