Getting your child to become motivated is an extremely difficult and sensitive task. Frustration on the parent’s and child’s end continues to grow as parents nag their children about motivation struggles.
Unfortunately, motivation is not a tangible object, which makes it even more difficult for parents and students alike to achieve good motivation.
Luckily, Joseph King has given us the opportunity to understand school motivation from a student’s perspective. Joseph grew up in the Montgomery County public school system where he struggled tremendously from a lack of motivation. Upon his transfer to a private school during his sophomore year in high school, Joseph began to see improvement in his grades. However, it wasn’t until his junior year when he developed motivation in school. Check out Joseph’s perspectives and advice below to better understand a student’s view on the topic.
Was middle school easy or hard?
Middle School was extremely easy for me. There were plenty of ways to get around putting forth lots of effort to receive good grades. Specifically, the infamous retake policy let me get away with a lot. The retake policy at my middle school allowed me to retake tests and quizzes multiple times until I had reached the grade that I wanted. At the time I thought that this policy was awesome, however, it caused me more problems in high school.
How was your transition to high school?
Poor study habits, such as not writing down assignments, planning ahead, and waiting until last minute made it difficult. Block scheduling made habits of procrastination worse. I remember when I was assigned work on a Monday, and it was due on Wednesday, I wouldn’t start it until Tuesday night.
What were your grades like in 9th grade?
My grades were mostly Cs in my core classes to start off the 9th grade year. I was struggling in the majority of my classes due to my heavy workload and poor preparation from middle school. I was stuck in that retake mindset, which made me think that I could redo anything as many times as I wanted to. I was stunned regarding the lack of a retake policy at my high school. I thought to myself, “How could my middle school claim that it was preparing me for high school, but really wasn’t?” Not having the retake policy to lean on, I was stuck with mostly Bs and Cs my freshman year.
Were you a motivated student?
In the 9th grade I was definitely not a motivated student. I was down on myself about my grades and had given up.
What did your parents do about the lack of motivation?
My parents pushed and nagged me every other Friday, when the automated progress reports would come out. They would get angry and frustrated each time. My parents tried to take away my phone and xbox, but it never worked. I just didn’t know how to motivate myself.
What could parents or teachers have done to help you be more motivated?
In my experience, there wasn’t much that my teachers or parents could have done to help me get motivated. Aside from stopping nagging me and allowing me to find my own self-motivation, they couldn’t have done anything differently. I think that setting up a better foundation for myself before transitioning to high school could have helped a lot. Setting up key study habits in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade would have led to better success in high school. Also, keeping in mind that teachers have around thirty kids to a class and about four classes would have helped me remember that they have a tough time too and don’t always have the time to look out for each of their individual students.
Did switching to private school have an impact on your motivation?
I think that it definitely had a positive impact on my motivation. I went into the new year knowing that I had a clean slate to work with. Also, my parents were much more at ease knowing that I was in a supportive, yet challenging environment, where I would get a great education. Furthermore, the teachers were much more supportive because they had fewer students and therefore more time to work on a one-on-one basis.
What happened during your junior year to turn things around?
My parents and I realized that this was a make or break year for me. Although I was found to have a mild case of ADHD in 1st grade, we never considered medication because I was doing well. I was retested and the psychologist recommended medication, so I starting taking Vyvanse.
Why did your parents reach a breaking point and decide try medicine?
I think that trying ADHD medication was a mutual decision between me and my parents. The medicine definitely made a significant impact on my grades, but there was a slight placebo effect. The placebo effect made me feel like I could actually do well in school and that all I needed was just a little boost. At that point, I had developed some skills in self-motivation. Because I was able to do well in school, I wanted to do well in school. I was beginning to be on par with my peers and it was a great feeling.
Do you have any advice for parents to help their child become more motivated?
Developing a quality relationship with your child is key to having trust regarding school work, tests, etc. Also, try not to nag your child unless it is completely necessary. In my experience, whenever my parents would nag me, I would proceed to get more overwhelmed and in turn, do worse in school. Despite wanting to help your child in any way possible, motivation is something that has to come from within your child. No video game, amount of money, or toy will dig up your child’s underlying motivation. Whether it be in kindergarten or not until college, your child will eventually reach that self-motivation stage, and you need to let it happen.
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