Sex? Use a condom. Marijuana? Be careful, don't get caught. Other drugs? Get the FUCK out of my house, NOW.

I'm pretty liberal.

I want kids. Bad I am guilty of thinking about poking holes in condoms, though i've never done it.

being liberal is all good in ideal before the kids come, but it's harder to enact in reality than I'd planned.

Well, of course I won't know until i'm a parent, i'm sure they'll be altered. I will never give up this one: Drop out,and you're on your own

A-MEN!!!

that one is easy to stick to. Education is too important to give up on.

and far too necessary to ignore.

Yep! I want to go to school another... 12 years x.x I want a Doctorate in Behavioral and Health Psychology.

she could be a perpetual scholar but can't afford it.

formal education isn't all it's cracked up to be, and often work experience counts for more.

formal education is an education in how to toe the line.

kicking one's kids out doesn't make them stop doing a thing; it just makes them feel unloved, misunderstood, and resentful.

chances are if they don't want to stay in school they won't need to be kicked out; they'll just leave. Quitting is a pattern.

I answered too quickly last night and didn't think my answer through. But I still believe that an education is important, even if

it is just about toeing the line. That's how you succeed in life, IMHO. Being creative AND managing to toe the line is difficult without

discipline.

not in school for most of her life, but followed her own interests, encouraged by her parents.

not missed out.

been to school, and found she was A. ahead of her peers, and B. more interested in learning than those who were forced to learn.

Good for you! People are all different and I know my ideas won't fit everyone's ideal picture. I think it sounds as though your choices

worked well for you.

a batchelor's degree now.

Excellent! Not a lot of people who drop out ever find the motivation to go back though.

No matter what the "rules" are kids have a tendency to evolve on their own timeline. Sometimes they teach us more than we teach them.

this is not true, and it's better to get an eduaction when you are ready to learn.

agrees.

Well, maybe not more, but we learn from each other.

yes.

I just want my kids to figure out what it is they want to be when they grow up sooner than I have. LOL

And I will encourage them in every possible way. I will not be able to afford to pay for their college, so if that's what they want

some of the most interesting people never figure out what they want to be.

they will have to take advantage of available resources. I understand not going right into college, too, for a variety of reasons.

But I do think it's harder to find a decent paying job without a degree of some sort these days.

found the degree to be a mixed blessing, but it may be different in the states. Experience counts for a lot.

had friends with good degrees remaining unemployed because potential employers think they won't stick around in a lower-paid job.

another friend who is so experienced in his field that he is responsible for supervising PhD students despite being less qualified than them

Good point about being overqualified or overeducated for a particular job. It's a hazard here too. But many employers won't even consider

hiring someone without at least some college, preferably a degree, unless it's in certain service oriented professions.

I am encouraging my kids to find out what they want to do and work in the direction of achieving it, period. I just want them to be happy

and not always wish they'd done something else. Ultimately, it's up to them though.

i am blissfully child-free™­. so, i try to refrain from telling the child-encumbered all the ways they're f**king up their kids.

nice one, heylisa.

thank you Snailrind (cool name btw LOL) - parenting is hard sometimes. We're all just flying by the seat of our pants.

everyone should be issued with a free Haynes Manual.