Anyone else have GCSE stage kids who are stressed and unhappy?

[UnfunnyJester]

Argh ds thinks I'm horrible and seems to hate me because I expect him to study for his exams.
He used to be on track for 7,s but got 2's and 3's in his mocks. The main reason is he's on his phone way too much but doesn't think he is.
I know some people will say leave him to it, but I'm not going to. I just don't want to look back and regret that I should've pushed him a bit more.

Anyone else in a similar position?

Might be head in sand (phone) thing. Pretending it will all go away if he doesn't think about it.
I'd say phone only at weekends and an hour of phone free revision Sat and Sun evening.
I'm also that parent who is going to bribe her DC with money per grade I'm sorry to say.

Nah.. never did.. didn't stress.
My two didn't go for last year due to MH and did their work at home... both gained 7/8 GCSE'S great grades..
Both had great careers.. now both SAHM doing home education with ASD kids.

Yes same situation. Dd will fail. I keep pushing but her mental health is so bad that I have to be careful.

It is hard though and I feel like I habve ages 100 years and worry a lot about her future.

My son was the same and got level 3s in his mocks, I made him go to a revision club held at the school 8-4 every Saturday.
He didn't like me for it but is grateful now, he passed all his exams and is an electrician (This wouldn't have been possible without good grades, there's a lot of competition for apprenticeships)
If taking his phone away is what it takes then so be it, he'll thank you for it one day.

We are year 10 and YouFuckingTube is the thief of all study.

He has fallen behind where he was.

So we are playing catch up.

Classical music on quietly I find is better than silence, at the kitchen table with books and laptop I can see no phone, no gaming PC, and I study/work along side, even if it's house admin.

Yeah he hates me but I don't care.

Mine is year 10 and has mocks coming up. They just can’t be bothered. It’s a battle and I’m not letting it go either. I may let them study for year 10 exams at their own pace and then when they get 2’s and 3’s hopefully they’ll see I’m right when I clamp down in year 11.

alternatively I clamp down now and hopefully show them that they can pass and how good it feels.

haven’t decided yet. 🤣

We were there last year, we also had mental health issues on top of it.

What helped was:

Phone out of the room during revision time.
Fixed Revision timetable agreed between us
Revision done in the dining room to avoid distraction in the bedroom.

It was maybe 1 1/2 hours after school and 3 hours on the weekend.

We also decided to use the Easter weekend to be revision free to give her a proper break. We went away but friends did day trips.

It's not the end of the world if she does fail
My son is at college now he's never been academic
A year ago he was critically ill ,and missed an entire half term of his year 11 due to being in hospital ,he did take his GCSE,s but didn't get the grades he was predicted ( which were not great anyway) so is on a lower level course then he should have been but he's enjoying it and doing well
GCSE,s are obviously important but health is more so.

I know some people will say leave him to it, but I'm not going to.

Nope. I'm going to say take his phone off him for a couple of hours.

I have been taking his phone off him and that's causing arguments.
Sometimes I forget, then I go mad because I've realised he's been on his phone too much again.

Sorry to hear others in the same situation and especially to those who's dc have physical and mental health issues. We can only do what feels right at the time.