Scripps Howard News Service

Dear Dr. Fournier:

My son graduated from high school with a 3.5 grade point average. School came easy to him, but I wondered how he would do in college. Well, I was right to worry. His first year was abysmal; he finished the year with a 2.0 GPA. Even worse, he does not have any idea what he wants to do when he graduates. He doesn't enjoy any of his classes and has changed majors three times. Currently he is "undecided," and when I talk to him about "after college," he speaks vaguely about law school. With his current grades, this goal is hopeless. I am afraid he is digging himself a hole that he will not be able to climb out of when he decides what to do with his life.

ASSESSMENT

High school graduates are becoming less and less prepared for college and success in a global environment. Most high schools have done a wonderful job increasing course loads, but they fail to assure that students see the symbiotic relationship between poetry, math, chemistry and problem solving. Students may study a foreign language, but it will not get them to a bathroom in a foreign country when they need one. This foray into "international studies" fails to teach students that every college major should have the word "international" in front of it.

As surprising as this may seem, I am seeing more college students with the same dilemma. They have spent two years in college and their transcripts are worthless. College advisers who are unaware of future career options often advise students to take a smorgasbord of worthless classes.

With the category of "undecided," students ramble through college classes without an end goal, applying the same "just do it" approach they used in high school. Some freshmen classes are so large that professors never know a student's name, and if your child is in academic trouble, you will never know until it is too late. The combination of no expectations, complete freedom and a lack of purpose leads many college students to academic disaster.

WHAT TO DO

Forget what the state or federal laws imply. Your son is still a child who needs direction and parental advice. Adolescence no longer ends at 18 years old. Most children will need their parents' help until age 25 to compete in this generation's developing global community. Two generations ago, many people married the month after high school graduation. This is simply no longer the world in which we live.

You and your son may need to face the fact that he is not ready for college because of his lack of experience. He may need more time to explore the world before he can determine where and how he wants to fit into the global work force. There are programs aboard, internships, and volunteer programs that could help him explore his interests.

With my students, I have developed a process called Career Pathing It helps students learn what the future looks like, find their passions and invent their future. They weave these into a minimum of five careers and then speculate on the graduate programs that would help them fill the new niche they carved for themselves.

Our children must decide about their future by knowing how to explore it within themselves. It is time for your "adolescent," who probably thinks he is an adult, to quit digging himself into a deeper hole. He needs to have the shovel taken from him until he is able to make good decisions that will provide him, and the rest of society, with a bright future.

- Write Dr. Yvonne Fournier, Fournier Learning Strategies Inc., 5900 Poplar, Memphis, Tenn. 38119. E-mail her at drfournier@hfhw.net