Ohhhhh Heck!

And that's putting it mildly!

We found out today the proposed choice of secondary school for my son. Not first, not second but fifth! This really feels like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. The primary school he has been in hasn't built upon the aspiring, young man, who was eager to learn and was reading and more when he first started with them six years ago. It isn't a great school though they claim otherwise. There was hope and talk that going to a good secondary school would be just a matter of course, but it seems that isn't so. The school offered is awful we find after visiting and applying, so too late to change our minds. No way is he going there. He feels a failure now, though we tell him it is the system, not him who has failed. Any motivation he has is slipping away slowly. So much pressure, discouragement and internal angst for someone only 10 years of age.

My wife and I now have to search for other options and soon. Can we afford private ed? Are there any sponsorships out there? Is home education an option until something appropriate and constructive turns up?

We also need to make sure our son feels loved and worth so much more than his weight in gold. This is a pivotal moment for him. How he and us handle it could be so crucial for the young man he is to become. Tomorrow he has to go to school and face probably the taunts of his peers because of the school he has been offered, some luckier than he is I know, others in the same boat.

Sometimes the system stares blankly in your face while it continues on its way, oblivious to all. How you react, is what makes you stronger. Finding ways to overcome those boundaries the system places in your way is what makes you adaptable. We've played by the rules though many parents may not have in order to get their child where they want. That makes me proud despite of the situation we are in now. Hope is still there that something good will come of this.