Father Grieves After Son Kills Himself At School

[exhausted]

Bill gates dropped out of college to pursue the computing dream......

His parents must be so dissapointed in him,  

Wonder if we'd have the Internets if he'd been sent on a program  :-?

[Oz girl]

my parents were big on grades in high school but like Ants if i was genuinely trying, they would go more for the extra help approach than punishment. i do agree that once you have gotten the kid to the point where they have been excepted by a university, this idea of continuing to try and run their life is pointless. At what point are they then seen as an autonomous adult who is loved independently of what they do to earn money if not after age 18?

[exhausted]

. At what point are they then seen as an autonomous adult who is loved independently of what they do to earn money if not after age 18?

Why wait until they are 18? Why not love them unconditionally from the date of birth? They are people who will go their own way no matter what.

[Oz girl]

fair point. i kinda took it as a given that a parent would love a child unconditionally from birth. Iguess the difference to me is that i probably would want to emphasise to a kid that education is important without making it everything. i honestly believe that a good education gives a kid far greater choice so I understand how it can make otherwise reasonable parents fail to see the big picture.But ultimately i guess 18 seems a reasonable age to me for a parent to let gobecause this is a normal school leaving age for most kids so it is the next step in their life.

[exhausted]

Here they can leave school at 16, they are able to continue onto college until the age of 19 then it's University....

I wouldn't 'let go' completely at 16, because I think they're still babies at that age and the whole hormone eruption thing is going on

Some parents still have detachment issues when their child is 40 years old - I guess each child, each parent, knows when they can start to let the reins out according to the maturity level of their child

(means my boys will be living at home until they're 70!)