Some of our young people are half way through their degrees (2019/20 intake): lockdowns on repeat, light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations (?) and the legacy of COVID-19

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is all I can say!

That's good news @blametheparents. My DS seems to have got into investing in stocks and shares (as you do on a student loan...). I think he's hoping to make his millions and not have to do any proper work!!!! How did we raise a capitalist in our midst?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 - DS tried a bit of that too. Cos a 2nd year Economics student is obviously an expert at this sort of thing!

I keep trying to persuade him to bank his winnings when he's increased investment by 200%. I did suggest he might want to go and work in the City but not sure a human geography degree is the right route in @blametheparents! I am a bit worried that it's a form of gambling though...

another here with a DS watching the stock market on his student loan

clearly it's a thing then @bigTillyMint and @blametheparents. Anyone else's DC up to similar?

Well, guess what DC is doing with the £3000 child bond money I put in when he was a baby, meant for "emergencies"or a rainy day ....

Has there been something on the news about this lately as Dd said she wanted to dabble in the stock market too?

I know some of DS's school friends 'dabbled' and I can recall him expressing an interest in following their lead when he was about 15/16? So I guess it stemmed from there? There has been that recent case of the small-time investors screwing over a Hedge Fund big time (some gaming business was the focus?) which may have piqued interest too?

I think bit coins are big news atm and lots of stuff on social media apparently.
The stock market is likely to take a downturn do maybe hoping to get in while lower?

DH had dabbled in bitcoin a few years ago, influenced by a friend, but decided to cash in. Wrong decision. Said friend made a lot of money, so a few weeks ago DH decided to sell some shares and buy some bitcoin again. Unfortunately, Mr Musk got there first and pushed up the price. It's all about timing, folks.

Yep @simbobs, and lots of the youngsters influenced by Insta, etc, aren’t following the markets and haven’t got the foggiest!

@bigTillyMint yes that is my worry. I keep telling DS that he needs to be reading the business pages of the broadsheets. I can't remember which company floated on the Stock Exchange just before Christmas but I had given DS 'the nod' as soon as I'd read it would be happening. Pretty sure he took no notice of my advice though.

DD has a lab practical scheduled for next week (finally). First covid test done and dusted (negative). She is concerned that some of her friends have parents who are helping them with their coursework because they are qualified in the same field. All I can do is read through her assignments from a proofreading point of view (my background is copywriting and proof reading), but I won't understand what she has written. The playing field is not very level after all

[quote blametheparents]@NewModelArmyMayhem18 - DS tried a bit of that too. Cos a 2nd year Economics student is obviously an expert at this sort of thing! [/quote]
I've got a fourteen year old wanting to do the same - wasn't aware economics was on year 10 curriculum!

@RampantIvy - that's not fair at all, is it? Mind you, I'm sure the same is true with school coursework that counts towards GCSE/A Level results.

@RampantIvy - People get hidden advantages all the time. You DD will be ok. I can’t believe that a huge number in the class have parents who can help directly. My DS does economics. There must be parents of students in his class who have an economics degree or work in the area, and yet he still did ok.
Good luck - I’m sure she’ll be excited just to get back on campus.

True. Although as DD did chemistry and biology at A level she got no hep at home, and all I did for her geography NEA was proofread and spell and grammar check it for her. Hopefully it will help her in the long term by having to do everything herself.

I guess I was naive to think that parental help stopped at university.

Parents pay for tutors all the time. We currently have a French and a Maths tutor for year 11 DD - we started this last March when schools closed for the first time. This has afforded her a massive advantage. I know that. But I still do it.
You have proof read your DD’s coursework. Not a massive advantage at all, but an advantage nonetheless.
Guess what I’m saying is that we all do what we can. It’s hard not to. But I do believe that your DD will be ok. This last year will highlight those with a real love for learning their subject and if she’s done what’s required of her during her remote learning then she’ll be a great place to get back to it now.

Next up - parental help with CVs, applying for jobs and interview practice!
Then - Bank of Mum & Dad for house deposits.
(But let’s get over this bloody pandemic first!)

Anecdotally, it seems like a lot of the stock market dabbling and Bitcoin dealing is undertaken by our DSs and DHs.
Wonder if that’s true in a wider context?
Touch wood - DS hasn’t shown any signs of getting in too deep, but it’s easy to see how that could happen if you are trying to make up for a loss.
A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing, as they say.

Actually, we did have a maths tutor for DD for a couple of months in year 11 @blametheparents. But that was because she had an awful maths teacher at school. She takes a little longer than other people to process new ideas, and her maths teacher went too fast at school. Basically he was teaching A pupils at A pace.

Having a maths tutor elevated DD from a B to a very comfortable A* at the final hurdle, simply because her tutor took the time to explain things properly to her.

I don't help any of mine with their work. My year 7 asked for help with his maths recently, I didn't have a clue. Ds2 (year 12) helped him. I dread being asked to help. Though I am fairly good at proof reading. I found a mistake in ds's personal statement that his teachers had missed. I asked him to double check with them just incase I was wrong.

dc2 will not let me read anything, not her course work not her PS. DC1 (at uni) will ask for my help but tends to ask me 30 min before he has to submit it online, and then when I have only managed to read the first couple of paragraphs gets cross with me because I am so slow....

Neither of mine will let me help with their work. DP is also ideologically opposed to tutoring, so DCs' results are entirely their own.

DC1 (at uni) will ask for my help but tends to ask me 30 min before he has to submit it online, and then when I have only managed to read the first couple of paragraphs gets cross with me because I am so slow....

Sounds exactly like something that my DS would do!

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

Neither of mine will let me help with their work. DP is also ideologically opposed to tutoring, so DCs' results are entirely their own.

That's a bit harsh. If it is because the teaching is poor the DC has to struggle?

With a patient maths tutor DD fully understood the work, and raced through her maths GCSE well before the time limit. She just needed someone to explain the how as well as the what which her maths teacher at school didn't do.