To steer DS away from doing GCSE Child Development?

[dson2]

DS wants to do GCSE Child Development.

WIBU to steer him away from this?

FGS let him do what he wants to do.

I was 'steered' away from art (which I loved) in favour of German at GCSE. Loathed every second of it (but got an A).

At A-level I was 'steered' into doing maths because apparently I'd be glad later. I failed it spectacularly, so ended up with one less A-level qualification than I could have had if my parents had only let me take anything else.

At degree level I was 'steered' away from the subject I wanted to study in favour of something 'more academic'.

A decade later I finally stopped people pleasing and walked out of the career my parents were so proud of. I retrained and started again in a new career that I love.

If I'd taken art and the degree subject I wanted to take way back when, I would have been able to take this career far further than I am now able to, at this stage in my life.

My parents meant well, but they were wrong, and it's bloody frustrating.

You cant stop him ticking the chpices box anyway. Let him do what he wants. I let others dictate to me what to do at a level. I wanted to do chemistry and business studies and religious studies. But i was pushed to do law, eng lit and lang and religious studies and psycology. Ended up dropping law after 1 year. Dropping eng lit lang after 4 months. Stopped psychology at the first year. Did awful in them as i hated them. Ended up starting business studies whem doing my last year of a levels in religious studies. I was good at business and teacher put me in for the a level second year whilst i was doing the first year. Completed the whole a level in 9 months. Couldnt go to uni though as i wasted time and effort on subjects i didnt want to do and suffered badly. Dont tell them what is better for them. They will choose the right oath and will havs better knowledge of wbat they need to do to get where they want to be. My whole vision in life got turned upside down because of what you are doing to your son. Also, gcses are unimportant. As long as you get 10 A* -c grades ypu can do any a level. And they are what is important. As long as his maths and english is fine dont worry

Sorry for poor grammar. I have insomnia

I wish someone had talked me out of doing GCSE child care and development. I too did all the sciences, I wanted to be a paediatrician so thought childcare was a good option, unfortunately my teachers didn't advise me that it wasn't going to help me get to medical school and that it was really a subject for those who were planning on leaving school and going straight into the workplace. The course was a doddle and full of girls who didn't want to study. I asked to change to history after the first half term but they wouldn't let me.
If he is bright boy who thinks it is a stepping stone to teaching or peadiatrics, then advise him to go for something more academic. If his real passion is nursery nursing then it would give him the chance to try it out in a safe environment.

I did a gcse in child development along with all the other subjects. I did a science degree and became a scientist in a top company. What's the problem? As long as he's completing enough science and maths subjects for his future a levels, then why not? Is it because he's not a girl and choosing to do a 'girl's subject'?

Oh FGS, I have that particular GCSE - I also happen to have quite a few more hefty qualifications. Seriously taking it as a subject won't ruin his life or even alter the trajectory. There's no need for a fuss (or diminishing qualifications).

Having worked in universities in various capacities this is true:

Nobody really cares what GCSEs you have as long as maths and English are included (and science) if he's planning on science based a levels. Only the grades are looked at by universities, higher level apprenticeships etc. not the subject. Let him do what he wants!

and @DylanandDarcy - exactly! Your son sounds very intelligent, he chose a subject he wanted and is still following his path. Kids are really very young when choosing GCSE's within reason let them have a couple which are just for them.

I think once you've listened and advised and gone over the pros and cons you need to leave it to your ds to decide. After all it will be him doing the work, not you. That's the boat I'm in with ds1, and I trust him to make the right choices. (Which is even harder for him as where we are in Scotland they only get to choose 8 subjects initially and then have to drop another 2, which is where we are now, and only take 6 exams at 16.. But on the flip side for you that probably means 1 out of the 10 for your ds shouldn't make too much odds.)

Speaking as someone who was considered very "academic" as a student, I did child development and was faced with the same attitude from my parents - they told me I was wasting an option. While it's true that I haven't used the subject specifically for anything, it was very interesting, and it helped in terms of writing essays (in my day it involved A LOT of them!) and doing research. So it could actually be quite beneficial.

arcacia are you me?

Head

But I'm sorry you had that experience too.

Let him to do it! Yes it's slightly less academic than the sciences/history/geography etc but that's not a bad thing. I did Child Dev GCSE and I enjoyed it, I found it interesting and looked forward to the lessons. I went on to get AAA in difficult a levels and a degree from an RG uni. It's one gcse option and it won't hurt his chances.

*Let him do it
Clearly I can't write properly anymore

Maybe he wants to do it because it will be 95% of girls on the course (sexist but true).

So long as in the (frankly unlikely) case that a uni or job interviewer asked him about it he has a better reeason than that!