You could always graduate early, get into a community college, and do really really well your first year. That way, you could transfer out to a better school than you would have initially been able to get into.
Except if he doesn't gain good study habits and pull his shit together, he will most likely flunk out of community college too.
I was in a somewhat similar situation (minus drug use, but with an extra helping of depression). My GPA was shit, largely because of the amount of weight homework/projects/etc had, compared to tests (which I always passed with flying colors). I eventually dropped out halfway through my senior year.
Honestly, the only thing I regret now, is not dropping out sooner. High school was a lost cause for me. I wasn't motivated, being there just brought me down further, I had no fucking goals, and certainly not enough drive to do the required work to pass (or even show up, most of the time).
So, I dropped out, and got a shitty food service job for a year, switched to retail after that, then got an office job, and have done nothing but office jobs since then. The fact that I have a GED has never really come up (I know someone said when people say they have a GED, they ignore the application. There's no reason to say you dropped out and got a GED), except when talking with coworkers who were usually surprised that I never finished high school.
These days, I'm working, and going to community college, and it's the first time in my life school has worked out for me, and it is *SOLELY* because I want to be there. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the amount of work school entails keeps it from being viable if you don't really want to do it.
For me, at least, a lot of my problems cleared up when I got a job (even if it was a shitty one), because there was finally a simple, measurable reward for my actions (show up, do work, get paid), rather than a nebulous "eventually you'll be successful if you just stay in school" promise for the future.
This is, essentially, my current plan. I live in a city with two reasonably well-maintained community colleges and one public college which I'm particularly interested in. I should have been more clear about the "homeschool" idea; I don't mean to have my parents teach me and to more or less eschew social contact with others, I meant I felt like attending an alternative school of some kind. Several of my friends have done this; they physically go to the building three times a week, maintain a set of textbooks, homework, and the usual school accoutrements, and receive grades on a normal scale.
If you can't cut it at a regular school where education is handed to you on a plate, I'm concerned about whether you'll find the dedication to cut it somewhere that requires a lot more self-motivation. I'm not saying it flat out won't work, but unless your change in schools accompanies a serious change in attitude, you're just setting yourself up for a fall.
Of course, that change of attitude may be forthcoming. I was a total slacker at school, smoked pot, played games all day instead of going to class etc. I graduated with decent grades just because I'm reasonably smart and can blag it but consider how little effort I invested in school I really ought to have flunked everything. I just plain wasn't interested.
Then I went on to art college and caught a buzz. I still smoked pot and played computer games, but I was also really into actually going to college, attending classes and - most importantly of all - doing the work. I got myself and HND with merits and went on to university on the back of it.
Of course, art college is an entirely different experience from high school, so just switching to something where you're doing the same work but with the responsibility for doing it entirely on your shoulders may not be the smartest move.
Summer is almost here. Go get a manual labor job for the summer; meat-packing plant, farm hand, lawn services, etc. Do that for 10 hours days all summer long. If you thing that is something you can do for the next 45 years, forget school. I have a feeling you would jump back into classes with gusto come September...
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Except if he doesn't gain good study habits and pull his shit together, he will most likely flunk out of community college too.
Honestly, the only thing I regret now, is not dropping out sooner. High school was a lost cause for me. I wasn't motivated, being there just brought me down further, I had no fucking goals, and certainly not enough drive to do the required work to pass (or even show up, most of the time).
So, I dropped out, and got a shitty food service job for a year, switched to retail after that, then got an office job, and have done nothing but office jobs since then. The fact that I have a GED has never really come up (I know someone said when people say they have a GED, they ignore the application. There's no reason to say you dropped out and got a GED), except when talking with coworkers who were usually surprised that I never finished high school.
These days, I'm working, and going to community college, and it's the first time in my life school has worked out for me, and it is *SOLELY* because I want to be there. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the amount of work school entails keeps it from being viable if you don't really want to do it.
For me, at least, a lot of my problems cleared up when I got a job (even if it was a shitty one), because there was finally a simple, measurable reward for my actions (show up, do work, get paid), rather than a nebulous "eventually you'll be successful if you just stay in school" promise for the future.
If you can't cut it at a regular school where education is handed to you on a plate, I'm concerned about whether you'll find the dedication to cut it somewhere that requires a lot more self-motivation. I'm not saying it flat out won't work, but unless your change in schools accompanies a serious change in attitude, you're just setting yourself up for a fall.
Of course, that change of attitude may be forthcoming. I was a total slacker at school, smoked pot, played games all day instead of going to class etc. I graduated with decent grades just because I'm reasonably smart and can blag it but consider how little effort I invested in school I really ought to have flunked everything. I just plain wasn't interested.
Then I went on to art college and caught a buzz. I still smoked pot and played computer games, but I was also really into actually going to college, attending classes and - most importantly of all - doing the work. I got myself and HND with merits and went on to university on the back of it.
Of course, art college is an entirely different experience from high school, so just switching to something where you're doing the same work but with the responsibility for doing it entirely on your shoulders may not be the smartest move.
Summer is almost here. Go get a manual labor job for the summer; meat-packing plant, farm hand, lawn services, etc. Do that for 10 hours days all summer long. If you thing that is something you can do for the next 45 years, forget school. I have a feeling you would jump back into classes with gusto come September...