GCSE options hell

[Unusualusernames]

Please don't flame me but AIBU to let my 13 year old daughter choose her own options even though they might limit her.

She's academic but also really good at PE. She says she wants to chose PE, media studies, geography and french.

My mum's a retired careers adviser and says media studies is useless but I know my daughter would find it really fun.

At 14 my mum basically imposed her choices on me and I ended up choosing subjects I wasn't necessarily great at.

75% of me thinks it's better to let her just do whatever she wants, even if PE and media studies aren't highly regarded. Then 25% of me feels bad for not being one of these tiger mums who ensures her child is a success academically. I'd feel bad if it meant it really limited her university choices (if she wants to go to uni , I wouldn't force her)

Please help

Media studies isn’t useless if your daughter is interested in perusing a career in journalism, production, marketing, etc. I did a media studies degree and am very happy in my career It benefited me immensely!

It was a while ago I did gcse PE but I found it really useful for the human biology bit of A level biology.

PE is a brilliant subject and includes a lot of biology. I would steer her away from
Media Studies though. Much better to do broad mainstream subjects like history. Lots of great journalists are history graduates so if she was at all interested in media, history is a fantastic subject.

Her academic friends won't be taking PE, for sure

Quite a lot of the girls at DDs GS opted for PE. Media studies wasn't on offer, I've no idea what it covers. Re eventual uni prospects - so long as she can do what she needs to at A level, then for the GCSEs it's normally just the English and maths that matter, and at a few places the grades of the rest.

Perhaps the question should be, if she didn't do one of those two what would she do instead and what particular benefit would it be to her?

Coffeecake - or wants to develop critical thinking skills in an increasingly "fake news" dominated world.

Both subjects in question are far more difficult than people realise.

I think PE is quite a hardcore subject nowadays.

I know certainly the schools I used to work with I would look at their PE students in awe:
As well as the ‘usual’ side of PE there is now a lot of theoretical and applied Science as well as a huge element of coaching (eg becoming a leader by organising and facilitating tournaments and coaching sessions for young children).

I think her choices sound excellent.

I would let her pick her own
At my kids school Pe is compulsory but you have option of exam where you would also do theory.
And that is a terrible response from @katy1213 that thick students do pe.
No student is thick they all have strengths and weaknesses.
PE is a great subject to give students exercise and learn to be parts of team and learn about nutrition and fitness.

As said, PE is a lot of science (especially biology) these days and by no means an easy option, nor is media studies - in fact MS is fascinating, lots of analysis of how media presents information and can influence people all the way from what seem now to be obviously lying advertisements to very clever fake news. Neither are easy options.

Her choices look good and yes she should absolutely choose things she enjoys. GCSES are a hard slog anyway, and she has kept her options open for the next step anyway.

It sounds fine to me.

Who exactly are you worried about thinking these choices aren't 'academic' enough?

She has enough traditionally academic subjects that she could (if she chooses) do those for A Level and degree, so obviously it isn't about that. I doubt any sensible university would mind those GCSE choices, either.

If she does choose to go to university, I really hope and trust she wouldn't find she interviewed for a job and someone said 'damn, she has a first in Geography from Bristol but, oh, that Media Studies GCSE is really making us think twice'.

So who are the people who would be judging negatively?

I'm not sure there are any 'easy' GCSEs these days.

DD2 is doing 'Food Preparation and Nutrition'. There's a fair bit of science in that one too.

To be fair, I did media GCSE, then communication studies was an a-level along with English Language and Economics. I became a solicitor and I found doing communication studies on the back of media quite helpful.

I let mine choose themselves. 'Choose subjects you enjoy' was my input.

School and exams are stressful enough without them being coerced into doing subjects they won't be happy with and probably won't do well in.

PE is a great subject to pick if she’s interested. As others have said, it’s quite academic and energetic. Lots of group and team work to develop those soft skills as well.

My dc did media studies at A Level and now earns twice as much as I do - in media. It’s a massively growing area and the old stereotypes don’t hold.

If she has a humanity and a language as well as core she fine.

I would let her pick her own, she is the one taking the exams.

Tell your Mum the world has changed.

Teacher here (and careers advisor for Year 9) - students should always be allowed to make these (informed) decisions themselves. Parents, just like subject teachers, should be there to give advice but it is the student who will have to sit through two years of lessons and eventually the exams.
Ideally, there needs to be a balance of essay-based, course work and more factual based exam subjects too. She’s got a good balance there.
Talking children into certain subjects will just make them unhappy and will certainly not help them to get the grades they would have achieved in a subject they most enjoy. So if she’s got the green light from her teachers aptitude-wise, she should go for it!!

Does she have any idea of what she wants to do in terms of career? If so, then she needs to pick with that in mind. If not, she needs to keep her options open, and pick things she can do well in.

I do think 'one for fun', if they can afford it, is good.

My DD is in the process of picking hers, she's choosing Art, Drama and Media Studies. I wanted her to do History but it's not me doing the work so I've just told her to pick what she will enjoy most. It's her education not mine, I chose my own subjects, went to a good uni and have a great career, I'm sure she will be fine whatever she decides.

katy1213 clearly has no idea about the content of these new style GCSEs. The fact they don't even know PE can be studied at GCSE pretty much says all you need to know when considering their viewpoint.

Let her do what she chooses. So long as she gets her maths and English they are the ones that employers look for.
In my limited experience I have never seen an employer ask what subjects you took at GCSE only if you have maths and English.

Presumably on top of english maths science?
No problem
Chill
This is not hell
She willbe fine

I semi-talked my son out of PE because I thought it was very hard. He did geography instead and got an 8.

I have no view on media studies, it has a bad reputation but among the uninformed, I feel. Everyone has to do English, Maths and science at GCSE so it's not as if people choose loads of useless subjects, even if you subscribe to the view that media is useless. She has a good set of subjects there. Let her do what she wants to do, you don't get much choice at GCSE anymore.

She has to put the time and work in, and schools structure options so they get a good spread, so let her choose. If she enjoys them, her grades are likely to be better - which is the best foundation for good future choices. However, my daughter is in Y11 doing Media Studies and hasn’t really enjoyed it or found it fun at all. It’s very very theoretical and even the practical project had very restrictive parameters and became stressful. However, the teachers make all the difference - so is there anyone you know with a child doing Media GCSE at that school that you could have a chat with?

In fact, in light of fake news and the like, maybe we should make media studies and politics compulsory subjects!

This thread is quite amusing for me as an English and media teacher. I completely get why people think media is a soft option and 'useless' as I used to think similarly but actually in an increasingly mediated world, it is incredibly relevant and interesting. The Daily Mail definitely thinks it is a 'Mickey Mouse' subject which is a bit ironic as we also semiotically analyse that newspaper! Parts of media are tough with theories to learn such as audience and effects theories. At A Level, it looks at perspectives such as Marxism and post-modernism. Students write extended pieces of writing and produce media products to deadlines.

It is fair to say it attracts a less academic cohort but I definitely would not consider it an easy option. Obviously, it depends on the teacher and school plus exam board choice so maybe speak to them at an open evening? Ultimately, keeping options open at GCSE is important and enjoying what you do, while balancing future career choice.