Letter from the school...

[AandAmom]

Just had a letter from my DS high school outlining the 11 yes 11 late marks my DS has managed to receive in the past three weeks :( I work three days a week leaving at 7.30 in the morning, all the late marks are on the day I work. He has to be in school for 8.40 registration. I wake him at 7.15 to make sure he is up and in the shower before I leave but it seems he is dropping back off to sleep after his shower and waking too late to get to school on time. I am at a loss at what to do, the school have outlined all sorts of acts to me and mentioned someone coming to visit the house if it doesn't improve. Wish they had text or called after the first time to be honest and not left it three weeks. My DS son is 15 in his final year and already struggling with the workload so needs to be in school. Knee jerk reaction has seen me remove his xbox and ipad from his room as punishment, and also because I think he is playing on these and not sleeping at night, but I don't know what else to do. I need my job, can't change my hours and have no one else to check he leaves for school on time. Can anyone suggest anything :(

Ask the school how you can work together. So maybe you can check with them if he's on time every day with immediate consequences/rewards. The school should help you with this if you are supporting them, even if its only temporary.

can you, or someone else phone him at 8am and keep him talking?

And I agree that teens need to practice good sleep hygiene as much as (if not more than) toddlers.

You are not alone......

familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/health-wellbeing/teenagers-and-sleep/

don't give him the xbox or Ipad back no matter how much he begs for it.

If he can't get up in the mornings or is falling back to sleep then he goes to bed earlier in the evening.

FWIW falling back to sleep after having a shower sounds a bit suspect to me.

Taking the XBox/iPod was a good move - you're right that the tiredness is probably due to that.

But - how is he generally? Stressed about Yr11? Mocks coming up? Happy enough about the concept of school? Because something, consciously or not, is holding him back from physically getting there - and late-night gaming is good escapism.

And yes, ring him constantly. When I have to leave before my DCs, I ring a lot - it irritates the hell out of them but I do know they've left the house.

Great advice, and an interesting article to read thank you all. I have emailed the attendance officer at the school and assured him I am doing all I can to get him there on time and to see if they have a breakfast club so I can drop him off still 7.30....not sure if they do these in high school. I have got my mom on board to call from 8. Headlesslambrini......I have a feeling he runs the shower so I can hear it but doesn't get it :(

We had the 'running it but not getting in' shower fiasco. This was because the bulk of DD's 'shower-time' was spent on Facebook and with 2 mins to go she'd run the shower and wet one arm and leg.

In your case, I think you need to actually get him up earlier and make sure he is up/washed/dressed before you go rather than leaving it to chance - adolescents can be really stupid about 'time' and 'urgency'. If there is no Breakfast Club see if you can drop him at a friends house at 7.30 and they go to school together.

Btw, take away all night/morning distractions - we now get the mobile away from DD at bedtime and she doesnt get it back until she's totally ready in the mornings, or (depending on her attitude) until she leaves the house. In your case it might be that you lock the X Box and ALL other distractions/time wasters away at bedtime and they dont get returned until you get home. Yes, it'll be Yell City when you instigate this, but stick to your guns - if he cant discipline/restrain himself then you have to do it for him.