Calling it quits - for everyone's sake.

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We have different elective classes that have that kind of stuff.

The school also has a program, where you can take classes at the local community college, for credit. But it's only available to seniors. Me smells major accommodations.

Awww.. I suggest getting a certificate instead, since you only have to take classes that are directly related to the career.

But I know what you mean... it's hard to go to school without. support from home- I'm sorry your parents yell at you.

I would try to stay away from them as much as possible, and get some positive support from other people- get involved in positive activities or things that you are good at to make you feel positive about yourself.

Good luck!

These are the salient points, kid, so they're very important to keep in mind.

To top it all off, as a businessman myself, I will contract with an individual only if I was confident that he or she was both willing and able to deliver the agreed-upon goods or services at the agreed-upon time and at the agreed-upon price.

Reputation is also important. How can a 14-year old kid expect to compete with people like me that have spent 30+ years in the business?

I'm afraid that I agree with Fnord. Don't like school when you're young? Tough sh*t. Yeah, it sucks, but you drop out now, you aren't going to be any better off. An employer sees that you can't handle going to school, how do you think they're going to feel what you'll be like at work.

I know I'm being blunt, but I don't like seeing people giving up like that then going through the horrible time that's most always involved with dropping out. You're more likely to win the lottery than end up happy with the decision (unless you like working the McDonald's drive through windows or getting your fingers smashed off at an oil rig). Take my sister, she dropped out of high school at an early age, and she went through some massive amount of sh*t before finally getting back on her feet (about a decade after dropping out). This included drug addictions, abusive relationships, and being homeless in Seattle for a while. Even now, her credit rating is destroyed, so now she can't get loans on anything, and is having a b***h of a time getting into college.

Think about it this way: You drop out now, you're pretty much going to be stuck with work that forces you to "conform" in the ways that you hate so much. School, and especially college, is the only way you'll really be able to get away from that.

I do think, if you really do feel there isn't any other choice, that you should go with some of the other schooling options mentioned. You should also check with your school counselor, see if they have the same thing a friend of mine from high school did. When he became a super super senior (repeated his senior year over three times), the set him up with a program where he took all of his classes from home on a laptop they provided him. Sure, it doesn't look the best on college applications and resumes, but it beats dropping out entirely.

Last edited by DNForrest on 27 Jan 2009, 7:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Don't ask the question if you're only willing to acknowledge the answer you already wanted to hear. You just came to Wrong Planet with your problem because you thought that people here would agree with you, because so many of us understand how hard it is to do things like the common people. But I'll tell you what I tell my kids. One of the things you're supposed to learn from school is how to do things you don't want to do, and how to deal with people you don't like dealing with, and how to cope with failure and try again. I assure you there is as much room for failure in business as there is in school and no one is there trying to help you catch up. Your business fails, it fails, and no one says, "That's okay, you can catch up in the Summer." It's over. There's your real world you're so eager to get into. There is actually stuff you learn in school that will need later. Even a mediocre school still provides a cheaper education than its equivalent community college.

Do what you're going to do. Just don't kid yourself that quitting is some kind mature decision about your future. All it is, is quitting. And don't blame the voices of experience for not kissing your butt and agreeing with your choice. It's what you would choose, not us, because we know better. We tell you what we know because we know what comes next. No one gets to declare themselves adults. That's just how it is. There are guys in their 20s who look 14 who still have trouble being taken seriously, believe me. I married one.

Ride it out until you're legal. If you fail some courses but end up getting your G.E.D. then you really haven't lost anything. Get this business going. If it takes off, you'll have something to fall back on when you really are old enough to quit. You try to quit too early, the cops get involved. They don't just let you, and for good reason. Because 14-year-olds are given to wild emotion-based behaviors.

I could give you reasons all day but I'm sure I've already thrown you in a teen angst rage. You'll probably go nuts and compare me to Hitler and quit the board for a week or something. So I'll leave you to it.

What you interpret as condescension (being a child yourself) is actually plain, ordinary, straight-on REALITY.

If people can't handle reality, then they should not ask for advice. Otherwise, they should just learn to deal with what's real.

If instead, what they are actually are looking for are affirmation and encouragement for their fantasies, then they should ask only those people that share those same fantasies.

I have to agree with Fnord. To some people, reality is condicending. The fact is, even if he can run a business, the state authorities will not allow the OP to leave school without some other option lined up. I would also feel that the OP's parent(s) also will not go along with it because they are the ones who will be in front of the judge.

Starting a business is not as simple as quite a few people make it out to be and to put it bluntly, 14 year olds, whether they are on the spectrum or not, do not have the experience in decision making. Some may be able to pull it off (and some have) but I would be they are in the minority. Besides having skills in your area of service, you have to know marketing, advertising, accounting, law, administration, if you have employees, human resources, and all sort of other areas. In some cases, bad things can happen if you mess up (for example, you do not charge sales tax and remit it to the state).

It sounds like that person wanted to be validated for their decision and unfortunately, there are adults here with more expertise who are telling this person that it may be a bad idea. In fact, the OP really has not defended his decision yet. Yes, school sucked when I was in High School (and Middle School, and Elementary school). Yes, I was held back one year. Yes, I was taught stuff that I could figure out on my own should I need it. Yes, I did fail a couple of courses in High School. In fact, to be honest, I barely graduated. With all that said, I am glad that I stuck it out. I was technically old enough to drop out at the end of freshman year and certainly could have gone for my GED by senior year.

Fnord, maybe other, and myself are simply trying to show the OP that this may be a mistake. Now, if the OP can and does follow through, that is their decision. However, others nor I will condone it.

Actually, what I interpret as condescension is how you act like anyone between the ages of 13-15 is just stupid and insignificant. You were the same in that whole web filtering thing with technojoe.

Actually, if kids 13-15 would not act stupidly and/or maybe say something of actual significance, then I would treat them with less "condescension." It's when kids of this age think that they have everything already figure out, then state that they know all that they need to know, and then demand to be respected as an adult without having done anything to earn respect that I respond with a healthy dose of reality.

Of course, no such child will tolerate being told that they are wrong and that they need to grow up, but there is no denying the truth - they're just too young and immature to know what life is all about and to handle life on their own.

Ok, so here's a little update. My mom and I had a long discussion, and basically, we're going to try to alter my current school setup. This will involve, eliminating the non-mandatory classes, and possibly taking part of a program at the local community college. If this goes through, then I will only have to go to the main high school for half a day .

Wish me luck.

I profiled some of these for my MS in education (secondary)

http://www.keystonehighschool.com/

http://www.ivhs.org/index.learn?bhjs=0

the only thing I will tell you outside of that is DO NOT drop out. For a freshman level algebra 1 course I gave a lecture on why you should stay in school. Bottom line: over 30 years you will make an average of 250,000 dollars less than a high school graduate and 780,000 dollars less than a Bachelor's degree and 1.7 million less than a Master's or Doctorate.

Not to mention that you will have to work twice as hard to just survive on minimal amount of money (2 or more minimum wage jobs). A single minimum wage job wouldn't even cover basic expenses in the cheapest states in the US (MO, OK, OH) (food, utilities, cheap crappy apartment, cheap crappy car, gas and nothing else).

I still wanted to drop out when I was in high school but I decided to finish around the age of 16-17. Unfortunately by that time by grades were not good enough to get scholarships so now I am paying for even my mistakes in high school and that was 7 years ago. I am graduated with honors in math. Comparatively my brother who was not as book smart as me worked his butt off to earn As and got his scholarships. I still kick myself for that.

Good luck on the alternative-schooling idea. Trust me, no matter how nice dropping out might seem now, in the long run it sucks. My GED doesn't even begin to stack up to a high-school diploma in the current job market, and people who went so far as to secure bachelor's degrees (or hell, even an Associate's from a community college) are far more employable than I.

Keep in mind as well that no matter how well-thought-out your business plan is, you're missing one crucial point. You need to be at least 18 to legally sign a contract in the United States. (It's why you can't enlist in the Armed Forces until you're 18, unless a parent consents - then your parent is the one signing the contract, so it's legal). At the age of 14, you can't even sign your business license!

Grit your teeth, find the best way through all this that you can, and don't try shortcuts - take it from the voice of experience, they don't work.

Interesting topic. I was homeschooled ford for 12 years, and it did me good and bad. Academically, I'm fine, but socially it did seriously limit me. Now I'm in college making up for lost time and a lot of it is not fun. Life is about routines and rules, kid you are going to need to learn that.

My 1st semester at college wasn't a ball of joy either, but I'm making the best of it.

Secondly loose the attitude.

Fnord, you make some alright points, but you are a pathetetic man. I mean what the hell man? 5000 posts on a forum for people with autism? Get a grip.

I have a lot to say. If you have a specific problem with that, then please take it up with the moderators.

There are others with even more posts than I, yet you are not attacking them. Why is that?

I've been on the internet for many years and have run my own sites. You are a sarcastic troll, who thinks he is superior to a 15 year old CHILD on a forum for autstic people. Quit getting so defensive and take your own advice. Grow up man, you aren't better than anyone.

Fnord's not that bad, it's just occasionally when topics like this come up that he gets a bit patronising towards our age group. But he's not a troll.