By Anonymous - 15/10/2012 04:07 - United States - Aurora

Today, I told my daughter that she won't be going to her homecoming dance as punishment for her terrible grades. She's been crying and singing "If I Die Young" in her room for hours. At this point, I don't know if I need to call a therapist or a vocal coach. FML
I agree, your life sucks 31 553
You deserved it 10 173

Same thing different taste

Top comments

jay2121 3

What about a tutor instead of both?

She may be giving you a hard time now, but I honestly believe that if you stick it out and teach her that her actions have consequences, she will appreciate it so much more when she is an adult and be better of for it.

Comments

The punishment is fair. I don't get where some of the people on here think you're being unreasonable. And really, I would tell her to knock off the singing, or she'll have more punishment to face. You're the parent. Put your foot down. You can't let your kids walk over you.

Alright I'm going to start off saying I'm kinda in the middle here since I don't have heaps of facts and since I'm not actually a parent either so don't shoot me for what I'm going to say. In defence of your daughter it would seem really unfair if you didn't give her any warning about this, because if you had then there is a good chance she might have done better in school. Suddenly springing it on her just makes her feel like you're out to get her and what not (she's a teenager she will think something along those lines). Now if you had given her warning and she still got bad grades then she needs to get over it because you gave her fair warning. Does your daughter need to be punished yes she does she messed up, but I think maybe ease up just a little and ground her for a week, take away her phone make her do all the chores for a month something like that. Also to everyone saying "oh OP is a parent they don't need to give any warning" well yeah you sorta do because then there is a better chance that they'll actually try and do better in school. I know you can't give in to much though since then you'll just have the daughter walk all over you, it's a delicate balance. That's just what I think though.

I agree to a point. Warning out not though she knew she needed good grades. Trust me this isn't as horrible as a punishment s you think. My parents grounded me for full semesters. No phone, no TV, no hanging out with friends, staying in my room. This FML is just a dance.

I know it's not that horrible but if you want to give your kid the best chance of getting better grades wouldn't the threat of not being able to go to homecoming beforehand be better at doing it rather than after you've gotten the bad grades. Then that way if OPs daughter still got bad grades and then wasn't allowed to go then the daughter would know that her mum/dad is serious so next time parent can be like if your grades don't improve you can't go to prom or whatever the next big event is and the daughter would hopefully start trying to do better in school then.

Homecoming happens within the first few months of school. if her grades suck that bad already, I would say 'punish away' because, odds are, they won't be improving anytime soon without some extra motivation.

I may not be a parent, but I graduated High School not to long ago (sorry if my grammar or spelling is off) I actually feel this is a fair punishment. Homecoming may at the time in school seem like the most important event in their life, but when it comes down to it in the long run. No one's life is any worse or better because of a dumb dance.

gamernick1 2

I agree mabye no phone for a week or something but dont take that away from her. Id be willing to bet that she has put more planning into that than anything else. and what if she has a date? Homecomming and events are where you make or break the start of relationships. Don take that from her

Are you people insane? Homecoming is not nearly as important as grades. I assume this has been an ongoing fight between OP and her parent. It's her own fault and the punishment is just.

A lot of parents put a lot of pressure on kids to do well in school. I was really poor in school until I was about 15 (turns out I have a learning difficultly that went unnoticed) When your not the best at something its hard to put effort in. I always tried and remember those spelling tests when I was really young making me cry! I had very helpful parents and it eventually worked out My leaving cert results ( the same as A levels) were in the top 5 in the country and i got a 2:1 in my degree and am currently doing my masters. Basically what I'm saying is some people take longer to get to the top. I was the weak when younger due to my dyslexia but I learned to work around it on my own! A lot of pressure is on kids these days and parents add to it hugely!! I was very lucky my friends not so much! Give your daughter a break! She may (as I did) surprise you!

Might I suggest If I Die Tomorow by Motley Crew?

Life_sucks_13 6

I'm sure there will be more homecoming dances. I just see the huge point but that's mostly because my school never did homecoming. I think prom should be more exciting.