Monday, September 12, 2016

When A Parent Wants to Keep His Child From Paying the Price for Screwing Up

A caller to my radio show yesterday said that his son did something so bad when he was 13 that now, four years later, it's still grounds for automatic disqualification from admission to the Army. He'd love to enlist in the Army.

His father called asking for my advice on how to get the Army to make an exception. I don't think I told him what he wanted to hear. My PsychologyToday.com article today consists of an augmented transcript of our exchange.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think there is a key matter left undiscussed of if this issue would disqualify him from the Army if he was 18, and not 17. If waiting one year to get in the Army expunged that conviction - by becoming a legal adult, that might be fair decision to suggest.

But if it is something that could permanently keep him from entering the Army, I think helping him with a waiver is the appropriate thing to do.

I've seen the military turn people around, into upstanding citizens today. If I was on the wrong track (and frankly, I don't think I ever have been), I'd wish someone sent me in there when I was 17.

The military also has life-long benefits, and is hard to get into today. It's not something you want to screw up applying to - and it can help un-screw up someone on the wrong track.

 

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