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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

How on earth do I motivate DS to revise for GCSEs ...

27 replies

JunoSparks · 23/10/2023 10:35

Hoping that a few of you on here have some experience of this and have some suggestions! My DS is desperately unmotivated and in fact very hostile towards revision and schoolwork - he seems happy enough at school but when it comes to homework, and revision in particular (he is supposed to be revising for mocks in early November) it is like getting blood out of a stone to get him to sit down and do anything.

We have endless circular conversations along the lines of 'why do I have to do English? Why do I have to study poetry? I'm never going to read another poem again' etc etc (then apply this to multiple other subjects - he really only likes computer science). I am realising that trying to reason with him/explain (transferrable skills etc, learning how to analyse, form an argument, etc) is totally pointless, it just goes in one ear and out the other.

I feel I need to adopt a different tack as I can't bear how I'm turning into such a nagging parent always on at him to work. He needs to take responsibility for it himself, create his own revision timetable etc, I think, but I'm just terrified he'll just balls it all up. Perhaps he needs to really fail his mocks to then realise he's got to pull his socks up.

But it's SO hard when it's such a constant battle with someone who thinks it's all pointless and seems to hate most subjects so much :(

Any advice or experiences shared would be so welcome! Thank you ...

OP posts:
junebirthdaygirl · 28/10/2023 23:43

I had one like this . I suggested l would help him if he let me. So we would plan some study he would learn it and then l would hear out some questions He really hadn't a clue how to study so working alongside him gave him some structure.

Just to encourage you he went on later to get a first class honours degree, a first class masters and has a good job. Maturity changes everything. So getting him through this stage is worth doing anything as he won't always be this age.

motherofkevinnotperry · 06/11/2023 20:24

I'm in the same boat. It's just taken 90 minutes of huffing, puffing, screaming and stress (from ds) just to get him to do a time table for revision. He sees it all as pointless, he's sick of school, sick of being told to study and he knows it all. He's done nothing. The school isn't great and his friends don't seem to be bothered either.

He wants to do A levels. I need alcohol! Lots and lots of alcohol. It's exhausting.

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