... due to a bad grade in one of his classes. Would you allow your 14-yr old (if you had/have one), to hunt if he had a bad grade, or would you make him sit out until the grade comes up? ("bad" = < C)

My 10 yr old missed football all week and the first opener in 5 yrs due to grades and attitude. I'm not going to reward bad behavior.

He asked if I would just wear him out with a belt and be done with it, but that lets him get out of it too easy. No football hurt his feelings, but no hunting cut him deep I think.

In my opinion, he should still be able to go. Hunting shouldn't be used as a reward. It's a time when you (or whoever his father is) get to spend quality time with him while he wants to be out there with you.

Not allowing him to hunt may cause his grades to drop even more if he's anything like me.

You have to earn it, hunting is a privilage, not a right at that age. You could be really cruel like my dad and let me go with but not hunt, and make me do all the "b**** work", ie: packing the truck, unpacking the truck, packing the boat,throwing out decoys, picking up birds, and picking up decoys. The whole time he is sitting back, sipping on coffee and makeing me re-do everything because I'm upset and didn't care. Taught me to get my grades up and if you're going to do something, no matter how crappy it seems, do it right the first time.

I see what you are saying. But, if the kid doesn't see it that way, then it doesn't really get the point across.

Still agreeing with this all the way.

There's plenty ways to teach a kid. Taking hunting from them shouldn't be one of them...but that's just me.

When my daughter was in Jr High, the old "no pass, no play" rule reached up and bit her. She spent 6 weeks on the bench watching her former teammates run up and down the basketball court. Dad's warnings had gone in one ear and out the other but getting benched, drove it home. Never had another failing grade.

Is there another reporting period prior to the end of the season? If not, you might visit with his teacher and arrange for a three week report or something similar which would give an immediate reward for bringing his grades up.

Yes, his mom checks them on-line; so it's a week-to-week issue. Hopefully missing the opener has had an impact.

I was one that did not do very well in skool. I had to pass to go. Had my father allowed me to go I assure you I would have put zero effort into passing.

just from experience with my dad, i didn't get to do anything if i had a bad grade. I was grounded for six weeks, until the next report card came out with a higher grade. only happened to me twice in all of my school years, taught me a good lesson. And his idea of a bad grade was a grade of <80. now that i have a son, i will do the same thing, six weeks might have been a little long but, poor grades dont result in positive rewards.

Two 15 yr olds, Xbox yes!!!!! Hunting no way!!!! The blind is a great place to let him kno what's expected of him!!!

My son was a an A/B student through his grade school years but he had one problem, home work assignments didn't always get turned in mainly because he would do them and wouldn't get them out of his locker @ class time which caused him to have to dig him self out of a hole every once in a while because he'd get zero for not turning it in.
I worked a lot so we didn't get to hunt together as much as I wanted to so I couldn't really take hunting away from him or he might not get to go at all. His punishment was running and military style calisthenics. He would run, do push ups, and lots of all of it. Enough that when he was done he didn't want to forget homework @ the locker. I'd usually have to do this almost ever semester for a week or two or until he got his average back up to a "B". With him it was never the same class he would screw up, usually a different one every time......

You have to decide if grades, or the ability to hunt, fish and survive without a grocery store are more important. We are raising our daughter to first be a good person and contribute to society and then we worry about grades. She's a straight A student, so we're blessed in that. I'm the "Slacker Parent" so take it for what it's worth.

That is an interesting take on punishment... I kind of like it. Discipline in a way that is actually useful exercise.

One of his classes... Did he do well in his other classes? If so, could there be a reason other than not trying? Sometimes you get a bad teacher, or maybe there is some other distraction in the class. Might be an acceptable reason or there might not. But one class, I would want to talk to the teacher and find out why that class is the only one first.

I believe you are doing the right thing. Hit him where it hurts most. Sports, hunting, fishing, girls, xbox, or whatever it takes.

Don't allow him to fail and still get the things he wants or enjoys. Luckily our society is not in the position to where we have to hunt for survival. It is a luxury and a sport.

Growing up if I didn't make the grade I didn't get to go. There were two times during the year I was a straight A student. Hunting season and baseball season. Rest of the time, B-C student. If its something he loves to do and you take it from him he will bring the grade up. Unless it is a learning issue and not just a lack of trying issue. I would figure that out before I made a decision.

I went a step further with it when he left for college. I knew I was probably going to have to deal with him not wanting to study as much as college requires. Social media and video games on the computer would dominate his world instead of class room curriculum and I admit I thought about how I was going to deal with it for quiet a while.
This is what I did.....he actually got to start college a week after he graduated from HS because he passed an exam to get in an early freshman program...The day we moved him into his dorm we loaded all his stuff into his K5 Blazer and I drove him down to La. Tech in Ruston LA. where he is currently a Junior in a GIS/Forestry major. When we got to Ruston I didn't go straight to dorm, but rather by the local military recruiting office. I stopped out front and he looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. I told him "see that office right there, if you flunk out of college don't even think about coming back to the house you bring your a$$ right here and if they will take you immediately I'll come get your stuff and your ride" that rattled him but he knew I was serious and that daddy don't back up when it comes to discipline.....

I had hunting taken away from me for bad grades several times throughout middle school and high school. Not just for a bad grade in one class, but in several. Seems a little extreme to me especially if he has good grades in his other classes. I can tell you that if he likes hunting as much as I did at that age, that grade will come up very fast.

Snipe...they new bad is B+

C is the old D

Or you can sign him in the football team or basketball.

Always startled me that sport stars always have excellent grades in college.

The assistant coaches stay up all night to solve their case studies while the TCU team for example are snorting a white substance in a back alley, sad.flag:

No one can really answer this question without knowing the kid. For me when I was a kid the hunting was not really about hunting...it was about being with my dad....man time without my sister and mother around. It was a bonding thing. Not doing that would not have lead me to getting better grades. However if this kid is just a hunting nut and it's more about the hunting for him them yeah maybe restricting him would be a good idea.

I bet he thinks twice about his homework next time. Bring him hunting when i come up if his grades are better by then

A duck blind on opening day is neither a reward or punishment for a kid. It is another place to learn how to be a responsible human being, especially if you are with your Dad. Take him. I'm 70 and never missed an opportunity to be with my Dad as a child or an adult. These opportunities are few and far between, Take him.

It is critical to learn at an early age that there are natural/logical consequences for our actions. We have an 8 yo that pushes every limit that he can and he is very motivated by his freedoms and rewards.

I built a house for a guy that was a foster system youth counselor for yrs and one tip he have us that helped immensely is to set the reward/take away system on the front end.

He needs to know-if you come up short on grades you will lose-hunting, fishing, sports, etc. that helps remove the emotional side for both. This allows you to plan your response to his actions. You are now reacting to his actions.

Be careful taking away things that are related to spending time together. If this is a first offense then the hunt will provide the time you need to address what the consequences will be on the next offense. If you threaten no hunting he may say ok which has just stolen your thunder and time together.

The biggest thing with the action consequence approach is that the punishment has to be severe enough to dissuade a reoccurrence. Good luck.