Grades vs Success

[tony]

Wondering what you guys think about this.. I saw a thread here where a parent is going to take their sons car away and sell it because the kid is getting C's in school.

To me punishing a child for grades that are average is useless to me. Straight D's and F's is one thing but my take on it is, most schools do not teach you shit about life skills. I never learned about credit or personal finance in school, I didnt know about mortgages or federal taxes being taken out of my paycheck.. investing... none of it.

I'll preface this to say that school is very important, especially as it pertains to certain professions BUT not everyone cares to be a straight A student. Personally I learn more from experience than I do in a classroom. I barely graduated high school with a 1.9gpa and basically flunked out of college but I still consider myself to be pretty well off considering where I am in my life and I have never looked back.

So again I'm wondering what other people think, is school really that important or is it possible to be educated through life experience?

[yudalicious]

if a child can't commit to something like school it MIGHT be a precursor to problems committing in life, work, etc. but you're right, grades don't always mean success.

[2.0civic]

Wondering what you guys think about this.. I saw a thread here where a parent is going to take their sons car away and sell it because the kid is getting C's in school.

To me punishing a child for grades that are average is useless to me. Straight D's and F's is one thing but my take on it is, most schools do not teach you shit about life skills. I never learned about credit or personal finance in school, I didnt know about mortgages or federal taxes being taken out of my paycheck.. investing... none of it.

i think in the thread you mention, there is more to it than just school. i may be wrong, but my parents would be pissed if they bout me a car as nice as that and i wasnt doing my best. my first car was a 63 buick special and my parents bitched about their insurance going up soo much so i can only imagine what a bimmer would do...as far as c's go, i maintained a A average and i was still #212 out of 840 something in my graduating class. a C average isnt really an average grade anymore. although i do see your point on school not teaching you what you need in life, if someone has a car given to them by their parents that otherwise they could not afford, i beleive the parents do have the right to take the car away if they arent doing good in school.

[imbosile]

well, my parents would be pissed if i made a C in school, I just graduated highschool last week without ever making a C, and I finished with a 92 average. I guess in the next 20-30 years we will see what it does for me.

[fight club]

well, my parents would be pissed if i made a C in school, I just graduated highschool last week without ever making a C, and I finished with a 92 average. I guess in the next 20-30 years we will see what it does for me.

jack shit. sorry but its true. just like ap courses, doesnt mean anything. that peice of paper is the only thing that matters.

[2.0civic]

actually, sometimes college does matter. Would you rather higher someone who went to a community school because they made c's there whole life cause they didnt apply themselves in high school, or someone who maintained a 4.0 got a full academic scholarship to UGA (just as an example) and had a masters from there?? although the paper is the only high scholl paper that matters, many people assume this for college too. simply put MIT>gwinnett tech

[imbosile]

jack shit. sorry but its true. just like ap courses, doesnt mean anything. that peice of paper is the only thing that matters.

yea luckily i only wasted my time with 2 ap classes. chemistry, and ab calculus, but i did get the dual diploma (career tech/college prep), anyone else have this?

[{X}Echo419]

Wondering what you guys think about this.. I saw a thread here where a parent is going to take their sons car away and sell it because the kid is getting C's in school.

To me punishing a child for grades that are average is useless to me. Straight D's and F's is one thing but my take on it is, most schools do not teach you shit about life skills. I never learned about credit or personal finance in school, I didnt know about mortgages or federal taxes being taken out of my paycheck.. investing... none of it.

I'll preface this to say that school is very important, especially as it pertains to certain professions BUT not everyone cares to be a straight A student. Personally I learn more from experience than I do in a classroom. I barely graduated high school with a 1.9gpa and basically flunked out of college but I still consider myself to be pretty well off considering where I am in my life and I have never looked back.

So again I'm wondering what other people think, is school really that important or is it possible to be educated through life experience?

+1 grades are worthless. I know plenty of people that busted their asses in HS to get A's and I goofed off and got B's. well, ya know what? Most of the go to KSU with me .
as far as college is concerned; when you meet someone and they say they have a B.S. in whatever is your next question, so what were grades? did grades even come up in the conversation? I seriously doubt it.
F grades get C's and get out.

[yudalicious]

I think you guys are underestimating the importance of grades; to me, the importance is not of the grades themselves but rather the process of getting them. If you can't even commit to doing well in school employers probably doubt your ability to commit to a job.
However, I still thinnk being really anal about getting good grades is over the top, as there are many more factors to a well rounded person/employee, but it's also important to put forth an effort.

[4dmin]

you can't judge anyone by grades alone... i always made great grades enough for honors/ap classes yet i slept in all of them , i've been in the IT field for over 6 years while my friends were still in college trying to finish up and get jobs in the same field i walked into... shit i know tons of people who make great money w/ no education, so everything in life is built upon DRIVE.

[tony]

I dont necessarily think its about commitment, I could barely finish a semester of college but I've worked hard for 6 years at my job without any issues. I really do respect those who finish college and do well, Pharm teg for example.. I really enjoy reading his posts because you can tell he is well educated.

My heart never was in school past my junior year in high school though, I knew I needed to finish high school at the least but if I go to college, I do not want to go with the pressure of feeling like I need this to get a job or be successful when that is far from the truth. I know MANY who never finished school and were average students at best but ended up very successful.

[xaznstylegrlx]

grades don't always mean success, but it's helpful if you don't have people skills or if you're not the catch on fast type.

[2.0civic]

yea luckily i only wasted my time with 2 ap classes. chemistry, and ab calculus, but i did get the dual diploma (career tech/college prep), anyone else have this?

i got the dual seal too. it wasnt that much harder than regular CP

[xaznstylegrlx]

I didn't learn shit in AP classes.. Onli a GPA boost

[The Ren]

you can't judge anyone by grades alone... i always made great grades enough for honors/ap classes yet i slept in all of them , i've been in the IT field for over 6 years while my friends were still in college trying to finish up and get jobs in the same field i walked into... shit i know tons of people who make great money w/ no education, so everything in life is built upon DRIVE.

Seriously.. I know PLENTY of people who dont even have a degree and make a shit load of dough

[2.0civic]

bill gates FTW.

[David88vert]

you can't judge anyone by grades alone... i always made great grades enough for honors/ap classes yet i slept in all of them , i've been in the IT field for over 6 years while my friends were still in college trying to finish up and get jobs in the same field i walked into... shit i know tons of people who make great money w/ no education, so everything in life is built upon DRIVE.

Same here.

College is great if you are going into a field that requires it though. (IE - doctor, lawyer, etc.)

[JennB]

I don't think grades are everything, but the work you do to get them means something. It's being disciplined and a hard worker than matters. I know there are tons of well off people who didn't make good grades and that's fine. There are some people with a certain ability for success that are going to do well no matter how much education they have.

But... if part of the terms for a reward are getting good grades, then you do it or lose the reward. No one has to buy their kid a car, no one has to even let their kid drive, but parents sometimes do this for their child when the kid shows that they are deserving. And if they don't think they deserve it, it's their money and their decision.

[Julio]

I was a C average student... and what ? That doesnt mean shit. I skipped school/classes.. Slept/ really didnt pay attention at the yiba yaba.

I just wished Clark Howard was my teacher.. :/

[Dragonfly5338]

Seriously.. I know PLENTY of people who dont even have a degree and make a shit load of dough

Statistically that isn't the case, but there's always exceptions.

[CSquared]

Just to point out... The kid's parents bought him a damn beamer... If i was driving around a beamer in high school and knew my ownership of that car depended on my grades, damn right I'd get A's.

I drove a broken down 84 trans am and got C's and D's... but that's besides the point.

I don't think the selling of that car has as much to do with your point as it does the lack of effort on his part when his parents went out of their way to make such an expensive and nice gesture. The LEAST he could do is get his grades to make them happy.

So... They are punishing him for a lack of respect... not for below standard grades... and i agree with them completely.

To your point... I graduated high school with a 68 overall grade-point-average. I had good sat scores but no chance of getting into any good schools. Bad grades in high school definitely work to set you back if you plan on attending a decent college and using the name to get a job later on.

I didn't take high school at all seriously... I went to the local community college and got my ass kicked because i wasn't used to showing up on time or doing the required classwork. As a result, i did my penance at gwinnett tech and Georgia perimeter (Starting GSU in the fall)...

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line... A straight line in this instance is getting your damn grades in high school and taking that momentum into college. While it isn't a BIG deal, decent grades definitely make things easier in the long run.

[2.0civic]

Just to point out... The kid's parents bought him a damn beamer... If i was driving around a beamer in high school and knew my ownership of that car depended on my grades, damn right I'd get A's.

I drove a broken down 84 trans am and got C's and D's... but that's besides the point.

I don't think the selling of that car has as much to do with your point as it does the lack of effort on his part when his parents went out of their way to make such an expensive and nice gesture. The LEAST he could do is get his grades to make them happy.

So... They are punishing him for a lack of respect... not for below standard grades... and i agree with them completely.

To your point... I graduated high school with a 68 overall grade-point-average. I had good sat scores but no chance of getting into any good schools. Bad grades in high school definitely work to set you back if you plan on attending a decent college and using the name to get a job later on.

I didn't take high school at all seriously... I went to the local community college and got my ass kicked because i wasn't used to showing up on time or doing the required classwork. As a result, i did my penance at gwinnett tech and Georgia perimeter...

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line... A straight line in this instance is getting your damn grades in high school and taking that momentum into college. While it isn't a BIG deal, decent grades definitely make things easier in the long run.

couldnt have been said better. if i didnt have to always fucking work in HS i would have done better than i did and i still pulled a 91 GPA. working 30 hours a week to fix broken shit isnt fun when mommy and daddy dont buy you a expensive car.

[Mr_Mischif]

They always say that experience is the best teacher. While reading the A+ book may help you with getting A+ certified, strapping on an ESD and getting your hands dirty will help much more. But anyway, my mom's bitching on me to get As b/c she didn't put aside a college fund. I'll be damned if I got a car if I got straight 107s, but I still try. BTW I'm going for the dual seal (IT) w/ honors, and it really does't require much more work than regular seal, but you can get a better foot in your preferred college's door.

[tony]

Just to point out... The kid's parents bought him a damn beamer... If i was driving around a beamer in high school and knew my ownership of that car depended on my grades, damn right I'd get A's.

I drove a broken down 84 trans am and got C's and D's... but that's besides the point.

I don't think the selling of that car has as much to do with your point as it does the lack of effort on his part when his parents went out of their way to make such an expensive and nice gesture. The LEAST he could do is get his grades to make them happy.

So... They are punishing him for a lack of respect... not for below standard grades... and i agree with them completely.

To your point... I graduated high school with a 68 overall grade-point-average. I had good sat scores but no chance of getting into any good schools. Bad grades in high school definitely work to set you back if you plan on attending a decent college and using the name to get a job later on.

I didn't take high school at all seriously... I went to the local community college and got my ass kicked because i wasn't used to showing up on time or doing the required classwork. As a result, i did my penance at gwinnett tech and Georgia perimeter (Starting GSU in the fall)...

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line... A straight line in this instance is getting your damn grades in high school and taking that momentum into college. While it isn't a BIG deal, decent grades definitely make things easier in the long run.

The point wasnt about the BMW, I didnt even read the entire thread. Personally, I never got a car from my parents and worked from the day I was able to legally.. it taught me that if I want anything done in life I'll have to do it myself and not expect it. The BMW thing only got me to thinking about the importance of grades.

I can say that school did not prepare me for a lot of what I go through in my adult life. Carrying a stuffed animal around school for a week and getting a grade for it didnt even scratch the surface of actually having a son (yes I had to do that) and that is just an example. I am not ashamed 1.9gpa in high school because it seems I still came out more educated than a lot of straight A students I see now. Although I did not do well in school I still read at the least 2 or 3 hours a day, I study but I do it to gain knowledge not get a grade and to me that feels so much more rewarding. Again, I am not saying grades are not important because that is an insult to everyone who has decided to stay in school and be successful, I am saying that path just is not for everyone.

[tatodotcom]

Statistically speaking, better grades= greater success...

[C22H19N3O4]

Statistically that isn't the case, but there's always exceptions.

I agree. I think we can all name a few people who have been successful (people measure success differently) w/o a degree, but they are not the norm.

Entrepreneurs like Dell and Gates came from upper-middle-class families, so they had access to tools most of us don't. The average college student has one real shot to make things happen. Hence, the reason I tell people not to take time off from school. Once a student takes time off for whatever reason, odds are they won't go back.


I view education a differently than most of you here. I enjoy the academic atmosphere. I love the flow of new ideas, the friends you make for life, and the mentors that take you under their wing. I think a lot of people view school as an arduous task of reading and exams. Yes, those things are involved, but there is so much in between. I believe that's why it's important for freshmen to live on campus. I lived on campus when I got my BS and would not take back a single moment of that experience.

One thing that I've noticed over the years is that the importance of an education varies with locale. When I was living in NY and areas on the west coast, I rarely ran into people that devalued the importance of higher education. When I moved to GA, it was like night and day. Students were satisfied with C's and D's. I guess that's ok if you just want to get by and receive your degree. But, who wants to be average? I respect those who make it through a graduate/professional program. It takes discipline and dedication to endure 8+ years of post high school education. One gives up a lot socially, physically, and mentally. In the long run it ALL pays off.

Unfortunately, life experiences and a "street" education don't teach calculus, chemistry, accounting, or business management. A formal education can play a vital role in every aspect of your life. Perhaps you want to tutor your children or home school them. Maybe you want to open your own business, but you lack management sense? I'm sure you get where I'm going with this. It's not just about sitting in a class and listening to lectures.

As far as good grades being an indicator of success, I believe it to be true. If someone applies that much focus and dedication to their grades, imagine what they can do in other areas? I compare an education to martial arts. Martial arts is not about violence or fighting, nor is an education just about grades and exams. Both are a process of perseverance and dedication. Both teach the importance of humanity and compassion in our daily lives. Lastly, both take years to master.

I'm sure I went waaaaaaaaaay off topic, but it had to be said . I've never met parents who told their kids it's ok to make C's and D's. Have you? Will you tell your children it's acceptable? I doubt it. I can go on and on about this, but I'll spare everyone.


Read the article in the next post.

[C22H19N3O4]

Education Linked to Better Fathers: Study
05.31.06, 12:00 AM ET

SOURCE

WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Well-educated men tend to make better fathers, according a new U.S. government report on fatherhood.

"Education is very important," said report co-author Gladys Martinez, a demographer at the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Men with higher education wait longer to get married and have children -- so they are more prepared," she said.

The report, Fertility, Contraception, and Fatherhood: Data on Men and Women From Cycle 6 of the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, was released by the CDC on May 31.

"We have been collecting data on women since 1973," Martinez said. "In 2002, we decided to include men to round out the picture," she added.

The report includes data on over 7,600 women and nearly 5,000 men, ages 15 to 44. The data were collected through interviews done between March 2002 and March 2003.

Martinez's team found that 28 million men in the United States have children less than 19 years of age, and three-quarters of those men live with their children. "As you would suspect, because the father lives with their children, he is more likely to engage in activities with the children. Eighty-one percent play with their kids daily, and 74 percent ate with their kids," she added.

Education was a key factor in all aspects of fatherhood, Martinez said. About half of the men without a high-school education have fathered a child outside of marriage compared to just 6 percent of college graduates.

The main predictor of a father's involvement with his children was his level of education, Martinez said. "Those with higher levels of education report higher levels of activity with their children," she said.

Among fathers who don't live with their children, some 74 percent had contact with their children during the past year, Martinez noted. "About half of these guys reported having activities with their children in the past four weeks," she said.

In addition, among fathers who live apart from their children, 85 percent of fathers with higher incomes contributed to their children's support on a regular basis, compared with 64 percent of fathers with income below the poverty level.

Moreover, the researchers found that among men and women who had children but were not married, 18 percent of the men were living with the women when the baby was born. Two-thirds of first births occur among married couples, Martinez said, and 16 percent occur among couples who are not married or living together.

"The race differences are very striking," Martinez said. "We know that blacks are less likely to marry, so you would expect those births outside of marriage would be greater," she said. "About 50 percent of births to Hispanics were within marriage, 77 percent of births to whites were within marriage, but only 36 percent of births to blacks were within marriage," she said.

Other data in the report show that among non-Hispanic black fathers, 25 percent fathered their first child before they were 20 years old; 19 percent of Hispanic fathers also became fathers as teenagers, and 11 percent of non-Hispanic white men became fathers while they were teens.

But across all races, a dad's education still made all the difference, Martinez said. Well-educated men "are more likely to be married when they have children and are more likely to be active in the lives of their children," she said. "Education trumps race," she said.

One expert thinks that the report paints a positive picture, but added that dads still need support, especially those in lower-income brackets.

"This is a very optimistic picture of the role of dads and fatherhood in America," said Shelley Waters Boots, vice president for policy and programs at the Washington, D.C.-based Parents Action for Children. "It is quite affirming that a lot of dads are doing a lot of the work of parenting," she added.

"In America, we don't give parents credit for how hard it is, and how hard it is to do it well," Waters Boots said. "So, if you have higher income and more flexibility, you see dads really step up to the plate. For dads who are really struggling to bring home the paycheck, they are paying a price of not doing the parenting job they want to do. We need to be giving dads more support," she said.

More information

For more on fatherhood, head to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Report released by the National Center on Health Statistics.

[tony]

School is not necessarily for everyone though, while you find it easy to advance in college to others it holds them back. Some find it better in the military, or working a full time job. I cannot quote the exact statistic from a study done by Thomas Stanley but while a good portion of dropouts do not make it as far as college graduates (not a part of his study, going off of what has been stated in this thread which I do agree with) a good percentage of self made millionaires were mediocre students at best.

I say that not to justify mediocrity, you stated that the streets do not teach you calculus or chemistry which is true, at the same time some people gain more from experience than a class room. I do agree with you that school certainly helps, I am starting my own business now and in my mind I do envy those people with business degrees because they are more fundamentally prepared than I am. I do not allow the envy to hold me back, I have learned through experience how to make something out of nothing so I still see the playing field as level.

Great post Pharm Teg, very informative.

[Dragonfly5338]

But look at that statistic. What is the proportion of people who are millionaires compared to the general population of people with higher education versus people without post secondary education. What percentage of people with a post graduate degree will make a certain income versus the percentage without a degree?

For example.. let's say 100 million americans don't have a college degree. 10 million have a post graduate degree, either masters or doctorate.
Out of 1 million people who have an income of 500,000+ per year, 50% have graduate degrees, 50% don't. The odds of being included on that list are MUCH higher if you have a degree, versus if you don't.

Rambling, but see what I'm saying? Statistics can be misleading. (I should know, I'm a stats major, LOL)

School is not necessarily for everyone though, while you find it easy to advance in college to others it holds them back. Some find it better in the military, or working a full time job. I cannot quote the exact statistic from a study done by Thomas Stanley but while a good portion of dropouts do not make it as far as college graduates (not a part of his study, going off of what has been stated in this thread which I do agree with) a good percentage of self made millionaires were mediocre students at best.

I say that not to justify mediocrity, you stated that the streets do not teach you calculus or chemistry which is true, at the same time some people gain more from experience than a class room. I do agree with you that school certainly helps, I am starting my own business now and in my mind I do envy those people with business degrees because they are more fundamentally prepared than I am. I do not allow the envy to hold me back, I have learned through experience how to make something out of nothing so I still see the playing field as level.

Great post Pharm Teg, very informative.

[tony]

But look at that statistic. What is the proportion of people who are millionaires compared to the general population of people with higher education versus people without post secondary education. What percentage of people with a post graduate degree will make a certain income versus the percentage without a degree?

For example.. let's say 100 million americans don't have a college degree. 10 million have a post graduate degree, either masters or doctorate.
Out of 1 million people who have an income of 500,000+ per year, 50% have graduate degrees, 50% don't. The odds of being included on that list are MUCH higher if you have a degree, versus if you don't.

Rambling, but see what I'm saying? Statistics can be misleading. (I should know, I'm a stats major, LOL)

Understood and I agree with your example but the statistic I am referring to only deals with a focus group of self made millionaires, not those who inherited their wealth or hitting the lottery, but those who started with little of nothing and became successful. For example, if Thomas Stanley surveyed a group of "successful" investors, business owners, etc.. and hypothetically 70% of them admit to being average students at best or dropped out of school, then I do have to question grades as a necessity to being successful.

Somehow I feel like I need to define success for my argument to be valid but hopefully everyone understands what I mean.

[Dragonfly5338]

Ahhh, I see what you're saying now. Well if someone is a self-made millionaire already they have something the general population doesn't, some sort of gift for business, creativity, numbers, etc. That's a pretty narrow group of people, still.

If you're average, with average intelligence, average everything, average determination and average grades... chances are your salary will be average.

Grades and degrees don't determine anything, I know really smart people who fail out of college and not-so bright people who graduate magna cum laude. The fact is that a diploma signifies that you have the determination to finish something, and dedication to something. I would consider graduating from boot camp or whatever it is or an army acadamy in the same lines as that.

Understood and I agree with your example but the statistic I am referring to only deals with a focus group of self made millionaires, not those who inherited their wealth or hitting the lottery, but those who started with little of nothing and became successful. For example, if Thomas Stanley surveyed a group of "successful" investors, business owners, etc.. and hypothetically 70% of them admit to being average students at best or dropped out of school, then I do have to question grades as a necessity to being successful.

Somehow I feel like I need to define success for my argument to be valid but hopefully everyone understands what I mean.

[Julio]

Ahhh, I see what you're saying now. Well if someone is a self-made millionaire already they have something the general population doesn't, some sort of gift for business, creativity, numbers, etc. That's a pretty narrow group of people, still.

If you're average, with average intelligence, average everything, average determination and average grades... chances are your salary will be average.

So whats an Average Salary in your eyes ?

[Dragonfly5338]

So whats an Average Salary in your eyes ?

I'd say 50k a year is average.

[BIMMM3R]

Since apparently everyone has read my thread I figured I should post a reply. Yeah I am in all honors and AP classes and C's are not something that come up on my grades. This was not an ordinary occurence and the only reason my dad punishes me is because of his background. His father was a jack ass about grades because my dad only had his brains going for him. That worked for him because he works for EADS now and is making enough money for me, my sister, and him to all own M3's. The problem is this. I'm in no way like him. I am a year round swimmer and practice twice-a-day every day. Duke has already told me that they want me to be enrolled and GT has sent me letters talking about the swimming, and orchestra that they would like me to participate in. So I guess that gives you a little background. Also, my first car was a Ford Ranger (don't even remember the year) and I earned the M3 through grades and swimming. By the way, just to show you how insane he is I thought you guys should know I'm grounded my entire summer because of a 79.3. Yeah. I think that about all you need to know

[2.0civic]

whats EADS?? ive heard of it before...cant remember where though. im glad you atleast earned it doing something but dont you get 9 bonus points for AP?? so did you make like a 70 or like a 87 with the rounding?? duke is a hard ass school to get into man. you really need grades there. I dont want to give you my old high school schedule when i went to buford while i pulled a A average, but twice a day practice isnt a valid excuse.

[BIMMM3R]

O yeah I meant to throw that in there. He's also a jack ass because it is an AP course so it counts as a B anyways.

[2.0civic]

O yeah I meant to throw that in there. He's also a jack ass because it is an AP course so it counts as a B anyways.

thats not bad then. yeah he is an ass then. sorry bout being a dick that one time when i said you didnt deserve shit. a B is really good actually. BTW, duke wont let you in with a 79 average. i had a 90 and a high 1300 and got turned down

[BIMMM3R]

thats not bad then. yeah he is an ass then. sorry bout being a dick that one time when i said you didnt deserve shit. a B is really good actually. BTW, duke wont let you in with a 79 average. i had a 90 and a high 1300 and got turned down

Yeah I realize Duke will turn me away, but I want to go to Tech anyways. Just cause it's close and I would like to swim for GT because I have some good friends there. And it's ok before because I got it from everyone and am still getting it. Which is cool cause they don't know the background of it. My original post was meant for my friends to help me find a car and it turned into this giant outcry from the forum.

[BIMMM3R]

whats EADS?? ive heard of it before...cant remember where though. im glad you atleast earned it doing something but dont you get 9 bonus points for AP?? so did you make like a 70 or like a 87 with the rounding?? duke is a hard ass school to get into man. you really need grades there. I dont want to give you my old high school schedule when i went to buford while i pulled a A average, but twice a day practice isnt a valid excuse.

European Aeronautics Defense Agency is what I believe it stands for. He is in the telecommunications department although I believe he is going to transfer to a job at Genisys because the pay is much better.

[quickdodge®]

Wondering what you guys think about this.. I saw a thread here where a parent is going to take their sons car away and sell it because the kid is getting C's in school.

To me punishing a child for grades that are average is useless to me. Straight D's and F's is one thing but my take on it is, most schools do not teach you shit about life skills.

Think about it like this.....driving and having a car (especially as a child in school) is a privledge. Not a right. Even as adults, this a privledge. When someone doesn't take care of their responsibilites, you punish them (if you're a respectable parent). How do you punish someone? Take away their privledges. Grade school through high school aren't designed to teach you how to be successful in life in a sense. That's wht colleges are for. So you can go the school of your choice to learn on your specific career choice. Your grade/high schools are to teach you the basics. Your basic maths, sciences, and such. Take science for example. There are too many different fields of science you can go in. So you get your basic science knowledge out in HS and move on to your field in college. Of course, the better your grades, the better shot at college (or a good school) you get. Colleges don't want to waste their time on someone they think is just going to halfway try. That's why parents strive to have their children do their schoolwork and get the B's and A's.

The success rate is better with a college education, but you certainly don't need one to become successful. Look at Julio. In two weeks, I will be making an awesome salary that my college degree has nothing to do with. Later, QD.